The Modern Language Association supports education which promotes linguistically inclusivity and a broad and encompassing understanding of other cultures.  As the "English First" sentiment rises in apparent response to a rise in English dominant nationalism, it is critical to recall the juxtaposition with the rise of nationalism post-9/11. The MLA’s 2007 report Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World addresses the issues that arose due to low levels of foreign language proficiency among U.S. citizens.  Because of “The United States' inability to communicate with or comprehend other parts of the world became a prominent subject for journalists, as language failures of all kinds plagued the United States' military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq and its efforts to suppress terrorism” (MLA, 2007).

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Further, in an increasingly globalized world, a monolingual orientation towards language limits students’ ability to utilize discourses to navigate complex socio-political realities across cultural, linguistic, and educational contexts. Proficiency in languages other than English position our citizens at advantage for economic success.  The MLA’s 2011 report Learning another Language: Goals and Challenges, addresses the issue that “preventing students from participating in college-level language learning does them a profound disservice, diminishes our cultural capacities, and isolates the American public from the conversations of the rest of the world” (MLA, 2011). A monolingual orientation isolates global opportunities. Research by Rand Education shows students who acquire more than one language demonstrated more advanced skills in “problem solving, attentional control, the ability to switch tasks, and resolving conflicts” (MLA, 2019; Kroll, 2012).

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Response to Tenets of Proposed English for a Stronger America Act Legislation

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Foreign language requirements at universities would be dropped and foreign language study at universities and high schools would be made optional. 

As per the 2011 MLA position Learning another language: Goals and challenges: “It is the obligation of educational institutions to provide all students with opportunities to acquire fluency in a second language...Studying a nonnative language gives students the tools to appreciate other cultures. It enables students to recognize how languages work and to gain a more thoughtful understanding of their native language: by pursuing a second language, students learn how to use their first language with greater precision and purpose. 

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All students would be required to pass a national standardized test covering writing, grammar, and usage. And, universities would be required to use a standardized entrance exam and exit writing exam. 

The MLA asserts that standardized testing disproportionately favors students from socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds and marginalizes the diverse and multilingual student population which comprises most American colleges and universities. Standardized testing creates an inequitable standard not only for second language learners but native speakers of non-standard varieties of English and students with disabilities. The implementation of a writing and exit exam is an affront against non-English language speakers and speakers of other varieties of Englishes who may be unfairly evaluated according to this criteria but, in other more inclusive circumstance, might excel.

 

In 1974, the Conference on College Composition and Communication adopted a statement affirming students’ right to “their own patterns and varieties of language—the dialects of their nurture or whatever dialects in which they find their own identity and style.” Along with CCCC, the MLA affirms that,  “A nation proud of its diverse heritage and its cultural and racial variety will preserve its heritage of dialects. We affirm strongly that teachers must have the experiences and training that will enable them to respect diversity and uphold the right of students to their own language.”

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Increased funding would be provided to English Departments and to pay for more English secondary teachers across the United States.

Increased funding should be supplied to humanities, in general.  Public schools have historically not been funded evenly across the United States which affects academic preparedness. Further, as STEM initiatives are widely funded, for increasing international competitiveness, the affordances of a liberal arts education should not be devalued, such as critical thinking skills, disciplined reading, civic engagement, and intercultural knowledge and competence.