Advocacy Resources

Michigan joins dozens of other states in offering a Seal of Biliteracy to graduating seniors with high levels of proficiency in English and a world language(s). To be eligible for the Seal, learners must meet English Language Arts graduation requirements and demonstrate Intermediate High performance or above on an approved world language assessment. The Michigan Department of Education’s Seal of Biliteracy website provides resources to help schools, teachers, parents, and students understand, advocate for, and apply for the Seal:

• MDE Seal of Biliteracy policy

• Webinar

• Promotional poster and brochure

• Video walkthrough of the application process

• ACTFL provides a wealth of language advocacy tips and resources

• ACTFL’s Lead with Languages campaign seeks to build awareness about the growing importance of language skills to a wide array of careers, and includes an Advocacy Toolkit with ideas for promoting languages in and beyond the classroom

• ACTFL’s Educators Rising initiative helps teachers engage their students to explore language teaching as a career through five ready-to-use modules

The Joint National Committee for Languages and National Council for Languages and International Studies, works to ensure that Americans have the opportunity to learn English and at least one other language, to advance the language profession in the US, and to raise awareness about the importance of language and international education to the national interest.

• A 2019 survey of 1200 American businesses, Making Languages our Business, indicates an urgent and growing demand for language skills in the workplace. Among the findings:

  • 90% of 10 U.S. employers rely on employees with language skills other than English

  • 56% say their foreign language demand will increase in the next 5 years

  • 47% have a need for language skills exclusively for the U.S. market

  • One-third report that they can’t find the workers with language skills they need

  • 25% report having lost business because of this language skills gap

• An analysis of research on the benefits of language learning reports multiple cognitive, academic, and cross-cultural benefits of language study and bi-multilingualism. These include cognitive benefits in advanced age, including delaying the onset of dementia. See Fox, Corretjer, & Webb (2019), Benefits of foreign language learning and bilingualism: An analysis of published empirical research 2012-2019. Foreign Language Annals, 52(3), 470-90.

• A 2017 Congressionally-mandated report of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, America’s Languages: Investing in Language Education for the 21st Century concludes that educating students to be competent in another language is essential to our nation’s economic growth, competitiveness, and national defense. Highlights of the include statistics on the current state of languages in the United States, and recommendations for a national strategy to improve access to languages. Recommendations are supported by testimonials and profiles of professionals for whom language skills have been key to their success.

• A 2017 report of the bipartisan policy think tank New American Economy, Not Lost in Translation: The Growing Importance of Foreign Language Skills in the U.S. Job Market, highlights the demand for foreign language skills in the American workplace, including findings that the number of job listings requiring language skills more than doubled between 2010 to 2015.

• The 2015 U.S. Department of Education report Dual Language Education Programs: Current State Policies and Practices analyzes dual language education throughout the United States, including information on the benefits of and need for these programs.

• A 2015 Foreign Language Annals article, Students with Learning Disabilities in the Foreign Language Learning Environment and the Practice of Exemption, reviews the literature on second language learning by students with learning disabilities, addressing the benefits of language learning, the practices and policies of language exemption, the perceptions of students and educators regarding exemption, and available resources for supporting students with special needs. It questions the policy of granting foreign language exemptions and provides insights for educators into the development of inclusive foreign language learning environments.