Chapter 3 - Foreign language needs assessment in the US military

Summary

Introduction

The process of language needs assessment (LNA) is of vital interest to the United States Government, which provides foreign language (FL) education and training to many thousands of individuals each year. A substantial portion of this education is provided by the Department of Defense (DoD) to members of the military services in order to ensure that language-related US security needs are met. The vast majority of military linguists receive their initial language education at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) in Monterey, California, where on any given day approximately 800 faculty members teach 22 languages to 3300 students, each of whom spends six hours daily in class for up to 63 weeks at a time. Clearly, the military services expend a great deal of money each year on language education, and they need to be sure that their funds are well spent, i.e., that students are being educated to appropriate FL skill levels. Also, systems are needed to manage large numbers of linguists, e.g., to specify how they will be deployed, what tasks they will perform and in which languages, and what proficiency level is needed to remain in good standing as a military linguist. Furthermore, and most importantly, the language proficiency requirements associated with a given military job must be known, because satisfactory job performance may well be a life or death matter.