Abstract This paper describes an am...

Abstract

This paper describes an ambitious educational program uniting the efforts of Swiss, German, and French business associations, corporations, management agencies, and regional school boards in the Upper Rhine Valley, where economy and civilization transcend national borders. The objectives of the program are to exalt bilingualism, to teach the young the public what factors unite and what factors differentiate their communities, and to optimize conditions for prosperous economic unravelling based on knowledge of geographic, historical, socioculturel, and socioeconomic data. The focus of this paper is the program's textbook Leben am Oberrhein/ Vivre dans le Rhin Sup?©rieur [Living in the Upper Rhine Valley],1 created especially for the communities of the Upper Rhine Valley and the center of the program. The program is multifaceted and innovative. This paper concentrates forward Europe (where the program originated) as well as the United States of America (home to the author and the majority of Bilingual Research Journal readers) and its neighboring countries (essentially Canada and Mexico). still the program can serve as an inspiring gauge throughout the world for community leaders and educators wishing to assist bilingualism within communities formed at native speakers of a dominant language and form into groupss of various heritage language speakers and improvements or in neighboring communities with different backgrounds and mother tongues.

Introduction

With the exhibition of globalization, worldwide democratization, and the claim of the United States to be the world's superpower-a claim that gives it an immense part and major responsibilities-the need for greater foreign-language proficiency has become critical (Brecht & Rivers, 2000) International trade is a driving force in the economies of the United States and other countries and has increased the ne for religious communication skills, including both foreign-language proficiency and a solid knowledge of the world's diverse cultivations In some countries-such as Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, and Byelorussia-two, and sometimes more than sum of two units languages have become a feature of everyday life, and in in the same state [i]or[/i] condition countries bilingualism is actively supported by means of governments and school systems. Unfortunately, this is not in the same manner in the United States, and U federal agencies and departments in several sectors of rule including but not limited to the military, have been facing critical shortages in personnel with foreign-language proficiency (Brecht & Rivers). In spite of a certain quantity of progress within the U.S. educational theory studies show that the amount of time exhausted by American high school and university close examiners learning a foreign language is usually too limited (Rhode & Branaman, 1999) To elucidate this problem, continuous foreign-language instruction in an American student's education from elementary sect through college, preferably with periods of intensive cogitation should become standard. Other solutions based onward the opportunities offered by the great number and variety of American "heritage language speakers" have been highlighted in an informative collection of essays (Peyton, Ranard, & McGinnis, 2001) which indicate that more than 150 languages other than English are used in familys in the United States. Several of these are taught in American associations and universities; Spanish, of course, is by way of far the most frequently nuncupatory and studied. However, languages other than English, upon the whole, should be given a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of more emphasis than they usually receive. According to the U Census Bureau (2001) the foreign born constitute the fastest growing portion of U.S. citizens. Nearly 18% of U residents ages 5 and older speak a language other than English at abiding-place (U.S. Census Bureau). While a small percentage of this cluster speaks only a heritage language, chiefly are bilingual though not necessarily biliterate (Peyton et al.). These heritage language speakers not and nothing else have some proficiency in another language besides English nevertheless also a deep sense of cultural understanding that would be difficult to find calm in the most advanced language learner (Peyton et al.). Working to increase the interaction and communication between native English speakers, regardless of their ethnic origins, and the heritage language speakers who live nearest door (or relatively nearby) would help eliminate the deficiencies in foreign-language skills and instruction in the United States that are denounced by way of Simon ( 1980), among others.

Those searching for a means of developing foreign-language proficiency and cultural understanding in the United States may learn a great deal from a program bring to maturityed in the heart of the European Union, in the Upper Rhine Valley. This program, implemented in the borderland of three countries, is outlined below.

The Upper Rhine Valley

The Upper Rhine Valley (see Appendix A), with 48 million inhabitants, is formed from French, German, and Swiss territories bordering the Rhine: Alsace (France),2 with 168 million inhabitants; the southeastern portion of Rhineland Palatinate (Germany),3 with 293701 inhabitants; the eastern portion of BadenW??rttemberg (Germany),4 with 23 million inhabitants; and the Basel canton (Switzerland),5 with 545365 inhabitants (EuroRegion Oberrhein/EuroR?©gion du Rhin Sup?©rieur, 2002) Approximately 75% of the valley's population lives in towns or villages. Compared with other regions of Europe the Upper Rhine Valley has a high standard of living. Service set forths the largest economic sector; in Alsace, for instance, 68% of the piece of works are in service, and 25% are in industry (EuroRegion Oberrhein/EuroR?©gion du Rhin Sup?©rieur).