Let’s be honest—money talks, but what happens when your customers don’t fully understand the language your money is speaking? In a country where over 68 million people speak a language other than English at home, the financial industry has a language issue it needs to address. And it’s a big one.
Clear communication in healthcare isn’t optional—it’s lifesaving. From intake and triage to diagnosis and discharge, every step in a patient’s journey depends on accurate, effective communication. For multilingual patients, language barriers can lead to confusion, delays in care, misdiagnoses, and even fatal outcomes. That’s why healthcare administrators must take proactive steps to ensure their medical staff are not only trained but also assessed for language proficiency.
Whether you’re running a small clinic or a large health system, these best practices can help you enhance patient communication, reduce errors, improve healthcare outcomes and support legal compliance and protection.
Spoiler alert: language education is important for college and career readiness (CCR)! Recently, Education Week (EdWeek) launched an informal poll among K-12 language educators on LinkedIn and found that nearly 75% of the roughly 1,900 respondents listed “adaptability as the most important skill graduates need.” Other skills mentioned were ability to focus, empathy, resilience, critical thinking, self-regulation, and work ethic. As EdWeek explained, “This LinkedIn poll is not a nationally representative, scientific survey, but it does provide a snapshot of what people who work in K-12-related fields are thinking at a time when many are reevaluating what skills students need to function in a labor market where artificial intelligence and economic shifts are already changing many jobs.” See the full article here.
What skills do high school graduates need? Here are a few highlights from educator responses to EdWeek’s informal poll:
“The world of work is being fundamentally changed by AI; however, the top skills required to navigate complexity and change remain uniquely human with emotional intelligence, cognitive flexibility, and communication referenced as top skills leaders believe will be essential for employees in an AI-powered future.” – Paige Johnson, Microsoft’s vice president of education
Let’s face it, we are living in a world of fast-paced work environment where language proficiency is no longer just part of a business’s “nice to have” capabilities—it’s actually a risk management strategy. This is especially true in industries where safety, quality, and compliance are directly tied to clear communication. Think for a minute how a language gap can impact outcomes, for example, in sectors like construction, logistics, manufacturing, food processing, banking and healthcare, just to name a few.
Have you ever considered engaging in a virtual exchange with a classroom across the world? After trying time-consuming pen pal exchanges, I wanted to find a way to connect my middle school language learners with their peers abroad to engage in authentic conversations in the target language. My hope was to expose them to the world and how language is used by students just like them, and to build motivation by providing a relevant, meaningful experience.
I am a mid-career teacher, having taught French and Spanish for the past 20 years in a public school district in the suburbs of Westchester County, 33 miles north of New York City. For the past five years, I have taught French in grades 6-9. Frankly, I love being my learners’ first language experience and sharing my passion for travel and the breadth of the francophone world and its cultures.
In the fall of 2023, I was offered the opportunity to expose my students to another country, culture and language through LTI’s Level Up Village (LUV). Over the course of several months, my 8th grade French students were able to communicate with fellow students from Dakar, Senegal.
At the heart of proficiency-focused world language instruction is a commitment to helping learners communicate in real-life situations, to interact, share ideas, ask questions, and negotiate meaning with others. That’s why the Interpersonal Mode of Communication, as defined by ACTFL in the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines – 2024, is so important. And it’s also why some might question whether interpersonal communication can truly be assessed in a computer-based format.
In today’s educational landscape, language programs face mounting challenges. Budget cuts, shifting priorities, and declining enrollment threaten the very existence of world language instruction in many schools. This trend is deeply troubling as multilingualism is an undeniable asset, and the demand for bilingual professionals is only increasing in fields like business, healthcare, politics, and national security.
For educators and administrators, the key to sustaining and growing language programs lies in demonstrating their relevance and effectiveness. This means harnessing data to advocate for language education, helping students recognize the tangible benefits of language learning, and providing clear evidence of student progress. The ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL), the only ACTFL assessment for learners in grades 3-12, provides exactly that: reliable, performance-based data that educators can use to validate their programs and showcase student achievement.
As language educators, we all want our students to develop real-world communication skills. But how do we ensure that our instruction aligns with the outcomes we desire? The key is setting clear proficiency goals and then selecting assessments that measure those goals effectively. Without intentional goal setting and appropriate testing, we risk misaligning instruction and assessment, ultimately leaving students unprepared for real-world language use.
Industry-recognized credentials can include certifications, licenses, and micro-credentials and are a quick way to signal to prospective employers that you have certified skills that are valuable in the workplace. Students in high school seek these credentials for many reasons: to gain full-time employment after graduation, to gain part-time employment while pursuing post-secondary education, or as a boost to their job or university application. Typically, the province of learners in career technical education (CTE), industry credentials encompass a variety of qualifications, spanning from cosmetology licenses to computer programming certifications and automotive service credentials. For example, students seeking employment in the food service industry might require credentials in food safety, whereas future firefighters may pursue certification in essential skills such as fire suppression and hazardous materials handling.
Have you heard conversations like these?