REPORT OF THE LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FY 1982

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R000600860005-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 25
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 25, 2008
• Sequence Number: 5
• Content Type: REPORT

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REPORT OF THE A
LANGUAGE
DEVELOPMENT
COMMITTEE
yFISCAL YEAR 1982
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REPORT OF THE
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FOR
FY-1982
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Report of the
Language Development Committee for
FY 1982 (U)
Page
Summary of Highlights
1
Definitions of Oral Language Proficiency Levels. .
?
?
3
Definitions of Reading Language Proficiency Levels
.
.
4
Foreign Language Skills Inventory
5
Unit Language Requirements and Staffing
12
Fulfillment-of Unit Language Requirements
13
DDO Unit Language Requirements
16
DDS&T Unit Language Requirements
20
DDI Unit Language Requirements
22
DDA Unit Language Requirements
23
Training
24
Language School Enrollments
25
Training Completions
28
Lengths of Training Time 29
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Speaking Gains As a Result of Training 30
External Training 31
Testing 32
Language Incentive Program
34
Language Use Award Program
36
Language Achievement Program
37
Language Maintenance Program
41
New Employees with Foreign Language Skills
44
Career Trainees
44
Language Skills of Other New Employees
45
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? REPORT OF THE
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMEN
FY 1982
ITTEE FOR
SUMMARY OF HIGHLIGHTS
During FY-82, the number of speaking skills at the professional levels
(S-3 and above) possessed by Agency staff personnel kept pace with staff
increases and registered ai ive change of six percent over the inventory
recorded the previous year. 7_11
At the end of FY-82, the Agency had available through its
contract personnel professional level speaking skills in
and dialects.
Staff and
languages
At the end of FY-82, 49 percent of the Agency's Unit Language Requirement
(ULR) positions were occupied by people fully qualified in the requisite
language skills; another 26 percent were staffed by employees partially
qualified in the language requirements of the position. In the previous year,
50 percent of the ULR positions were occupied by full ualified individuals
and 23 percent by those partially language qualified.
Total Language School
however, this increase is
There were
compared wit
of languages during FY-81.
enrollments increased by 7 percent during FY-82;
due to an increase in part-time enrollments only.
part-time enrollments in 25 languages
part-time enrollments in the same number
The number of full-time Russian students increased
in FY-82 with an additional eleven in the Ru
which was reinstituted after a four-year hiatus.
in FY-81 to
otal Immersion Program
In FY-82, there was a marked increase in both the length of time for
which language training was scheduled and the actual time spent in class,
indicating a commitment on the part of the directorates fford students
enough time in class to attain measurable language skills.
During FY-82, there were speaking gains and reading gains as a
result of training; 51 of the speaking and 99 of the reading gains were from
lower levels to minimum professional proficiency.
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The FY-82 cost of the Language Incentive Program was down 12
percent from that of FY-81. The lowered cost of the program this year is due
to the termination as of 3 October 1981 of awards paid t9 1 n ua e
specialists. Included in the FY-82 costs are Use Awards totalin
Achievement Awards amounting to and Maintenance Awards a
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DEFINITIONS OF ORAL LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY LEVELS
Elementary Proficiency (S-1): Able to satisfy routine travel needs and
minimum courtesy requirements.
Limited Working Proficiency (S-2): Able to satisfy routine social demands and
limited work requirements.
Minimum Professional Proficiency (S-3): Able to speak the language with
sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in
most formal and informal conversations on practical, social, and professional
topics.
Full Professional Proficiency (S-4): Able to use the language fluently and
accurately on all levels normally pertinent to professional needs.
Native or Bilingual Proficiency (S-5):
that of an educated native speaker.
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Speaking proficiency eouivalent to
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DEFINITIONS OF READING LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY LEVELS
Elementary Proficiency (R-1): Able to. read simple discourse for informative
purposes to satisfy basic survival and social needs. Can get main ideas.
Limited Working Proficiency (R-2): Able to read simple authentic printed
material within a familiar context, containing description and narration, to
satisfy limited work requirements, discussions on concrete topics and simple
biographic information. Reads the facts.
Minimum Professional Proficiency (R-3): Able to read discourse on both
concrete and abstract matters addressed to the general reader. Can interpret
hypotheses and support opinions. Can read material,
or informal language, dealing with practical. social,
Reads between the lines.
Full
language pertinent to professional
sociolinguistic and cultural references,
colloquialisms
written in either formal
and professional topics.
Professional Proficiency (R-4): Able to read all styles and forms of the
needs. Understands almost all
controlling a variety of idioms,
and synonyms. Reads beyond the lines.
?Native or Bilingual Proficiency (R-5): Reading proficiency equivalent to that
of an educated native reader. Can read extremely difficult and abstract
prose, e.g., legal, technica c wpll as highly colloquial writings and the
literary forms of the language.
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FOREIGN LANGUAGE SKILLS INVENTORY
As ,can be seen from Table 1, the number of speaking skills at the
professional levels (S-3 and above) possessed .by Agency staff personnel kept
pace with staff increases during FY-82, and for the second year in a row,
registered a positive change of six percent over the inventory recorded the
previous year. This increase reflects both renewed interest in the
development of foreign language skills on the part of Agency employees and
increasing success in the recruitment of employees with language skills at or.
near the professional level. In addition, the possibility of receiving
financial reward for language proficiency through the Language Incentive
to formalize their study of
Program has no doubt encouraged many employees
foreign languages.
TABLE 1
Chart I breaks down speaking skills possessed by Agency staff personnel
into minimum professional (S-3), full professional (S-4), and native
proficiency (S-5) levels and compares the numbers of skills available in FY-82
with those recorded in fiscal years 1979-1981. It should be noted that while
a slight decrease occurred in the number of staff speaking skills at the
minimum professional proficiency level, skills possessed by Agency staffers at
the higher (S-4 and S-5) increased significantly over those reported
for FY-81.
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Table 2 adds in the professional level skills contract employees
on record as of 30 September 1982 and shows by language the total inventory of
professional level foreign language skills in the Agency at the end of FY-82.
Tables 3 and 4 separate these skills into principal and smaller languages and
compare the numbers of staff skills available in FY-82 with those resident in
AgenCy staff employees in FY-79.
An overall gain of 59 skills from those registered by staff personnel in
FY-79 occurred in the principal languages which represent 80?,', of the Agency's
professional level skills inventory. Nevertheless, losses were significant in
French and Spanish (minus 30 and 13 respectively). A gain of 41 professional
level skills occurred in Mandarin Chinese during this three year period;
increases were also noteworthy in Russian (+18), Portuguese (+17), and Italian
(+13).
A comparison of staff and contract skills available in FY-82 with those
of FY-8I reveals little change other than a loss in French of 17 professional
level skills and a gain of 19 in German. The overall gain since 1979
represents an important change in the direction of the Agency's inventory of
professional skills in the principal languages and perhaps signals an e
the long period where any language gains were offset by losses elsewhere.
As indicated in Table 4, the Agency's inventory for FY-82 of staff
professional skills in the smaller languages shows a net gain of 45 in
comparison with that of FY-79. By way of contrast, in FY-81 there was a gain
of just 23 over that of FY-79. The increases in FY-82 are distributed quite
evenly among the 41 languages in this group, but are particulary evident in
Cantonese Chinese (+17); Indonesian (+14); and Serbo-Croatian (+12). There
are no significant losses. Staff and contract inventories in the smaller
languages for FY-81 and FY-82 were quite similar, showing a net gain in FY-82
of 18 professional level skills, eight of which were in Indonesian.
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UNIT LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS AND STAFFING
The Agency system for identifying language needs and assessing language
capability involves the establishment of Unit Language Requirements (ULR). A
ULR refers to a statement by a component as to what positions require
knowledge of a foreign language, what skills are needed (reading, speaking,
understanding), and at what level of proficiency. Using organizational
elements, e.g., an overseas station or a headquarters branch, as the Language
Unit, the ULR system permits matching of ULR requirements against the skills
(reading, speaking, and understanding or a combination of these) held by any
individual in the unit in a specified occupational category. It is important
to note that matching is done according to the specific proficiency levels
stipulated by the component. This means that, if the requirement for a given
language is 3 in reading and speaking, unless the individual possesses at
least that level in both skills, the requirements are reported to be partially
but a lesser degree of, skill in
satisfied if the incumbent possesses scime,
the language required.
Identifying ULRs, especially in non-foreign field and non-language
specialist positions, becomes difficult when it must, be determined if a
foreign language skill is required for adequate performance by an incumbent in
a specific position or if such a skill would merely be desirable in that it
would allow a more efficient performance of duties. The debate over
"desirable".versus "required" is one which concerns many Agency divisions.
Although a branch may function with the aid of translators, the job may be
more efficiently handled by an officer who is proficient in the language
concerned. The degree of increased efficiency and whethernr nnt the
increased efficiency would merit a ULR is difficult to determine.
In many cases, Headquarters-based ULRs which were terminated as a result
of this debate are now being reviewed for possible reinstatement. At this
point, some legitimate Headquarters-based language requirements do not appear
in the ULR records; however, concerned divisions are planning a thorough
review of all ULRs during FY-83.
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As shown in Table 8 below, the number of language qualified personnel in
DDO foreign field assignments has steadily improved over the past four years.
Apparently, the Language Incentive Program has been a catalyst contributing
to this improvement. In FY-79, nearly 40% of the personnel in foreign field
ULRs had no recorded language proficiency. After the inception of the
Language Use Award (LUA) Program at the beginning of FY-80, an effort was made
to test these previously untested people for award purposes. As field
personnel were tested, Language Use awards were paid retroactively to cover
time in place while untested; during FY-80 and FY-81, a great number of LUAs
were paid on a retroactive basis. Although no specific data is available,
Language Incentive Program administrators attest to the fact that the number
of retroactive Use awards declined during FY-82 to the point that when most
retrocactive awards were disallowed by ated 1 April 1982, it caused
no problems as virtually all qualified field personnel had already been tested
by that time.
This language proficiency testing alone could have contributed to the
gains in skills recorded during FY-80 and FY-81 and supports the hypothesis
that the increase in foreign language qualifications in field assignments
recorded in FY-82 is attributable both to an intensified effort on the part of
DDO divisions ?to send language qualified personnel to the field and to greater
attention being given to language training by both the divisions and the
personnel involved.
TABLE 8
DDO FOREIGN FIELD LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT FULFILLMENT
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The
FY-82.
addition
requests
During FY-82,
TRAINING
Language School provided instruction in 25 foreign languages during
Classes were held at Headquarters and at Key Buildings in
to the regular program at the Chamber of Commerce Building. Fourteen
for training had to be refused fr lack of ;nqtructor avAilability.
a teaching capability in
was added to the Language School staff.
and
Language School Enrollments
In addition to staff training, the Language School provided both full and
part-time instruction in 12 different languages to 33 spouses of Agency
employees (27 sponsored by the DDO: 3 by the DDI: 2 by the DDS&T: and 1 by the
DDA). During FY-82 three members of other government agencies received
instruction at the Language School, and at the behest of the Operations
Directorate, four representatives of foreign liaison services were enrolled.
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Language Achievement Program
Program
ever in
hough FY-82 designations to the Langua e Achievement Program (LAP) at
somewhat down from last year's high designations to the
since its inception three years ago have more than doubled the number
theLanuaie Proficiency Cash Awards Program (LPCA), the predecessor
of the LAP.
CHART III
NUMBER OF LPCAACHIEVEMENT AWARD NOMINATIONS & AWARDS
1/72 1973 1974 1975 WM 10 1977 1978 Urn IMO 1981 1182
Cash awards for language achievers
number of designations, and the
707. above the number paid in FY-81
highest number of awards paid
predecessor.
number o
are beginning to catch the
f awards paid during FY-82 was
The FY-82 awards exceeded the
one fiscal year of the LAP or its
in any
More divisions are beginning to review their policy for language training
and are establishing firmer guidelines for office administration of the LIP to
provide a more uniform and consistent basis for desi nations to both the
Language Achievement and Language Maintenance Programs.
JI
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Language Maintenance Program
Once again the Language Maintenance Program has shown tremendous growth
as Program designations in FY-82 increased by 73% over FY-81. Concurrently,
Maintenance Prog
of FY-81 awards.
sh awards paid in FY-82 increased by 70% over the number
The termination of Language Use Awards for Headquarters-based non-
language specialist personnel and their consequent enrollment in the
Maintenance Program has been partly responsible for the FY-82 growth in the
Program. Another factor in the Program's growth has been an increased
awareness of the Program on the part of Agency employees. In contrast to the
Language Achievement Program where individuals are usually automatically
designated to the Program at the beginning of language training or a PCS
assignment requiring a foreign language, most divisions require that
individuals themselves request participation in
providing their own justification for enrollment.
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NEW EMPLOYEES WITH FOREIGN LANGUAGE SKILLS
Career Trainees
external Career Trainees joined the program during
FY-82. As usual, almost all of them--92 percent in fact-- indicated a
knowledge of at least one foreign language, and more than half claimed
proficiency in two or more. Proficiency testing, however, revealed just
professional level speaking skills (S-3) in 11 different languages. This i
somewhat _better result than was realized last year when out new Career
Trainees skills at the S-3 and above level were obtained. There were
reading skills at the professional levels (R-3 and above) compared to
Y-81 indicating that the thrust of U.S. foreign language education
remains solidly on the written word.
a
Professional level speaking skills were acouired in the followinz
languages:
Indonesian
Four of these skills were at the full professional (S-4) or
native (S-5) level. Only five of the professional level speaking skills and
eight of the professional level reading skills were obtained by the 16 Career
who had majored in foreign languages, another indication that
study through U.S. colleges and universities will not ensure foreign
competence. Nevertheless, most of the Career Trainees who entered on
Trainees
language
language
duty during FY-82
should facilitate
limite
level.
brought with them at least
proficiency gains through further
g proficiency level (S-2) skills
a rudimentary
TABLE 24
language base
study. There
at the elementary S-1
which
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