Prospects and Challenges:Critical Language & Cultural Competency in the Military and Beyond

•Global Engineering•Practices•Relationships•Impact•Challenges

Phil McKnightGeorgia Tech

Project GO (Global Officers) Conference, San Diego, November 9-10, 2008

Contexts

Source: Berlitz School

Models at Georgia TechHow to Make it Work

• Georgia Tech International Plan – How it can work for Engineers• Student input and administration response and program development• Focus on Engineering, Technology and International Affairs• Opportunities, Barriers and Contexts• Implementation and Decision-making• How GT can collaborate with other schools• LBAT, Internships, Study, Experience

Designing Global EngineeringTake their pulse: What do Students Want?

• Competitiveness in their career and the Job Market• Globalization of their skills• Intercultural Understanding• Foreign Language Skills (ca. 30%)• Adventure and Challenging Experiences

Kendall Chuang (ECE and International Plan) in Chinatown, Yokohama, Japan, during 12 month internship with NTT Microsystem Integration Laboratories

Barriers - Students

• Do they want to go? Yes: (40-90%)• But:

– Cannot earn course credit towards my major– Cannot afford it– Fail to graduate on time– ROTC commitments and requirements– Campus commitments– Parents opposed

Barriers – Faculty & Administration

• State legislation– 4-years time to graduation (financial aid)

• Language Departments won’t cooperate• Engineering units won’t cooperate

– Rigid Curriculum• Failure to recognize value added• Foreign university programs are “below

standards”• Can ROTC Units integrate?

ROTC Language & Culture Project at Georgia TechAll projects include supplemental intensive language programs on site

• Arabic– Create faculty-led intensive summer program (LBAT)

• Two countries will be selected, e.g., Egypt and Dubai– Establish partner university

• Bridge from LBAT to in-semester intensive language training– Establish internship opportunites– Enhance upper division courses

• Korean– Create faculty-led intensive summer program (LBAT)– Enhance upper divison courses– Partner universities (KAIST, etc.) are in place

• Bridge from LBAT to intensive language training– Some internships are in place

• Russian– Create new partner university for technology and engineering– Explore internship opportunities

• Chinese– Expand faculty-led intesnive summer program from 6 to 9 credits– Expand internship opportunities– Revise online Chinese courses

Global (Engineering) Excellence

Common Goal and Vision for Engineers:

• Technically adept• Broadly knowledgeable

• Innovative and entrepreneurial• Commercially savvy• Multilingual

• Culturally aware• Knowledgeable about world markets• Professionally flexible and mobile

Collaborative Study sponsored by ContinentalTU Darmstadt, ETH Zürich, Georgia Tech, MIT, Shanghai Jiao Tong University,

Tsinghua University, Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo

Globalization is rapidly changing the way national economies around the world design, produce, distribute and consume goods and services. Engineers need to work in teams and on projects with members from different nations and continents. They need to be internationally mobile, whether physically or virtually –intersects with ROTC goals.

Paul Camuti, President & CEO, Siemens Corporate Research

“Engineering the Future: Staying Competitive in the Global Economy,” Keynote Speech, International Engineering Colloquium, Atlanta Nov. 10, 2005.

A Philosophy for Modern Languages

– Develop advanced communication skills– Promote creative thinking– Develop professional competence– Prepare young people for life and work in the global

community– Open access to cultural understanding– Be responsive to students’ goals

Apply to all disciplines—and meet parameters defined by business executives and by government agencies

Work to meet Georgia Tech’s Strategic Plan: 50% of undergraduates should have a foreign experience

Taking the Pulse of Students: SurveysGeorgia Tech Fall 2007 Data

Students Interested in Internships Abroad

0%Yes: 786 50%

No: 797 50%

Top ChoicesTop Destinations, Target Countries, all students

2006 2006 2008

France 170 171 278

Japan 141 148 132

Spain 120 130 149

Germany (+Austria 1, Switzerland 2) 98 113 78

China (+ Hong Kong 1, +Taiwan 2) 51 89 173

Mexico 31 29 116

Russia 22 8 9

Arabic-speaking 20 22 22

South Korea 17 26 16

Argentina 16 8

Chile 10 0

Switzerland 6 2

Brazil 5 0

Costa Rica 5 0

Belgium 4 0

Colombia 3 0

Peru 3 0

West Africa 3 0

Latin America (all, including not named) 77 43 16

152

127

8413 13 6

Preferred Models for the International Plan

Study + Intern Multiple Models Two study terms

Intern + Research Two Intern Study + Research

Top Majors (2007)

106

65 59 52 51 51 44 46 30 30 28 26 180

50

100

150

IAML ECE INTA IE ME MGT CS AE ARCH BME BIOL CHEM CE

Create Practices to Achieve Professional Competency

• LBAT• Collaborative and Joint Degrees• LAC projects and interdisciplinary collaboration• Learning not confined to classroom• Corporate relationships and GT-TUM-Siemens program• Transition to the International Plan• Student success and assessment

Creating Bridges toWorldwide Opportunities

Create Connections to the World

Signature Programs: Language for Business and Technology(China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Russia)

In Planning with support from Grant: Arabic-speaking and South Korea

– In- and Out-of-Classroom on location– Business Site Visits– Speaker Series– Excursions – Cultural events – Student Research– Field-based Projects– Over 1,000 students have completed LBAT– Significant improvement on the ACTFL scale

Expand Opportunities: LBAT+ Continuation

• Intensive Chinese Business, Technology and Cultural Courses• Shanghai Jiaotong University

Company site visits, Siemens, TI• Community Practicum Activities• Continued Study at SJTU (Semester of Chinese) – Special needs for

critical languages– Probably a prerequisite for study and work

• 2nd Semester of Study in Discipline, or 6-month Internship• Began Summer 2007• Options to Renmin University for non Engineering students

Corporate and International Relationships: GT-Siemens-TUM Model

Georgia Tech: 1st and/or 2nd year● Disciplinary and foreign language studies

Overseas: 2nd or 3rd year● Language for Business and Technology Program● Four-week intensive German and orientation at the Technical University

of Munich (TUM) (credit transfer)● Winter Semester at TUM● Six-month internship with Siemens, others

China, Japan, Korea, Russia, France, Mexico, Egypt

Georgia Tech International Plan

• Two Terms Abroad: any combination of:– Study semester– Internship– Research Project

• Demonstrated Professional Proficiency in a Foreign Language– Creating the pathway to success– ACTFL Intermediate High (French, German, Spanish: LBAT +– ACTFL Intermediate Mid (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian): LBAT +

language training on location +• Title VI

– ACTFL Telephone OPI (objectivity) administered by LTI)• Course Work

– One course focused on international relations– One course focused on global economics– One course focused on society and culture of another country or region– Capstone course integrating foreign experience with student’s discipline

Georgia Tech Model Implementation:

Mandate from Provost – SACS Quality Enhancement

● Buy-in from individual majors

● Structurally integrated concept

● Language Proficiency (not defined by seat time)

● Global Disciplinary Practice

● Intercultural Assimilation

● Assessment

International Plan Designator

• Engineering & others modify curriculum (slightly)– Electives used for new courses or language

• Accepting credit from abroad– Undergraduate advisors interact with advisors from foreign universities,

and approve courses• Creation of 4-year models

– IP is a degree option, not a new degree– A working model for acceptance, but with flexibility

• Foreign language option for advance skills in linguistic, technical and intercultural competency

• English option– Countries where English is spoken

Global CompetenceGT International Plan to Strengthen Global

Competence

An Interdependent global community requires:• Globalize the educational experience• Prepare students for leadership roles in business, government, military

and academics• Develop professional proficiency in another language• Gain knowledge of international disciplinary practices• Adapt to foreign-based workplace methods• Acquire intercultural knowledge and ability to move with ease in other

cultures• Ability to live, work, perform research, interact culturally in other countries

Informal Pilot Assessment & FeedbackValue Added: Student Internship Experiences

• Learned to perform a wide variety of technical tasks– Hands-on opportunities– Teamwork (learned during internship)– Independence and responsibility– Learned more than in similar internships in US

• Career Value– Compete in global markets– Understand other cultures– Develop language and technical skills– Adjust to different work environments

Successes

Doug Niggley (AE): LBAT, TU Munich, internship Lufthansa Technik, Hamburg:Siemens International Associates Program: 3 Year Appt. in Germany

Nick Karnezos (ME): LBAT, TUM, Internship with Siemens. At Georgetown University for Law Degree program (International Patents)

Macfield Young (ME): LBAT, TU Munich, Internship with Siemens, 2nd Internship with Bosch in Brazil: Hired last spring by GKN

Eric Johnson"I spent a year working at Yamatake in Japan developing a software platform to assist researchers in my section. It was a great opportunity to apply my skills to real-world problems, as well as experience working and living in another country. During my internship, my work enabled me to gain practical software development experience, while my location challenged my foreign language skills and communication ability, and gave me useful insight into Japanese work culture. That international aspect helped me improve the skills I need to think—and work—globally."

Recommendations

• Georgia Tech Plan – it can work for Engineers• ROTC – can it work for Engineers with ROTC obligations?

– Issues requiring flexibility and coordination:• Required freshmen schedules – must start language study• Variables in summer training schedules• Support at the highest levels of command• Getting students through on time in critical languages: limitations and potential

– Create a separate cadre of students – these languages are not the same as Spanish and French: allow for adequate time

abroad• Security issues abroad and after returning

– Women cadets and midshipmen in Arabic-speaking countries– Security clearance after study abroad

• Collaboration with other schools: online courses; summer LBATs; exchanges

• How GT• Issues

www.modlangs.gatech.edu

“Language acquisition and foreign experience is not an add-on, but integrated into the discipline and oriented in the global practices of the discipline.”

--Georgia Tech International Plan