-- addresses URI's Dual Degree German - Engineering (or German Int'l Business) Program!
A Message from our President:
The last
years haven’t been very easy, not for the U.S. economy or political progress,
not for the European Union and its own immense economic challenges, not for the
Middle East, and certainly not for educators. Language educators can’t
claim to be working on problems of the same magnitude, but they face a
bewildering range of challenges on many fronts: blame for the underachievement
of students, pressing calls from all sides for reform, open hostility to
teacher unions, university administrations bent on curriculum redesign that may
or may not include our discipline, a deluge of ever-changing technology that
offers both pleasure and pain, the constant struggle to attract and retain
students, and the strange administrative mindset that learning a foreign
language somehow isn’t that important. That message was underscored by
the Massachusetts Board of Education in its refusal to update guidelines for
foreign language study and set a deadline for MCAS exams in languages.
But we know better. In a global
community and a global economy, knowledge of other languages and cultures
becomes an essential strategic skill. Many high schools now offer an
international concentration that substantiates advanced work in foreign
language, history and culture, along with foreign study or service work.
Our
students know better, and often they seek out colleges that meet their interest
in doing advanced work in their language of choice. Others with specific
professional goals can look for and find degree programs that combine language
study with training in engineering, international business, diplomacy, and know
their skill sets will far exceed those of other graduates.
As German teachers, we know the Cold
War may be long gone, but the importance of German in the international
economic context has never been greater. Germany has become the
unquestioned epicenter of the European Union power structure, and its
leadership exercises immense influence. Germany remains the leading economy
in the EU and maintains one of the lowest unemployment rates anywhere.
Germany continues to welcome immigrants, many of whom now arrive with advanced
degrees and training from other European nations, eager to learn the language
and find the work their native countries cannot provide. We know that
Germany remains one of America’s most important trade partners. German
companies in the U.S. employ over half a million workers, and they love it when
their employees can also speak German.
Last spring I met two students about to
graduate from the University of Rhode Island’s international engineering
program. These two young men were in love with automotive engineering and
in love with German. As part of their regular program of study they spent
a fall semester at the Technische Universität Braunschweig, deepening and
extending their professional automotive knowledge in their second
language. Then they spent the spring semester in internships. One
of them ended up road testing new model automobiles on the Autobahn, driving
night and day and under various weather conditions. The other ended up at
the BMW testing facility outside München, testing next year’s models on the BMW
track and giving performance reports to the engineering team. Both of
them ended up with full-time job offers in Germany, as did about 99%+ of the
graduates of this program. These two represent the coming multinational
workforce, prepared and ready to work in their field in more than one language
and more than one culture.
We as teachers are learning to
adjust our teaching to the changing needs of our clientele. The revised
AP German Language and Culture exam has been reconfigured to focus on
topic-driven authentic materials and the demonstration of more real world
active skills. Universities recognize that cultural studies may be just
as important to students as the traditional strands in literature and
linguistics, and that professional applications of language skills, internships
and foreign study programs appeal to a growing segment of the student
population. Change keeps coming, and that change challenges us to
innovate and grow.
Teachers of German in Massachusetts keep
finding ways to switch up their approach to language teaching, to make their
discipline more relevant to learners, to find ways to collaborate with
colleagues in their own and other disciplines. The presentations of German
teachers, both secondary and post-secondary, at conferences like MaFLA, ACTFL,
MLA and elsewhere give ample evidence of that work. We enjoy the active
support of the Goethe-Institut Boston, its active cultural program, its
language courses, and its DVD lending library. We get assistance from the
consulates of the Federal Republic of Germany, Switzerland and Austria and
their culture centers, and appreciate their active support of our mission to
keep German alive and well in our schools. To our dismay, we still get
reports of Massachusetts schools and colleges deciding to shut down their
German programs, but that only makes AATG redouble its efforts to strengthen
German studies in the state. If you sense danger for your program, don’t
wait---let MA-AATG know early so we can help you respond effectively.
Renew your AATG membership, attend AATG events and see how you can get more
connected and involved with your partners-in-arms.
J. Douglas Guy
President, Massachusetts Chapter, AATG
