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532 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. 7 (1994)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0532 and id is 1 raw text is: PREFACE Economic and strategic pressures abroad as well as an increasingly plu- ralistic society at home demand the creation of an America that is far more language competent than it now is. How can we achieve this? The articles in this volume represent an attempt to illuminate critical policy issues and to begin to work on an overarching framework for foreign language planning that is anchored in the overall needs of our society. Our current foreign language educational system suffers from many prob- lems. Too few students reach a level of competence high enough to use another language effectively; language instruction in our schools is so segmented and discontinuous that teaching and cumulative learning are difficult; and our evaluation strategies are increasingly at war with sound pedagogical prac- tice. Teachers and students alike find themselves battling the architecture of a system that often undermines their most determined efforts to succeed. Fortunately, these issues are now receiving a great deal of attention both within and outside the foreign language community. Elementary and middle school language teaching is being reexamined; many states and school districts are replanning their high school programs; academic review com- mittees are reevaluating college-level teaching; proprietary language schools are about to agree on criteria for evaluating their programs; and congres- sional hearings will look at the adequacy of federal government language instruction. Both federal funding administrators and private foundations are taking a sharp look at their investment strategies. Such piecemeal planning is valuable, but it is not enough. It is time to step back and examine whether the system effectively serves our growing require- ments. We need a platform on which to stand to discuss what our agenda for change should be and how change can be made to happen. As a start, on 20-22 September 1993, the National Foreign Language Center at the Johns Hop- kins University brought together to discuss these issues some of the diverse influential groups, both within and outside the foreign language community, who are de facto policymakers. The articles presented in this volume are among the papers delivered at that conference. Support for the conference was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. It is hoped that the articles in this volume will help stimulate an important and informed discussion leading to the creation of a fresh set of policies for the improvement of our foreign language educational system. RICHARD D. LAMBERT 7

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