“外语学习和教学的不足会阻止我们在外国媒体环境中进行有效沟通”【龙_Loong

“外语学习和教学的不足会阻止我们在外国媒体环境中进行有效沟通”

　　2006年，美国总统布什发布了 National Security Language Initiative（国家语言安全项目）。

　　美国官员在新闻发布会上说：

An essential component of U.S. national security in the post-9/11 world is the ability to engage foreign governments and peoples, especially in critical regions, to encourage reform, promote understanding, convey respect for other cultures and provide an opportunity to learn more about our country and its citizens. To do this, we must be able to communicate in other languages, a challenge for which we are unprepared.

　　（谷歌翻译：在 9/11 后世界中，美国国家安全的一个重要组成部分是能够让外国政府和人民，尤其是关键地区的外国政府和人民参与进来，以鼓励改革、促进理解、表达对其他文化的尊重，并提供机会更多地了解我们的国家及其公民。为此，我们必须能够用其他语言进行交流，这是我们毫无准备的挑战。）

Deficits in foreign language learning and teaching negatively affect our national security, diplomacy, law enforcement, intelligence communities and cultural understanding. It prevents us from effectively communicating in foreign media environments, hurts counter-terrorism efforts, and hamstrings our capacity to work with people and governments in post-conflict zones and to promote mutual understanding. Our business competitiveness is hampered in making effective contacts and adding new markets overseas.

　　（谷歌翻译：外语学习和教学的不足会对我们的国家安全、外交、执法、情报界和文化理解产生负面影响。它阻止我们在外国媒体环境中进行有效沟通，损害反恐努力，并削弱我们与冲突后地区的人民和政府合作以及促进相互理解的能力。我们的商业竞争力在建立有效联系和开拓海外新市场方面受到阻碍。）

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　　美国人真谦虚：“我们必须能够用其他语言进行交流，这是我们毫无准备的挑战”，“外语学习和教学的不足”。能够直面问题，不文过饰非，不是尽量把问题朝好的方面去想（“外国人自己会来学习中国文化，正确理解中国 dragon 的”），才可能重视问题，花力气去解决问题。只有把问题一个个解决掉了，国家才会越来越好。

　　世界唯一超级大国美国居然如此重视国际上的主要外语，由总统亲自发布国家语言安全项目。美国总统日理万机，肯定不会是他突然想到要搞这个事情，而是美国有关学者提出要重视这个问题，最后被官方接受，学者建议上升为国家行为。

　　反观我们中国的很多专家教授在外语问题上漫不经心，把外国人对中国的象征物龙的理解寄希望于外国人自觉主动地来了解中国文化，明白中国的 dragon 不是欧美的 dragon，从而正确理解中国的龙，以及龙所象征的中国，明白中国并非如欧美 dragon 那样邪恶。

　　中国的事情千头万绪，解决译龙问题是外语学界专家教授的本职工作。上世纪八十年代中国老一辈外语学者就已经注意到并指出译龙为 dragon 是一个错误，四十年过去了，译龙问题至今没有得到解决，外语学界堪称严重失职。

新闻发布会内容全文：

Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
January 5, 2006

National Security Language Initiative

Briefing by Dina Powell, Assistant Secretary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs and
Barry Lowenkron, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor

President Bush today launched the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI), a plan to further strengthen national security and prosperity in the 21st century through education, especially in developing foreign language skills. The NSLI will dramatically increase the number of Americans learning critical need foreign languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Farsi, and others through new and expanded programs from kindergarten through university and into the workforce. The President will request $114 million in FY07 to fund this effort.

To address these needs, under the direction of the President, the Secretaries of State, Education and Defense and the Director of National Intelligence have developed a comprehensive national plan to expand U.S. foreign language education beginning in early childhood and continuing throughout formal schooling and into the workforce, with new programs and resources.

The agencies will also seek to partner with institutions of learning, foundations and the private sector to assist in all phases of this initiative, including partnering in the K-16 language studies, and providing job opportunities and incentives for graduates of these programs.

The National Security Language Initiative has three broad goals:

Expand the number of Americans mastering critical need languages and start at a younger age by:

• Providing $24 million to create incentives to teach and study critical need languages in K-12 by re-focusing the Department of Education's Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grants.

• Building continuous programs of study of critical need languages from kindergarten to university through a new $27 million program, which will start in 27 schools in the next year through DOD's NSEP program and the Department of Education, and will likely expand to additional schools in future years.

• Providing State Department scholarships for summer, academic year/semester study abroad, and short-term opportunities for high school students studying critical need languages to up to 3,000 high school students by summer 2009.

• Expanding the State Department Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program, to allow 300 native speakers of critical need languages to come to the U.S. to teach in U.S. universities and schools in 2006-07.

• Establishing a new component in State's Teacher Exchange Programs to annually assist 100 U.S. teachers of critical need languages to study abroad.

• Establishing DNI language study "feeder" programs, grants and initiatives with K-16 educational institutions to provide summer student and teacher immersion experiences, academic courses and curricula, and other resources for foreign language education in less commonly taught languages targeting 400 students and 400 teachers in 5 states in 2007 and up to 3,000 students and 3,000 teachers by 2011 in additional states.

Increase the number of advanced-level speakers of foreign languages, with an emphasis on critical needs languages by:

• Expanding the National Flagship Language Initiative to a $13.2 million program aiming to produce 2,000 advanced speakers of Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Persian, Hindi, and Central Asian languages by 2009.

• Increasing to up to 200 by 2008 the annual Gilman scholarships for financially-needy undergraduates to study critical need languages abroad.

• Creating new State Department summer immersion study programs for up to 275 university level students per year in critical need languages.

• Adding overseas language study to 150 U.S. Fulbright student scholarships annually.

• Increasing support for immersion language study centers abroad.

Increase the number of foreign language teachers and the resources for them by:

• Establishing a National Language Service Corps for Americans with proficiencies in critical languages to serve the nation by:

1. Working for the federal government; and/or

2. Serving in a Civilian Linguist Reserve Corps (CLRC); and/or

3. Joining a newly created Language Teacher Corps to teach languages in our nation's elementary, middle, and high schools.

This program will direct $14 million in FY07 with the goal of having 1,000 volunteers in the CLRC and 1,000 teachers in our schools before the end of the decade.

• Establishing a new $1 million nation-wide distance-education E-Learning Clearinghouse through the Department of Education to deliver foreign language education resources to teachers and students across the country.

• Expand teacher-to-teacher seminars and training through a $3 million Department of Education effort to reach thousands of foreign language teachers in 2007.

2006/12

Released on January 5, 2006

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