Multiple Languages Better Serve Communities in Need

Nonprofit organizations are created to improve the lives of people in need. These organizations complement different aspects of society using their available resources either in health, education, or the arts to promote the social and economic development of all residents within a community. According to the National Council of Nonprofits, individuals who conduct or support nonprofit work cover an ample range of interventions that can vary from managing a food pantry to feed the hungry, providing life-saving trauma care for victims of accidents, to participating in relief efforts for hurricane survivors. All this humanitarian work can reach a larger number of people, domestically and internationally, when the people who are doing the interventions speak two or more languages. For instance, with U.S. Census forecasts predicting that by 2045 ethnic communities will become most of the nation’s population, it’s imperative to establish a reliable team of multilingual outreach teams to effectively meet the needs of persons in affected communities who might not fully command English. “The nature of nonprofit work makes the ability to speak other languages extremely valuable, and many times necessary” (Lyons).

Foundation List defines a nonprofit organization (NPO), “as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, dedicated to furthering a particular social cause or advocating for a shared point of view.” What better way to achieve an NPO’s goal and fulfill its mission than using the preferred language of the people being served? Multilingualism is a beneficial skill to have at hand when it comes to helping individuals in crisis or facing hardship, whether in our country, abroad, or in remote areas. When organizations don’t have bilingual or multilingual volunteers and employees, it can make the work of engaging and providing solutions more difficult. On the one hand, meeting new people, listening to their stories, and learning their needs while speaking with them in their preferred language is always insightful as well as rewarding. It allows you to connect with the person in an empathetic way and understand their concerns. On the other hand, it allows the individual in need to share specifics about their grievances, helping better solve them, while developing a strong and trustful relationship with the nonprofit organization’s team members.

The need to speak more than one language is becoming extremely relevant in nonprofit organizations because this sector is growing. The United States has 1.3 million charitable nonprofits. In fact, U.S. nonprofits are the third largest employer in the U.S. economy, as stated in the 2020 Nonprofit Employment Report from Johns Hopkins University for Center for Civil Society Studies. The National Council of Nonprofits states that the fundamental role nonprofits play benefits the whole community, not just the direct beneficiaries. The mission of this sector of providing adequate food, shelter, and access to reliable information to people of different ages, genders, races, or socioeconomic status is enriched when it receives and understands meaningful feedback from non-English speakers during outreach efforts. It also provides multilingual nonprofit professionals and volunteers the opportunity to work internationally.

For example, postgraduate students at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, recently conducted research to better understand language as both a problem and solution in the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. One of their research projects focused on water scarcity in India. Even though it rains sufficiently in India, limited access to safe drinking water has become a crisis, mostly affecting poor rural women who also experience low levels of literacy. Poor understanding of water conservation and political processes impact water allocation, contamination, and over-exploitation, making this a human-made problem that can be solved by engaging with rural communities orally in their preferred language through face-to-face interactions with the women affected. “When an organization, nonprofit, or business uses the native language of the group or community, know that your organization is also honoring that subgroup’s culture and traditions, promoting diversity based on the de-facto acceptance and validation of their cultural identity. In this way, your organization actively exercises the endorsement of different viewpoints, which are the essence of diversity and the rejection of conformity” (Ochoa).

If you are a bilingual or multilingual leader, volunteer, or professional looking for a new opportunity in the nonprofit sector, you can make a tremendous difference in society using your language skills. Contact Language Testing International (LTI) to assess your proficiency in one or more of over 120 languages. As an exclusive licensee of ACTFL, LTI conducts reliable and valid certifications through remotely proctored assessments that can take place at your convenience from the comfort of your home or office.

Sources

Foundation List. “What is a Nonprofit? Explanation of the types of nonprofits, definition, and the difference between “Public Charities” and “Foundations.” August 14, 2022.

https://www.foundationlist.org/news/what-is-a-nonprofit-the-types-of-nonprofits-definitions

Lester M. Salamon and Chelsea L. Newhouse, “The 2020 Nonprofit Employment Report,” Nonprofit Economic Data Bulletin no. 48. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies, May 2020). Available at ccss.jhu.edu.

https://www.michiganfoundations.org/system/files/documents/2021-08/2020-Nonprofit-Employment-Report_FINAL_6.2020.pdf

Lyons, Dylan. Bilingual Jobs: “How Language Can Make Nonprofit Work Even More Meaningful”. February 28, 2018.

https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/bilingual-jobs-language-make-nonprofit-work-meaningful

National Council of Nonprofits. “Nonprofit Impact in Communities”.

https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/nonprofit-impact-communities

Ochoa, María. Emprender Creative. “How bilingual social media content helps promote diversity, equality, and inclusion in nonprofits”. May 20, 2021

https://www.emprendercreative.com/post/how-bilingual-social-media-content-helps-promote-diversity-equality-and-inclusion-in-nonprofits

Piller, Ingrid. Language on the Move. “ Language and communication in crisis”. October 21, 2021: https://www.languageonthemove.com/language-and-communication-in-crisis/

The Effects of Linguistic Relativity on a Speaker’s Perception

Starting at the beginning of the twentieth century, researchers in the field of linguistic anthropology, notably Franz Boas and Edward Sapir, conducted experiments to try and determine what effect, if any, language has on a person’s perception. Though those initial studies have been hotly contested, the groundwork was laid, and we have made great strides since then in identifying the ways language affects a person’s perception of the world around them.

Mastery of another language makes you an ideal candidate for the hospitality sector, and studies show that it can also change the way you perceive the world around you.

In this short article, we’ll look at a few experiments and their subsequent results that we’re sure you’ll find fascinating.

Certify Your Language Skills Today

What Is Linguistic Relativity?

For early twentieth-century linguistic anthropologists, the hypotheses as to the relationship between language and culture differed greatly. The various hypotheses all fall under the umbrella term linguistic relativity. The most famous of these hypotheses is the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis that suggests that the particular language a person speaks has a strong influence on how that person perceives reality.

Early investigations into this hypothesis focused on a person’s perception of time—notably by studying the Indigenous peoples of North America in comparison to peoples of European descent. Later studies expanded on the idea, and it is those later studies we’ll be taking a closer look at in this article.

A Few Case Studies

The earlier Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is today largely scoffed at by academics. However, it still serves to inspire researchers to examine other possibilities as to how language shapes a person’s perception. Let’s look at a few examples.

Gender and Associations

Several languages—like German and Latin languages: Italian, French, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese—assign a gender to otherwise inanimate objects. Researchers asked the question: Does the gender assigned to an object affect how we perceive that object?

Here’s what they found:

When interviewing Spanish and German speakers, they asked them to describe words that were feminine in one language and masculine in the other, for example, “bride” which is feminine in German (die Brücke) and masculine in Spanish (el puente).

The German speakers used words associated with women such as “beautiful” and “slender” whereas the Spanish speakers used words associated with men such as “strong.”

These same speakers associated words such as “potent” with men. Likewise, objects that in their language were assigned a masculine gender were deemed to be more “potent” than those assigned a feminine gender.

The Russian “Blue” and Decision-Making

In a 2007 study, researchers examined how or if language affected one’s perception of color. Russian speakers have two words for blue—goluboy (light blues) and siniy (dark blues)– whereas English speakers have only one.

English and Russian speakers were tested on speeded color discrimination tasks. The Russian speakers fared quite better than their English-speaking counterparts. The results seem to suggest that language does have a notable influence on a person’s perception, at least in the objective recognition of colors.

Can You Smell This?

The English language has few words to describe odors, instead preferring to rely on similes such as, it smells like garlic. However, this is not the case in other languages, notably in the language of the Umpila, Indigenous hunter-gatherer peoples of Australia.

In a study examining the perception of odors among subjects across twenty different languages, Umpila people fared far better than people who spoke other languages. In fact, the study showed a direct correlation between the number of words for odors in a language and the ability of those speakers to accurately identify odors—also the speed at which they identified odors.

For languages with a richer variety of words to describe odors, such as Thai and Jahai, speakers of those languages performed better in the odor discrimination tasks than speakers of languages with few words to describe odors, such as Dutch or English.

Perfect Pitch

Perfect pitch is a term used to describe a person’s ability to identify the pitch of a sound—the degree of the highness or lowness of a sound. In diatonic music, for example, notes are differentiated by the names do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti (and “sharp” or “flat” to designate the notes in between).

Most musicians in the Western world rely on what is known as “relative pitch” to understand a musical motif. This means that the musician can identify and understand the relationship between the notes, but they are incapable of identifying a note’s pitch if that note is isolated. That ability is known as perfect pitch.

European languages are not pitch dependent. That is to say that the meaning of the word does not change regardless of the pitch it is spoken in. On the other hand, many Asian languages are pitch dependent.

For example, Mandarin has ten different syllable sounds. But each syllable sound can be produced in one of four different pitches: high-level, mid-rising, low-dipping, and high-falling. Other Asian languages operate in a similar intonation or tone-based fashion.

In a study of music students between the ages of 4 and 5 conducted by psychologist Diana Deutsch of the University of California in San Diego, approximately 60% of the Chinese-speaking students tested as having perfect pitch. This is in sharp contrast to the roughly 14% of their English-speaking counterparts.

A similar contrast was shown in other age groups, though the percentages did decrease as the students got older: Chinese speakers between 6 and 7 tested for perfect pitch at around 55%, whereas their US counterparts at around 6%. For students between 8 and 9, the percentages were around 44% for Chinese speakers and next to zero for their US counterparts.

What Languages Do You Speak?

While more research needs to be conducted, language, to some extent, has an impact on how we perceive the world around us. Which languages do you speak? How do those languages affect your perception?

The degree to which a language will impact your perception will have to do, of course, with how well you speak the language.

Get an official language certification, open new doors to exciting professional opportunities, create real-world opportunities, and find language jobs in the US.

Language Testing International, a leader in language proficiency assessments, has been assisting companies to utilize the language skills of their employees for 30 years across all industries. Reach out to them today for expert guidance.

Non-Clinical Job Opportunities in Healthcare for Bilingual Talent

When we think about job opportunities in healthcare, what automatically comes to mind are doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and pharmacists. However, while hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, and caregiving facilities are primarily seen as avenues for careers in clinical medicine, they also have a plethora of talent recruitment needs that are non-clinical. And just like many other business environments, there are golden opportunities for job seekers who command more than one language that do not require any medical school credits.

In 2009, I began working directly with a major hospital system in my state as a communications and marketing consultant. They needed help addressing their growing number of Hispanic patients. This is when I learned that hospitals are federally mandated to align with fifteen National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Standards (CLAS) of care, which include very specific descriptions of situations that require language assistance and the reasons why language proficiency in these situations is paramount. Following are the linguistically appropriate CLAS standards that healthcare organizations and professionals must be mindful of:

  • Offer language assistance to individuals who have limited English proficiency and/or other communication needs, at no cost to them, to facilitate timely access to all health care and services.
  • Inform all individuals of the availability of language assistance services clearly and in their preferred language, verbally, and in writing.
  • Ensure the competence of individuals providing language assistance, recognizing that the use of untrained individuals and/or minors as interpreters should be avoided.
  • Provide easy-to-understand print and multimedia materials and signage in the languages commonly used by the populations in the service area.

After 14 years working with various hospital networks across the East Coast, these are some of the non-clinical roles I have encountered where commanding more than one language is seen as an asset by employers in healthcare across various departments to meet the CLAS standards:

  • Communications Executive
  • Brand Manager
  • Copywriter
  • Translator
  • Voiceover Talent
  • Media Planner and Buyer
  • Public Relations Executive
  • Market Researcher and Analyst
  • Social Media Specialist
  • Supplier Diversity Executive
  • Vendor Relations Manager
  • Contracting Specialist
  • Customer Service Manager
  • Community Relations Liaison
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Executive
  • Video Remote Interpreter
  • Onsite Interpreter
  • Corporate Social Responsibility Executive
  • Social Worker
  • Event Coordinator
  • Medical Billing Representative

It is important to also note that opportunities for bilingual and multilingual candidates for jobs in healthcare will continue to grow. According to a recent study entitled “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers”, 41 percent of healthcare and social assistance employers say they rely “a lot” on employees with foreign language skills, and 65 percent are significantly more likely than employers in any other sector to say they have a higher demand for foreign language skills than they did five years prior. This shouldn’t surprise us since the latest U.S. Census confirmed a 276 percent growth of people who identify as multiracial or multiethnic from 2010 to 2020. It’s safe to say that the Census data supports the notion that the demand for bilingual healthcare professionals will likely increase given that diverse individuals, from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, grew from 9 million to 33.8 million just in the last decade.

So, if you are bilingual or multilingual and are looking to make a career shift, healthcare might be an industry that offers great opportunities to use your language skills to help others—and you don’t have to be a doctor or a nurse! Hospitals, clinics, labs, pharmacies, and medical practices are in continuous need of non-clinical professionals that can assist with complying with CLAS standards of care.

To demonstrate your level of language proficiency to a prospective healthcare employer, you can take ACTFL language proficiency assessments available for reading, writing, speaking, and listening that are administered remotely by Language Testing International (LTI). LTI has conducted credentialed language proficiency assessments for the last 30 years, helping over 5 million people around the world get their language skills certified. Reach out to them today for expert guidance on how to utilize your bilingual or multilingual skills to tap into promising job opportunities in the healthcare industry.

Sources

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Lead with Languages Campaign commissioned Ipsos Public Affairs, with the support of Pearson LLC and Language Testing International. (2019). “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers.” https://www.leadwithlanguages.org/report

Department of Health and Human Services: https://thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/clas

2020 U.S. Census: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html

 

Meet a Language Superhero: Miya Alcivar

Language Is Your Superpower Magazine cover: Miya Alcivar This month’s Language Superhero is Miya Alcivar. Miya is an office manager and bookkeeper, and she’s pursuing the opportunity to become an interpreter thanks to her language skills. She can fluently speak English, Spanish, and French, and is learning Korean. “Being an immigrant myself, I think the ability to connect with people in a language they understand is truly impactful. I can provide help to people that may have not been able to get any when they needed it because of a language barrier,” she said.

Read Miya’s story: Language-Superpower-Magazine-Miya_Alcivar

The 2020 Census and Language Proficiency for Patient-Centered Care

I recall when I began my career over two decades ago in Hispanic media in New York City working for large publishing houses on national Spanish-language magazines like People en español, Glamour en español, Vogue en español, and a series of other Latino-specific print offerings. Back in 2000 we tried our darndest to persuade big brands to advertise and promote their products and services in Hispanic publications because Latinos had become 12 percent of our nation’s total population—one of every ten people! It was safe to assume that there was a need to reach this growing segment of the U.S. marketplace. Part of our pitch was forecasting what the future demographic profile of the U.S. would look like, and here we are.

The recent release of the 2020 U.S. Census numbers revealed that 19 percent of the U.S. population today is Hispanic—one in every five people! Just in the last ten years the U.S. Hispanic population grew 23 percent, compared to 4.3 percent of all other ethnic groups combined. Having worked directly with hospital networks for the past 14 years as a consultant and owner of a communications agency focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, I have become very familiar with the challenges faced by English-language learning Hispanic families, and the critical roles that language proficiency and cultural competency play in delivering patient-centered care, especially during crisis situations.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has established National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Standards (CLAS) of care that provide a blueprint mandated by federal law for healthcare providers. I first learned about these standards over a decade ago while working with a local hospital in Orlando, Florida, which had just completed a community assessment unveiling that 40 percent of patients who entered their emergency room were Hispanic. They had no idea how to address this growing base of Latino patients. And so, URBANDER came to the rescue.

First, we had to ensure that we could garner feedback from Hispanic patients by speaking to them in their language of preference. Hospitals have exit surveys that are administered to patients when they are discharged, such Press Ganey and HCAHPS, to rate the level of care received based on patient satisfaction. If a hospital receives poor patient satisfaction scores, their federal funding might be compromised. This hospital had not offered Hispanic patients the option of completing the surveys in Spanish which resulted in low patient satisfaction scores. So, we made available dual language survey forms.

Then, once we received proper feedback, we started to implement cultural competency training for the emergency staff, created a series of Spanish language resources, and identified bilingual staff and volunteers that could help better engage with Hispanic patients throughout the continuum of care.

In the end, the results were impressive after only 18 months. Hispanic patient satisfaction scores improved by 45 percent because the hospital was better equipped to tend to their medical needs with an increased level of linguistic and cultural proficiency.

In my experience, it is of paramount importance to highlight the safety risk posed by not having bilingual or multilingual healthcare professionals within a healthcare system with the level of proficiency needed to support patient-centered care. Different roles and tasks require varying levels of language proficiency. For example, in the case of a Hispanic patient the person from Environmental Services that maintains and sanitizes their room does not require the same level of proficiency in Spanish as the nurse; the person handling medical billing doesn’t require the same level of proficiency as the surgeon, etc. Bilingual staff members across the continuum of care can be assessed for language proficiency in direct correlation with the job they preform, and this will help determine whether an interpreter is needed.

According to a 2019 study entitled “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers.”, 41 percent of healthcare and social assistance employers say they rely “a lot” on employees with foreign language skills, and 65 percent are significantly more likely than employers in any other sector to say they have a higher demand for foreign language skills than they did five years prior. With U.S. Census forecasts predicting that by 2045 ethnic communities will become the majority of the population, it’s imperative to establish a reliable team of multilingual professionals to stay competitive in the healthcare industry, and more importantly, create equitable pathways to quality care in alignment with CLAS standards.

Language Testing International, the exclusive licensee of ACTFL and leader in language proficiency assessment delivery, has been assisting companies in utilizing the language skills of their employees for 30 years across all industries. Reach out to them today for expert guidance on how to Identify and cultivate a pipeline of multilingual healthcare professionals for your hospital or clinic.

 

Sources

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Lead with Languages Campaign commissioned Ipsos Public Affairs, with the support of Pearson LLC and Language Testing International. (2019). “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers.” https://www.leadwithlanguages.org/report

2020 U.S. Census: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045221

Department of Health and Human Services: https://thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/clas

HCAHPS: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/HospitalQualityInits/HospitalHCAHPS

Press Ganey: https://www.pressganey.com

The Impact of Language Proficiency on the Provision of Healthcare

When a person seeks medical attention, they rely on the competency of the healthcare professionals they interact with to help diagnose, treat, relieve symptoms, and eradicate illness. It’s daunting and frightening enough to visit an emergency room for urgent and critical medical problems. The levels of stress and fear are heightened even more for patients with limited English proficiency.

As a communications firm that has been working closely with hospitals for the past 14 years, I have seen first-hand how bilingual and multilingual healthcare professionals play an important role in assisting patients with limited English proficiency navigate the ins-and-outs of their medical experiences. Whether it’s a routine checkup or surviving a heart attack, patients feel more comfortable sharing sensitive medical information in their preferred language, and they feel a sense of relief when their fears begin dissipating as they speak to a bilingual doctor or nurse.

The information the patient provides to the medical team informs the exploration of the causes of the health issue as well as the decision on the course of action, such as which lab tests to run. Medical terminology will also be better understood in the patient’s language of preference based on their level of health literacy. From triage to discharge, bilingual healthcare workers throughout the continuum of care can be instrumental in helping the hospital or clinic they work for comply with federally mandated National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Standards (CLAS) of care and mitigate risks. In addition, the provision of care in the language of preference is a way to enhance the patient’s involvement in carrying out discharge instructions, resulting in a faster recuperation time and positive health outcomes. However, people who work in healthcare and speak another language should assess their language proficiency to determine which type of jobs they can perform in their workplace environment to meet the demands of an increasingly diverse U.S. population.

According to the latest U.S. Census, from 2010 to 2020 there was a 276 percent growth across our nation of people who identify as multiracial or multiethnic. This represents a massive jump from 9 million to 33.8 million and very likely an increased demand for bilingual healthcare professionals. A recent study entitled “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers” revealed that 41 percent of healthcare and social assistance employers say they rely “a lot” on employees with foreign language skills, and 65 percent are significantly more likely than employers in any other sector to say they have a higher demand for foreign language skills than they did five years prior.

If you are bilingual or multilingual and are either interested or currently working in the healthcare industry, you are very likely to be recognized as a valuable asset to hospitals, clinics, labs, pharmacies, and medical practices already experiencing patients needing language assistance. You will also make an impact in your community by becoming an ambassador for equitable access to quality patient-centered care that eliminates the language barrier that all too often creates confusion or uncertainty. It would be beneficial to assess your language proficiency in direct correlation with the type of job you would perform in your second language. Some employers are even incentivizing employees that can confirm their language proficiency with extra pay. Once you have your official language credentials confirming that you can be an interpreter when needed, your direct supervisor might be able to help you secure a salary increase.

Language Testing International (LTI), the exclusive licensee of ACTFL, has been providing ACTFL language proficiency assessments for the last 30 years. Over 5 million people around the world have been certified by LTI for their language skills in speaking, writing, reading, and listening.  Reach out to them today for expert guidance on how to leverage your bilingual or multilingual skills to advance in your career as a healthcare professional.

Sources

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Lead with Languages Campaign commissioned Ipsos Public Affairs, with the support of Pearson LLC and Language Testing International. (2019). “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers.” https://www.leadwithlanguages.org/report

Department of Health and Human Services: https://thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/clas

Raising the Bar: Building Confidence in Teaching World Languages

The demand for skills in languages other than English among employers in the United States continues to grow. As stated in a 2019 survey commissioned by the ACTFL, about six in ten employers in different fields, including education services, expect the demand for language skills to increase in the next five years. According to the study, this implies that the education system must prepare students in different languages to be able to compete in a linguistic and culturally diverse global economy. But how can we ensure to have a pipeline of teachers that are fully equipped to educate and train new generations of workers in multiple languages?

One recommendation from a surveyed employer that was highlighted in the report is advocating for policies that create awareness of workforce needs such as funding early language-learning programs. Considering that less than 25 percent of people worldwide speak English and many of the children of immigrants become monolingual between the second and third generation, it’s critical to invest in well-prepared language teachers who will play a pivotal role in helping students command language skills that will meet the demands of the global economy in the near future.

Language teachers need proper support to face a variety of challenges, including maintaining the recommended level of proficiency required to teach a language effectively. An article by the International Center for Language Studies states that “People who speak multiple languages often report that their fluency in their non-native tongue ebbs and flows over time. It might flourish as a result of an extended stay in the target country and begin to slowly subside once they are back in their native environment.” (Simon). Among other challenges are the tendency of learning institutions to offer fewer courses within their language programs that are designed to practice higher levels of language usage. There is also an assumption that teachers will strengthen their language skills abroad during their summer vacations without considering their financial situation or travel restrictions after the pandemic. In addition, the fact that in some areas of the country there are a limited number of world language teachers, it becomes quite difficult to practice with a co-worker or peer.

As the demand for world language instruction grows in the United States, it’s important to strengthen the confidence language teachers have in their linguistic abilities. “Having confidence will only improve a teacher’s value as it naturally boosts their overall effectiveness. It is a key component of being successful. Students, in particular, quickly pick up on a lack of self-confidence and use that to tear a teacher down even further. Lacking self-confidence will eventually force a teacher to find another career.” (Meador)

Language teachers are also challenged by having to meet additional criteria to teach such as completing and passing a language proficiency test to attain their teaching certification. However, with current reports regarding teacher shortages, including English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) language teachers and dual-language programs, aspiring world language teachers may be able to jumpstart their career trajectory by pursuing accredited language proficiency certification. Language proficiency assessments from ACTFL are approved in 28 states for teacher credentialing.

Gary S. Becker, recipient of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Economic Science revealed in his study entitled “Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education” how investments in an individual’s education and training are similar to business investments in equipment. The economic implications of not meeting the demand for good, qualified, and certified teachers who can deliver quality education to the U.S. workforce of tomorrow are concerning. Additionally, unattended voids in language teachers will result in the nation’s inability to create a pipeline of speakers of world languages, limiting our significant participation in the global economy.

If you are bilingual or multilingual and interested in pursuing one of the thousands of vacant teaching jobs available across the country, you can strengthen your confidence and better articulate the value you bring to a language-learning environment by getting your language skills certified with ACTFL Proficiency Certificate. Through Language Testing International (LTI), you can complete an ACTFL assessment anywhere and at any time and receive an official proof of your language proficiency.

 Read more: Testing for Teacher Certification

Sources:

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Lead with Languages Campaign commissioned Ipsos Public Affairs, with the support of Pearson LLC and Language Testing International. (2019). “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers.” https://www.leadwithlanguages.org/report

Meador, Derrick. “Strategies for Building Confidence in Teachers.” ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020.

https://www.thoughtco.com/strategies-for-building-confidence-in-teachers-3194526

Ward, Micah. “Which states are hurting the most when it comes to teacher shortages?” District Administration, August 22, 2022.

https://districtadministration.com/which-states-are-hurting-the-most-when-it-comes-to-teacher-shortages/

 

Simon, Edwige, PhD. “The Challenges of Maintaining Proficiency Language Teachers”. International Center for Language Studies. October 28, 2021. https://www.icls.edu/the-challenges-of-maintaining-proficiency-for-language-teachers/

Florida Department of Education

https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/20042/urlt/7-2.pdf

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo3684031.html

Meet a Language Superhero: Madeline Martinez

Madeline Martinez superhero magazine cover Madeline Martinez, a bilingual writer and marketer, grew up in Puerto Rico and moved to mainland United States twenty years ago. She is our October Language Superhero. In the story she shared with her, she talks about her experience learning English and starting a career as a writer and interpreter. She also shares her experience getting her language skills certified with ACTFL language proficiency assessments.

Read Madeline’s story: Language-Superpower-Magazine-Madeline_Martinez

Eliminating Language Barriers in the Educational System

How important is it to have multilingual employees in different departments at schools and higher education institutions in the United States? The educational system in the U.S. is continuously receiving non-English-speaking students from different cultural backgrounds. Statista Data reflects that about 22.6 percent of school children did not speak English at home in 2019, and according to a 2019 survey commissioned by ACTFL, the high demand in the United States for foreign language skills in different industries—including the educational sector—will continue to grow in the next five years.

When a teacher includes multilingualism in the classroom, either by allowing students to use their native language or by using and implementing linguistically and culturally mindful resources and practices while teaching, the academic performance of students who speak other languages improves. As stated in “Multilingualism in the Classroom” by Laura Fields, “Language, as we know, is a large part of thinking. If we don’t allow kids to use their mother tongue, we may actually be silencing their inner voice” (Fields). The impact of using the native language of individuals of all ages in their learning environments and processes is an important factor in the delivery of a successful educational experience.

The continuous support of bilingual and multilingual faculty and staff members is vital for children and their families at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Effective communication with the principal, nurse, or school counselor, to mention a few administrative roles, could help make the engagement for the parents of new students much easier for them. It could also help speed up the learning process for children and support building a bond of trust between the parents and the school. “When it comes to education, there are many people involved in the educational institutions that help in successfully imparting education to the students.” (Surbhi S)

The same occurs at the higher education level for college students of immigrant families, as well as for exchange students coming from across the globe. Communicating their needs accurately can be difficult when there is little to no command of English. Having diverse personnel in your organization capable of addressing the cultural and linguistic barriers of these individuals is crucial. Students feel welcomed, safe, and relieved when not only the professor in the classroom, but the secretary or advisor in the Student Affairs Office help them in their preferred language.

A multilingual presence at the college level is equally important for international students who have legitimate worries about how their well-being might be at risk because of language barriers. As mentioned in the article “Worries and Concerns of Students Studying Abroad,” there are various challenges that students who decide to travel to another country face when they begin their academic experience abroad. One of these concerns is learning a new language while dealing with the workload of their courses, since not all of them are fully bilingual or command the language of the host country. Despite students knowing how to say basic expressions, most of them must deal with adjusting to a new culture and new places, and on top of that have no friends or relatives nearby to consult with. Other precarious situations that could possibly affect their livelihoods are handling financial problems, safety issues or emergencies, healthcare situations, and/or alleged discrimination by other students or authorities within the institution.

A reliable solution to measure the level of linguistic proficiency of faculty and administrative personnel at your academic institution is to provide language proficiency assessment. Partnering with a reliable language assessment provider, such as Language Testing International (LTI), can help you easily implement language proficiency testing at anytime and anywhere. LTI is a leading language assessment provider with 30 years of experience and an exclusive licensee of ACTFL, the authority in language teaching and assessment. ACTFL language proficiency assessment delivered through LTI provides legally defensible credentialing in over 120 languages. The tests are facilitated through a remotely proctored testing process that has certified the language skills of over 5 million people around the world.

Sources

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Lead with Languages Campaign commissioned Ipsos Public Affairs, with the support of Pearson LLC and Language Testing International. (2019). “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers.” https://www.leadwithlanguages.org/report

Fields, Laura. Multilingualism in the Classroom. Jun 10,2021. https://www.languagedrops.com/blog/multilingualism-in-the-classroom

Statista. Percentage of school children who speak another language than English at home in the U.S. from 1979-2019. https://www.statista.com/statistics/476804/percentage-of-school-age-children-who-speak-another-language-than-english-at-home-in-the-us/#:~:text=In%202019%2

Surbhi S. “Difference Between Faculty and Staff”. Key Differences. August 5, 2017. https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-faculty-and-staff.html

Team Maven. “Worries and concerns of students studying abroad”. Maven Consulting Services. July 15, 2020. https://www.mavenconsultingservices.com/article/worries-and-concerns-of-students-studying-abroad/

When It Comes to Education, Language Matters

As established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations, “parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children” and every child has the right to education. But what happens when students and their parents are immigrants who do not command enough English to accurately convey their needs and ask questions? Most parents want to help their children succeed and are willing to participate in their educational growth, but it becomes complicated if there is a language barrier. It takes a little bit of time for English-learning families to reach a level of English proficiency that would make them bilingual.

While the United States continues to become more linguistically and culturally diverse, providing services in languages other than English in educational settings has become a necessity, and it is also required by law. “If you’re a school which receives state and federal aid, this is an issue for you to pay attention to.” (Evans) The needs of students and families with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) must be covered. Studies report that 22% of the total population in the United States speaks a language other than English at home. According to the National Center for Education, there were 5.1 million students who were English learners (ELs) in the fall of 2019 compared to 4.5 million students in the fall of 2010. The percentage of bilingual or multilingual students increased in 42 states and the District of Columbia, and it was higher in urbanized areas.

Clear and reliable communication is imperative for the development and learning progress of a child. If an educational institution does not have sufficient bilingual or multilingual personnel to ensure that parents and students understand and meet educational requirements, the academic process could be a challenge. An effective and well-known way to support non-English-speaking families is providing interpreting and translation services from K-12 and beyond. Hiring individuals with the right skill sets in terms of language and cultural proficiency makes a huge difference in the lives of English-learning families.

With years of experience as an in-person Spanish Speaker Interpreter for parent-teacher conferences and back-to-school events in different schools and states across the country, I can attest to the benefits experienced by everybody involved. I have seen the happy faces of parents when a teacher praises their child’s behavior and witnessed a child’s joyful expression when the teacher describes their good academic performance and achievements. These moments are priceless. Additionally, another important task for interpreters is acknowledging and explaining to the teacher or staff members the cultural differences that might lead to misinterpretation. A behavior that for one culture is synonymous with demonstrating respect for another culture could be synonymous with rudeness. Upholding the ethical standard of confidentiality during the process of interpretation also makes parents feel comfortable; affording me the ability to create a safe space for the development of a bond of trust between the parents and the teachers. This outcome is very gratifying for me as well. However, I recognize that my most vital role has been to provide parents with the necessary tools in their preferred language, empowering them to engage in the educational community and help their children improve academically if they are having trouble with any subject.

There are different types of language support services in school districts nationwide, from American Sign Language (ASL) and Over-the-Phone Interpreting to the translation of official documents, to mention a few. Access to these tools and resources allows us to move forward in serving an increasingly diverse student body, and our schools and learning centers must continue to adequately secure staff with the bilingual and multilingual language proficiency needed to help facilitate the process of learning.

If you are a bilingual or multilingual professional who wants to measure the proficiency of your linguistic skills, do not hesitate and contact Language Testing International (LTI). As an exclusive licensee of ACTFL, LTI offers ACTFL-credentialed language proficiency certifications in over 120 languages, and their assessments are remotely proctored. I did mine from the comfort of my home!

Sources:

Evans, Jordan. Limited English Students: “How Schools Can Help”. Language Network. Jun 11, 2018. https://www.languagenetworkusa.com/blog/limited-english-students-how-schools-can-help#:~:text=Some%20Facts%20About%20LEP%20Students%20in%20the%

IES. National Center for Education Statistics NCES. “English Learners in Public Schools”. May 2022. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgf