Strategies for development of foreign langauge and literature programs

The concepts and examples of program development described in this book had their first incarnation in a faculty faculty workshop held at the Modern Language Association[s 1979 Convention. In retrospect, we can say that for faculty the event marked the end of a decade of decline and retrenchment and the beginning of an era of rebuilding. In four successive annual workshops and in the meetings, projects, and collaborative activities the workshops helped generated, faculty have learned to take a fresh look at approaches to basic language instruction, to the integration of language and culture studies, to languages for special purposes, and to the study of literature as an outgrowth of language study.At the same time, our profession has also witnessed a remarkable revival of spirit and of purpose. Faculty have discovered new forms of creativity, new ways to achieve consensus, new sources of support, new styles of leadership- all in the service of our traditional education mission.

New learning and new attitudes go hand in hand. For those directly involved in these programs and for others with whom they have bad contact, a vital and sustaining sense of renewal has emerged. Individually and collectively, these colleagues have found the resources to persevere through a period of low demand and to prepare themselves for an eventual resurgence of interest in language and literary study. The response has been strong in part because of the leadership vacuum left by the traditional vanguard-the foremost universtities and thier faculties- and in part because of a sudden flowering of leadership ability among individuals who had not been challenged before. This process has stimulated an astonishing increase in energy, and the result offer hope for an extended period of growth and activity in the years ahead.  The need for our profession;s services is substantial, well documented, and now almost universally acknowledged. Though we should not underestimate the complexity of our task, it is primarily one of organization and integration of ends and means. If our profession can learn to understand its needs, reclassify its priorities, and redistribute its rewards.