The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2005

demands for particular languages. We do try to get feedback from the students about the teaching qualifi- cations of their instructors. FSJ: So you’re not considering moving to a mix of native and non- native speakers as faculty? KP: No. FSJ: Another complaint some- times heard about FSI language instruction is that the program is geared toward “teaching to the test;” i.e., getting students out to post on time with the designated proficiency whether or not they have actually attained it. Are there safeguards to ensure that what students learn at FSI is what they need in the field? And is there a system in place for evaluating current language programs, especially the length of courses? KP: The School of Language Studies dean and his senior staff thoroughly review each language program every year. We also conduct an annual survey of recent language graduates who are overseas regarding the rel- evance and applicability of their language training once they get on the job. Last year, the language school initiated a survey of post management and supervisors to get their assess- ment of whether they were getting staff with the lan- guage skills needed to do the job expected of them. We then take those results and make the necessary adjust- ments to the language training. One example is the increased emphasis we are putting on active listening comprehension. There are certainly some issues having to do with the length of many of our courses, not just in language instruction. With the luxury, if you will, of the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative, and especially since 9/11, we have been working with HR to give junior offi- cers longer language training and more professional training early on. We’re finding that students really want as much train- ing as they can get in the hard languages, especially the incentive languages. The instructors obviously know what score the student is supposed to achieve at the end of the course, and they want to help them reach that level. So, yes, to some extent we are “teaching to the test,” because the score tells us whether the stu- dent has reached the requisite pro- ficiency in the skills being tested. The bottom line is that the purpose of the training is to enable the employee to do a particular job in a particular country, and to acquire the proficiency needed for that. We try to teach and test for what the students need to know. It is essential that employees acquire a professional vocabulary during their time at FSI. We are developing and using functional (consular, management, PD) modules in language training as well, and are mak- ing a particular effort to increase the amount of public diplomacy language training for all students — not just PD officers. While we teach an educated professional form of the language, we realize that people need to be able to function in daily life and we try to provide those skills as well. Fortunately, many posts have language pro- grams that bridge the gap between the professional level of language they learn at FSI and vocabulary they would use with shopkeepers, repair people, in restau- rants, etc. FSJ: I understand that the Language School has instituted two shifts of classes in Arabic, an early morn- ing and a mid-morning, to cope with the post-9/11 growth in demand. Are any other languages undergoing similar spikes in enrollment? KP: Yes, a few years ago we went to a shift sched- ule for a number of languages because we just don’t have enough classrooms to go around. That’s true not only of Arabic but Russian, Chinese and virtually all the others. As I mentioned, the actual schedule of how the classes are arranged during the day varies by language, so the Arabic schedule isn’t necessarily the same as French or Thai. FSJ: Given the current scheduling of longer days for language study, why does the FSI-affiliated day - care cen- ter still close at 4:30? KP: First, we make every effort to schedule parents with children during the early shift of language training when the day-care center is open, if that is what they F O C U S 46 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 5 “We have been working with HR to give junior officers longer language training and more professional training early on.”