Reply to WVU cutting 32 majors, all foreign languages

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]You don't pay shit ton of money and major in a language at a college.

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Nobody pays a shit ton to attend WVU. Hopefully they'll still offer the classes outside of a major because a flagship not even offering languages would make them a joke.

"The university offered a lengthier explanation for why it is nixing its seven language programs, in areas like Chinese, French and German. It said student interest in the programs “is very low and declining. The institution is also considering eliminating language requirements for all majors.” [/quote]

As an academic, I can tell you that it sounds like a lot of bureaucrats who don't really know much about education made these rules.  (My understanding is that outside consultants who also apparently don't really value education were brought in as well.)

Of particular concern is the statement that "students will have access to a language learning app if they still want to learn the foreign language."   I guess I'm old-fashioned and idealistic enough to still believe that learning a language isn't just about repeating some phrases to an AI and having it correct your pronunciation.  I was fortunate enough to read poetry and newspapers in a foreign language while in high school and college, and to develop an understanding of how language and literature from a particular culture is both reflective of that culture's mindset and how it helps to shape that mindset.  I actually cared about things like what sorts of metaphors people used, what kinds of jokes they told.   I went on to serve in the foreign service where I performed tasks like talking to editors and newspaper reporters, reading editorials in the native language.  I don't think that someone trained on an app could have done this as well.  I currently work with military students and there's a lot of emphasis on perhaps undrestanding the mindset of the Chinese if we are to someday go to war with China.  Again, I'm not sure you can get all that from Rosetta Stone.[/quote]

My grandfather was a linguist and an academic: he taught English, French, and Italian at the university level.  There is no comparison between in-person instruction of foreign language and…an app.

I took Latin in high school and had a wonderful teacher.  There is so much more to learning a language than rote memorization. [/quote]

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