Foreign Language Study Possibly Cut From Core

By: Falon Perez

Posted: 5/5/07

For the students at Mercy College, a required foreign language class may be a thing of the past in a year's time.

On March 13, members of the Mercy College community were informed that the General Education Revision Committee has eliminated the Foreign Language requirement from its newly proposed Liberal Arts core requirements.

Jeff Bellantoni, Chair of the General Education Revision Committee, stated to the Foreign Language department that it would be able to discuss and debate the proposal with the committee next October before a full-faculty vote is taken. The General Education Revision Committee is a sub-committee of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

Bellantoni stated the committee is seeking approval from the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and the Senate to approve a process of faculty review and final vote to approve the changes. The Senate on May 4 will vote to approve these recommendations to be put forth to the faculty for discussion, further revisions if required, and
a full-faculty vote, in October of 2007.

While some students would be relieved not to have to worry about a language class when they enter college, in today's society many feel it is beneficial to know a second language.

Professors like Dr. Luisa Perdigo, Director of the Foreign Language Department, are taking action to try to stop this from happening. She addressed the committee on April 3 to voice her concerns.

"The whole world is in New York. Our students need to learn more than one language in this day and age to enter and be prepared in the work force," she said.

Today, the work force in America wants employees who are able to speak more than one language, she feels.

"Languages are everywhere, and our world is rich because it is multilingual and multicultural. Our students come to college to expand their minds and become educated citizens of the world," Perdigo stated in an email sent to the Mercy College community.

In another e-mail sent to the General Education Curriculum Committee Members, adjunct professor in the Foreign Language Department, Simeon-Dan Guisuraga, made an important point on how beneficial a foreign language education is and where it is used.

"The American Council on Education, providing leadership and unifying voices on key higher education matters, published in January 2007 the article "United States Needs to Invest in Foreign Language Competency to Maintain Competitiveness."

"United States Senator Joe Lieberman introduced the 21st Century Pell Grant Plus Act in May 2004 in order to provide financial incentives to American college students to pursue degrees in science, engineering, mathematics and foreign languages."

Bellantoni stated the proposal of a new core requirement will focus on each of the existing competencies (written communication, oral communication, critical thinking, critical reading, quantitative reasoning and information literacy). He said that the committee "strongly recommends that assessments continue to occur in all courses within the General Education curriculum, in the
Junior Seminar, and in each program or major," and that the competencies are not solely the responsibility of the core courses.

"Foreign Language and History/Geography are two areas that are not mandatory in this proposal, and this has created concern among some faculty. It is the belief of the committee that the arguments made for these areas could easily be made for many other areas, such as
Economics, Sociology, Political Science, and Religion, among others," said Bellantoni. "All of these disciplines are important in a post 9/11 world and (one that in focuses on) a global economy."

Bellantoni added that in keeping with the new general education structure that allows students to pursue their chosen areas of interest, "We could not make one exception without making exceptions in other areas."

He said that it is the committee's belief that the current proposed structure actually encourages students to take more courses in particular areas, especially if new, relevant courses are introduced. He cited, for example, a foreign language course that uses language as a vehicle to study other cultures.

Most other colleges require their students to take three to six credits in any language.

"This new proposal, if instituted, would encourage faculty to create new courses, or revise existing courses, as a way to attract students to their discipline. It is a very capitalist and competitive approach, but one that we believe will affect the quality of course offerings in a positive way. If faculty step up to this challenge, the liberal arts education at Mercy could become quite unique," said Bellantoni.

The Foreign Language Department is hoping for at least a three-credit requirement in the disciplinary grouping titled International Language for Mercy students.

With this three-credit requirement, students will have the choice of either continuing with their foreign language education or moving on to other classes after just one semester.

The Foreign Language Department feels that the student should be graduating Mercy College with a basic understanding of one language while being able to read, write, and speak it.

"Foreign languages allow all of us to develop our social skills, passion for literature, and the opportunity to experience traveling abroad fully," Guisuraga said.

"We, the faculty in the Modern Foreign Language Department at Mercy College, firmly believe that a well-educated college person should be required to have a knowledge of other languages. It is in the student's best interest career-wise," Perdigo stated.