Language Lessons

In an academic year that began with the world-changing events of September 11, UCSC has expanded the global dimensions of its Language Program to include Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu.

In the days following September 11, appeals from U.S. intelligence officials scrolled across the bottom of television screens as the government sought help translating documents in Arabic. These urgent requests confirmed what Wlad Godzich, dean of humanities at UCSC, already knew: Arabic language classes were in very short supply at American colleges and universities. The government's appeals also reinforced his decision to expand the variety of language courses at UCSC, a process he had begun prior to that tragic September day.

Campus offerings have traditionally been rich in European languages, with courses in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. But UCSC offered only two Asian languages, Chinese and Japanese, and one Middle Eastern language, Hebrew. Godzich had already added the South Asian languages Hindi and Urdu to the fall 2001 curriculum, and he was preparing to phase in Cambodian, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, and Arabic.

Then came the terrorist attacks. "The events facing us made everybody realize that offering Arabic had become a top priority," said David Orlando, chair of UCSC's Language Program.

In less than 10 weeks--warp speed when it comes to implementing a new course--an instructor was recruited, classroom space found, and a five-quarter sequence of Arabic was begun in winter quarter 2002. Enthusiasm for the course was so strong that not all interested students were able to enroll in Arabic 1.

Arabic is one of only six official languages of the United Nations, with translation into Arabic available for all official U.N. meetings and documents. Arabic has the largest and most flexible vocabulary of any language in the world, a quality that lends it "an infinite capacity to generate new words," said Brian Miller, a graduate of UCSC (Kresge College '80) who was hired to teach Arabic.

Arabic's mutability played a crucial role in the transfer of knowledge back into Europe following the expansion of the Byzantine Empire in the eighth century A.D. Islamic scholars, for example, translated Greek mathematical texts into Arabic, before developing the math concepts and reintroducing them to Europe centuries later.

But Arabic's large lexicon has also contributed to its rating as one of the four most difficult languages for English speakers to learn, according to the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California. Arabic usually requires three years of study for functional fluency, while two years is generally considered the minimum period necessary to achieve a useful knowledge of most other second languages.

Instituting the Arabic sequence was a rapid response to international policy concerns, but Godzich had additional criteria in mind when he added Hindi and Urdu to UCSC's Language Program last fall. "Let's look at where we are, on the edge of the Pacific," said Godzich, "and what languages are spoken around us."

Hindi, the national language of India, is the fourth most widely used language in the world, with approximately 500 million speakers. Closer to home, a South Indian population of about 65,000 resides in the San Jose area alone. In addition, UCSC has a growing number of courses and programs involving the art, music, history, and film of South Asia (see related story on UCSC's "The Classical Music of India" concert in Campus Update).

UCSC also has an increasing enrollment of students from Hindi- and Urdu-speaking families as well as students who are "heritage learners." "These are students who are from that language background," said Orlando, "but don't speak the language of their parents and grandparents. We have quite a few heritage learners in Hindi classes."

Like Arabic, Hindi and Urdu have become important languages in international politics and diplomacy. Grammatically, Hindi is nearly identical to Urdu, the national language of Pakistan. "As words heard, you can't tell them apart," said John Mock, UCSC instructor in Hindi and Urdu. "But as words seen, they are totally different." Hindi is written from left to right in Devanagari script, which is also used for writing Sanskrit. Urdu uses a Perso-Arabic script, and is written from right to left.

In less than 10 weeks—warp speed when it comes to implementing a new course—an instructor was recruited, classroom space found, and a five-quarter sequence of Arabic was begun in winter quarter 2002.

The addition of three new languages in 2001-02 is only the first step in Godzich's plans to reshape UCSC's Language Program. He also envisions a time in the not-too-distant future when the program will enable the Humanities Division to adopt a language requirement and proficiency standard for all of its students.

The process of language learning will be changing at UCSC as well. Godzich has proposed that the program use emerging digital technologies, such as wireless handheld devices, to transform how languages are taught. This kind of development would also enable UCSC students to receive language instruction from other institutions, inside and outside the United States.

Combined with UCSC's proximity to the Defense Language Institute and the Monterey Institute of International Studies, digital communications also create possibilities for regional collaborations in foreign language instruction. "Traditional, isolated language labs are giving way to interactive learning environments and closer integration with other institutions," said Godzich. "UCSC is poised to join institutions around the Monterey Bay Area in the rapid evolution of language teaching and learning."

-Ann M. Gibb