Second-Language Skills for All?: Analyzing a Proposed Language Requirement for U.S. Air Force Officers

Abstract : Many official Department of Defense (DoD) and Air Force sources describe language skills as a key warfighting competency. Given the need to develop the language capabilities of Air Force officers, it has been proposed that all Air Force officers be required to demonstrate a high level of proficiency in a foreign language at the time they are commissioned. The Foreign Policy Advisor to the Air Force Chief of Staff asked Project AIR FORCE to evaluate how best to achieve this goal. In response, we reviewed relevant background information and research on adult language learning and designed and fielded a survey of Air Force officers to address the following: 1. Is a minimum score of 2/2 (limited working proficiency) or 3/3 (general working proficiency) on a language exam a feasible and achievable goal? 2. What potential consequences would implementing a language proficiency requirement for officers have?

[1]  Mohammad Javad Riasati,et al.  Antecedents of Willingness to Communicate: A Review of Literature , 2011 .

[2]  Paul Simon,et al.  The tongue-tied American: Confronting the foreign language crisis , 1980 .

[3]  David Crookall,et al.  Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation , 1987 .

[4]  William P. Rivers.  Self-Directed Language Learning and Third-Language Learner. , 1996 .

[5]  P. Skehan.  Individual Differences in Second Language Learning , 1989, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[6]  D. Hammill,et al.  On Defining Learning Disabilities: , 1990, Journal of learning disabilities.

[7]  Jenifer Larson-Hall,et al.  What does the Critical Period really mean , 2005 .

[8]  Edward L. Deci,et al.  Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior , 1975, Perspectives in Social Psychology.

[9]  Jim Cummins,et al.  Bilingual and Immersion Programs , 2009 .

[10]  Ewa M. Golonka,et al.  Third Language Acquisition Theory and Practice , 2009 .

[11]  K. Hta,et al.  10 A Critical Period for Second Language Acquisition ? , 2003 .

[12]  Håkan Ringbom,et al.  Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign Language Learning , 2006 .

[13]  Murray R. Barrick,et al.  THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS AND JOB PERFORMANCE: A META-ANALYSIS , 1991 .

[14]  A. Furnham,et al.  Extraversion: The Unloved Variable in Applied Linguistic Research , 1999 .

[15]  Kira Gor,et al.  Less Commonly Taught Languages: Issues in Learning and Teaching , 2009 .

[16]  How Many Learning Disabilities Are There? A Commentary on Stanovich's “Dysrationalia , 1993, Journal of learning disabilities.

[17]  R. Ellis.  Principles of Instructed Second Language Acquisition , 2008 .

[18]  Birgit Harley,et al.  LANGUAGE APTITUDE AND SECOND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY IN CLASSROOM LEARNERS OF DIFFERENT STARTING AGES , 1997, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[19]  Rebecca L. Oxford,et al.  Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know , 1990 .

[20]  Gary N. McLean,et al.  Theories Supporting Transfer of Training. , 2001 .

[21]  Holly M. Hutchins,et al.  Training Transfer: An Integrative Literature Review , 2007 .

[22]  John H. Schumann,et al.  AFFECTIVE FACTORS AND THE PROBLEM OF AGE IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION , 1975 .

[23]  B. Weltens.  The Attrition of Foreign-Language Skills: A Literature Review , 1987 .

[24]  A. Bandura.  Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control , 1997, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

[25]  Robert J. Sternberg,et al.  A Theory‐Based Approach to the Measurement of Foreign Language Learning Ability: The Canal‐F Theory and Test , 2000 .

[26]  Hyon B. Shin,et al.  Language Use and English-Speaking Ability: 2000. Census 2000 Brief. , 2003 .

[27]  S. Oyama.  The Sensitive Period and Comprehension of Speech , 1978 .

[28]  Ulrike Jessner,et al.  Metalinguistic Awareness in Multilinguals: Cognitive Aspects of Third Language Learning. , 1999 .

[29]  Elaine C. Klein.  Second versus Third Language Acquisition: Is There a Difference? , 1995 .

[30]  R. Dekeyser.  THE ROBUSTNESS OF CRITICAL PERIOD EFFECTS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION , 2000, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[31]  Speaking Foreign Languages in the United States: Correlates, Trends, and Possible Consequences , 2006 .

[32]  B. Leaver,et al.  Developing Professional-Level Language Proficiency: Preliminary qualitative findings from a study of the processes leading to the Advanced Professional Proficiency Level (ILR 4) , 2002 .

[33]  A. Tellegen,et al.  PERSONALITY PROCESSES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES An Alternative "Description of Personality": The Big-Five Factor Structure , 2022 .

[34]  R. Sparks.  If You Don't Know Where You're Going, You'll Wind up Somewhere Else: The Case of “Foreign Language Learning Disability” , 2009 .

[35]  Zoltán Dörnyei,et al.  On the Teachability of Communication Strategies , 1995 .

[36]  Zoltan Dornyei Richard Schmidt.  Motivation and second language acquisition , 2001 .

[37]  Gertrude Probst Muro,et al.  Attitudes and motivation in second language teaching , 1982 .

[38]  Self-Determination Theory,et al.  New Orientations in Language Learning Motivation , 2006 .

[39]  B. Chiswick,et al.  The Critical Period Hypothesis for Language Learning: What the 2000 Us Census Says , 2007, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[40]  M. Ehrman.  The learning alliance: conscious and unconscious aspects of the second language teacher's role , 1998 .

[41]  Thomas D. Snyder,et al.  Digest of Education Statistics, 2009. NCES 2010-013. , 2010 .

[42]  C. R. Petersen,et al.  The Development of the Defense Language Aptitude Battery (Dlab , 1976 .