Salt Lake summit to push language curricula

From a business and security standpoint, the nation needs to enhance its language curricula so that more Americans will not only be able to speak a foreign language but act as capable translators in a variety of technical fields as well.

That's according to some of the translation experts who will gather in Salt Lake City on Monday for the second annual "Translation Summit," hosted by Brigham Young University's Center for Language Studies.

About 150 translators, interpreters, government representatives, educators and corporate executives are expected at the summit entitled "Improving Your Global Reach," to be held in the Marriott City Center.

"It's not just the numbers of people speaking a language but the quality," said Everette Jordan, founding director of the National Virtual Translation Center, which uses people from across the country for government translations ranging from handwritten notes to print and television news reports.

Jordan said it's important that people translate documents in areas of their expertise so the information can be as accurate as possible.

"If you are a native speaker of a language, which we all are, does that mean you are well-versed as an engineer, a lawyer or a doctor? The answer is no," he said.

The NVTC is using creative means, such as recruiting English as a Second Language students, but more emphasis needs to be placed on the nation's education system, in language training, translation and interpretation.

"The numbers we have right now are insufficient," he said. "We have so much data to go through, it will be a challenge to get it all done."

Stephen Sekel, director of the United Nations Documentation Division of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management, will announce a new U.N. approach at outreach to translator training institutions and professional associations.

Alfred Mockett, chairman and chief executive of Motive Inc., a software and services company based in Austin, Texas, said the United States is losing its competitive edge and could see a national security impact from a lack of language training.

"The problem is, it's going in the opposite direction at the moment," he said, in part because of unintended consequences from the No Child Left Behind Act.

Mockett is part of the Committee for Economic Development, which is seeking federal funds to enhance each state's K-12 curriculum with international education, which he describes as "way beyond language, the rich cultural context within which language sits." He'd also like to see some proficiency in a foreign language as a requirement for high school graduation.

"I'm taking the very pragmatic business approach to the issue," he said. The summit, he said, will also bring together those looking at the issue from government and academia. "This forum is an opportunity to bring those sets of view together and look at where there is convergence."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com