Accept Languages For Core Credit

Next Tuesday, the full Faculty will meet to discuss the Faculty Council's recommendations for how to enhance the foreign-language requirements and reduce the number of required courses. To that end, we would like to propose a plan that will, proverbially speaking, kill two birds with one stone: increase the satisfactory score for fulfilling the language requirement and count one year of foreign-language study, after which students are supposed to be able to engage in basic communication, reading and writing, toward Foreign Cultures Core credit.

The goal of changing the foreign-language requirement is to increase proficiency in a foreign language. The argument is that a score of 600 on the SAT-II is insufficient for establishing true facility in a language and that getting a D-, the current passing grade, does not guarantee much more. At the same time, the general tenor of the discussion indicates that the Faculty feels that, between the Core, Expos and demonstrated language proficiency, there are too many requirements for undergraduates.

We agree on both counts. We would also add that the paltry offerings in some of the Core areas, including Foreign Cultures, only add to the burden of academic requirements. To summarize: first, graduates of Harvard College should be able to converse in a language other than English, because the College should not be sending culturally illiterate students into the world; second, the current requirements do not ensure this outcome; and third, we have too many course obligations. All of which makes our solution particularly palatable.

The Faculty Council offered a similar option. However, in its version, students would need to take four language courses, or two years, to satisfy the Foreign Cultures requirement. This suggestion unfortunately fails criterion No. 3. But the spirit of the recommendation is sound: foreign cultures are best approached through the languages their members speak.

This proposal will most benefit those needing to fulfill language and Foreign Cultures requirements. For those interested in learning another language, being able to count their studies as fulfilling Foreign Cultures will reduce their burden and free up some electives. And perhaps the freer market in courses fulfilling Foreign Cultures will compel the Core to offer more classes for the rest of us.