By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green State University is preparing to bid adieu to its World Language Education Program.
Declining enrollment combined with Ohio Senate Bill 1 requirements are spelling the end to the program that immerses students in learning another language and culture. Many of the graduates of the BGSU World Language Education Program go on to teach foreign languages in high schools.
Few universities still offer teacher licensure in world languages – leading to a serious shortage of qualified foreign language teachers. The latest count puts the job openings at 400 for high school language teachers in Ohio, according to the Ohio World Language Association.
But over the past 10 years, BGSU has averaged fewer than four students graduating from the program.
“Over the last several years, Bowling Green State University has been conducting its own academic feasibility assessment to identify academic programs and courses with low enrollment,” BGSU released in a statement.
This includes the World Language Education degree program, the university’s smallest teacher licensure program that has continued to see further enrollment declines, with just three incoming students enrolled this fall semester.
“To ensure the university operates efficiently while managing limited resources, this program will not continue to enroll new students. All students currently enrolled in the program can continue to progress to their degree and are assured of meeting all degree and licensure requirements,” the university’s statement continued.
SB 1 helped solidify that decision, with the legislation requiring institutions to eliminate any undergraduate degree program if it confers an average of fewer than five degrees in that program annually over any three-year period.
On the World Language Education Program web page, BGSU promotes the opportunity as a language teacher to have a direct impact on the ability of future generations to be more globally connected in the 21st century.
“World language teachers are in the highest demand compared to other educators during this worldwide teacher shortage,” the website states. Nearly 90% of BGSU world language education graduates report they’re employed, in graduate school or starting a business within six months of graduation.
Undergraduates are required to specialize in one of eight languages: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Russian and Spanish. They also must spend a full academic year abroad. Students who earn licensure are able to teach in elementary (pre-K-8) or secondary (7-12) schools.
Alumni of the World Language program freely expressed their concerns.
“This program is not only unique within Ohio but critical to the training of future language teachers across the state, yet it’s currently at risk,” said Zoe Oswald, a 2021 graduate of the World Language Program.
“Other schools are already cutting their programs, like the University of Toledo. Losing BGSU’s program would leave an even deeper void in preparing qualified, culturally competent world language teachers,” Oswald said. “As a graduate who directly benefited from this program, I know how impactful it is not just for students, but for the countless K-12 learners who will be taught by BGSU’s WLEd graduates.”
Lesley Chapman, a 1991 alumna of the BGSU World Language Education Program, teaches French at the highly ranked Sycamore High School in the Cincinnati area. She is also the advocacy chair for the Ohio World Language Association.
Chapman was saddened to hear about the end to the program – and the inevitable trickle down effect for Ohio students.
“I went to Bowling Green only because they had the top language program in Ohio, and the top study abroad program in the U.S.,” she said.
Chapman’s choice paid off.
“I was much more prepared for my own classroom than many of my peers who went to other institutions,” she said. “Students are leaving my classroom with an understanding of the world, of communication, of critical thinking, and collaboration.”
Universities often tout their ability to address 21st century needs and skills for students. Yet many of them are cutting their world language programs.
“Only a handful of them remain right now,” Chapman said. World language education majors have been eliminated at University of Toledo, Miami University, Cincinnati University, and have been drastically shrunk at Kent State, Cleveland State, Ohio University and Wright State.
The effect will be felt at primary and secondary schools throughout Ohio, she said.
“It’s a trickle down effect,” she said, predicting that schools won’t be able to continue foreign language classes when there are no qualified teachers. That will be a loss, and a “watering down” of K-12 education in the state, Chapman said.
But BGSU assured that it will continue to provide education for future foreign language teachers.
“Bowling Green remains committed to providing academic programs that are in great demand by both our students and the state and will continue to provide pathways that meet these needs,” the university statement read.
“Students interested in teaching a world language in K-12 will continue to have several degree options at Bowling Green, including majoring in a world language and pursuing teacher licensure through the university’s alternative resident educator program, or enrolling in other education programs and earning a supplemental license in world language education upon graduation,” the statement continued. “These pathways provide additional career flexibility and have been in increasing demand from students and therefore will continue to be offered to meet student and workforce needs.”
But Chapman, who has been teaching high school French for 32 years, said the alternative program is not good enough.
“These people are not prepared to be in a classroom,” she said. “For a premier education university, which BGSU has been, this is an insult.”
“For a school like BGSU, whose pride and joy is their education program,” it seems uncharacteristic to cut this program, Chapman said.
