July 3, 2008

Italian-American Groups Rally to Save Advanced Placement Test in Italian

Italian-American groups and the Italian ambassador to the United States are working to save the Italian Advanced Placement test, The Washington Post reported this morning.

The College Board announced this spring that it would eliminate the test after the 2008-9 academic year, along with the exams in French literature, Latin literature, and computer-science AB, because of low participation. While other AP tests are available in French, Latin, and computer science, there is only one Italian test. It has been offered since 2006.

The Italian ambassador, Giovanni Castellaneta, and the College Board’s president, Gaston Caperton, announced in June that a task force had been formed to attempt to raise the money needed to continue the test, according to the Post. Italian Embassy officials told the newspaper they expected to learn this month how much money was needed. They said the money would have to be raised by October. —Beckie Supiano

Comments

1. The saddest part of the CB’s decision is that it speaks to the xenophobic trait of U.S. culture which includes an aversion to the learning of any “foreign” language. In this age of globalization, the learning of any language brings with it not only a deeper understanding of another culture but also a deeper understanding of our own. Why is that in other countries, several languages are taught early on in the K-12 framework, while in the U.S. we not only postpone their study, but create psychological, emotional as well as structural obstacles to their study. I fear that this xenophobic streak is part of a misdefined notion of “patriotism.”

   — rita    Jul 3, 07:32 PM    #

2. Ever notice that it’s always the whirled-peas crowd that seems most certain of its prejudices?

   In many parts of the world, political geography is broken into smaller pieces than in the U.S. In those places, people have to know foreign languages to survive and prosper with their nearby customers. For most people, it’s not a sophisticated cultural choice, it’s putting food on the table.

   In addition, languages are easier to learn and retain with foreign speakers and media all around you. How much arithmetic would you know if you didn’t have fingers or toes?

   Finally, in contemporary Europe, for example, the political climate is now more conducive to cultural interchange than in the recent past, when citizens of different countries spent much of their time killing each other, each cursing in his own lovely language as an enemy went down.

   “Dear Mama, tell Julia I got two more of them enemies that kill her third cousin Whatshizname in 1909.”

   Let’s hope self-interest continues to prefer peace over there, but anyone who doesn’t know that the average citizen of the world is just as xenophobic as Ma and Pa Kettle in the hills of home either hasn’t traveled much or isn’t observant.

   — Trancel Ruckus    Jul 3, 10:08 PM    #

3. Yes, lets continue to dumb down the next generation. After all, who cares about the achievements (language, culture etc.) of Italy or, for that matter, western civilization?

   — Raymond P. Vito    Jul 9, 12:00 PM    #

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