world knowledge & languages increase life opportunities kimoanh nguyen-lam executive director...

World Knowledge & Languages Increase Life

Opportunities

KimOanh Nguyen-LamExecutive Director

CSU Consortium-

Strategic Language Initiative

kclam@csulb.edu

U.S. Economy

American companies lose an estimated $2 billion a year

30 % of U.S. companies cannot expand internationally

International sales continue to exceed domestic sales.

Source: Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies andForeign Language Education for U.S. Economic and National Security – A CED Publication

U.S. Business Future U.S. manufacturing jobs: 1/5 exports U.S. business earning growth: 58 % from overseas markets (ex:Coca-cola

– 70% of profits from non-U.S. markets) U.S.-Asia trade: $800 Billion+ (outpacing U.S.-Europe)

Multi-national companies: 5.4 million U.S. workers U.S.-based multinational corporations: 21.8 million U.S. workers

Global mergers: more foreign parent companies in U.S. (DaimlerChrysler AG, Bertelsmann, and BP Amoco)

Future careers in business, government, health care, and law enforcement require global knowledge skills.

CA Economy

• International Trade Opportunities• Exports are 1/4 of CA’s $1.5 trillion economy• Over 1 million high-paying jobs in CA related to foreign

marketsFigure 1: California's Top Export Markets, 2002 - 2006

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

EU Mexico Canada Japan China South Korea

Trading Partner

Exp

orts (

in U

S$ B

illion

s)

2002

2004

2006

U.S. and the World

EU Citizens: 56% bilingual 28 % trilingual 11% multilingual

U.S. Citizens: 9% bilingual Source: Building a Fluent Workforce –by Janet Hulstrand – International Educator – Sept/Oct 08

U.S. and the World

Average # of languages spoken by business executives

European countries: 3.9 Latin America and Asia: 2.5 U.S.: 1.5

U.S. students are “strong technically” but “shortchanged” in cross-cultural experience and “linguistically deprived.” (RAND Corporation survey)

Source: Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies andForeign Language Education for U.S. Economic and National Security – A CED Publication

Benefits of foreign language study

Mental agility

Higher cognitive function

Higher SAT scores

Higher Education

Ratio of Introductory to Advanced Enrollments in 4-year institutions, for Top 12 Languages in CA, 2006

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

United States

California

Vietnamese

Portuguese

Russian

Arabic

Korean

ASL

German

Italian

Chinese

Japanese

French

Spanish

Introductory Advanced

Despite having the greatest number of students in higher education in the country, California

only enrolls 8.5% of these in foreign language. The majority of these are at the introductory level.

Time to Proficiency in Selected Languages:

Total average 300 hrs foreign language study

The Language Edge

California’s Multicultural Society

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2000 2008 2015 2025 2050

WHITE HISPANIC ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER BLACK AMERICAN INDIAN MULTIRACE

California’s population distribution by ethnicity:

Tim Scerba, CEO, Mexico and COO, Latin America

“The ability to speak multiple languages provides an edge in today’s competitive markets…

… Being multilingual and multicultural— is a powerful combination in today’s global market.”