Requirements for Linguists in Government Agencies
Abstract
As part of the war on terrorism, it is widely recognized that the U.S. Government has a substantial and growing need for personnel with knowledge of foreign languages and especially languages that may be spoken in limited and remote areas of the world. In 2002, the Federal Government employed about a thousand translators and interpreters in four agencies responsible for security-related functions. These agencies also employ nearly 20,000 staff in positions that require some foreign-language proficiency. Yet there is a widespread consensus that requirements for foreign language qualified personnel are not currently being met. The report issued by the 9/11 Commission in July of 2004 makes several references to this deficiency and suggests corrective action to address it. Government agencies have addressed requirements for linguists in several different ways. Few observers believe, however, that they are adequate to what appears to be likely escalating requirements of coming years. In particular, greater human intelligence collection, widely advocated by intelligence specialists, creates a need for officials with near-perfect qualifications in local languages or dialects. Given growing requirements for skills in a wide variety of less commonly taught languages, federal agencies are increasingly turning to persons who have learned foreign languages at home. Foreign language instruction at U.S. academic institutions has tended to concentrate on a small number of languages, especially Spanish, French, other Romance languages. There are far too few graduates who have acquired language skills currently needed by federal agencies and fewer still whose skills enable them to interpret or engage in complex conversations. At the present time, a number of issues in regard to foreign language capabilities appear to be receiving congressional attention, particularly funding. This report addresses many of these issues and is intended as background only and will not be updated.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 02, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA449886
Entities
People
- Jeffrey J. Kuenzi
Organizations
- Library of Congress