More than 100 U.S. institutions of higher education hosted Confucius Institutes (CIs), Chinese government-funded language and culture centers, on campus during the late 2000s and 2010s. While CIs provided a source of funding and other resources that enabled U.S. colleges and universities to build capacity, offer supplemental programming, and…

In this article, Jeff Bale reviews empirical research, policy analysis, and other forms of scholarly commentary on the long-standing rationale of framing language education in service of U.S. geopolitical and economic security. This synthesis directly calls into question the commonsense view that national security and economic competitiveness are…

As the United States continued to grow as a world power throughout the later part of the twentieth century, government funding for international education grew more closely connected to its national security needs. Federal funds have contributed to the growth of Area Studies and studying Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs). Within the last ten…

The focus of this paper is on US language policy statements that govern the priorities for teaching languages other than English in public schools and the language ideologies implied by specific management moves by the federal government to regulate language education, starting with the Bilingual Education Act (BEA) of 1968. Following introductory…

This study evaluates the language-related programs mandated in the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961, a federal policy designed to promote national security through the promotion of advanced language training and access of the U.S. government to such expertise. This study has two principal components: a retrospective assessment of the effectiveness of…

Title III of the National Defense Education Act of 1958 authorized a program of financial assistance of State educational agencies for projects of local educational agencies for the acquisition of laboratory or other special equipment needed in the teaching of modern foreign languages and for minor remodeling of laboratory or other space to be…

To confront the twenty-first century challenges to our economy and national security, our education system must be strengthened to increase the foreign language skills and cultural awareness of our students. America's continued global leadership will depend on our students' abilities to interact with the world community both inside and outside our…

Counseling pupils of high school age about foreign language programs fitted to their needs and abilities is somewhat more difficult than in the past, both because the objectives are different and because a thoroughgoing revision of language instruction is taking place at all levels of the school system. Guidance workers, teachers, principals, and…

The trend toward the development of functional communication skills and a longer sequence of language study has been hastened by an awakened public interest in modern foreign languages and by the emphasis given to language development in the National Defense Education Act. Both the immediate and the long-range objectives of foreign language study…