The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), in partnership with the Board of International Language Coordination (BILC), has been awarded a multi-year contract to develop a NATO-sponsored standardized English Language Testing Program.  The goal of this program, which is to be funded by NATO, is to provide feedback to NATO nations on the English abilities of their tested personnel and improve commensurability across national language testing programs.

The nation’s largest professional association of language educators has seized on the Iraq Study Group’s recent report to President Bush as a call for action to deal with America’s growing language gap.  The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) put the focus on the report’s conclusion that American interests suffer because of limited language skills.

Voters in Oregon face a November ballot issue that could negatively impact the state’s language education programs, according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).  Measure 58 proposes a requirement that Oregon schools provide students with no more than two years of education in a language other than English.  Reacting to a news story on the issue, ACTFL Executive Director Bret Lovejoy said that Measure 58 “should cause concern among citizens who support the concept of language learning and multilingualism in particular.”

Your recent item concerning the Measure 58 question to be voted on by Oregon residents in November should cause concern among citizens who support the concept of language learning and multilingualism in particular.  Even in today’s challenging circumstances, this issue is too important to allow economic considerations to prevail.