The Commission on Language Learning was launched in 2015 by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at the behest of eight members of Congress. Upon the release of its report in 2017, the Academy convened a group of national leaders to discuss the report and its impact. With the encouragement of the Academy, this group subsequently formed itself into the America’s Languages Working Group, comprising language educators as well as the stakeholders who depend on them. This combination of educators and stakeholders constitutes the ’Language Enterprise’ embodying the providers and consumers of language abilities in:

• Academe, including accredited PreK-12, college & university, graduate & professional education;

• Government, at federal, state & local levels;

• Business, hiring or developing language-enabled workforce, or providing language services;

• Native American communitites

• Heritage (including recent immigrant & refugee) communities; and,

• NGOs, concerned with language, education, international and social justice issues.

The WG represents an unprecedented collaboration among leaders volunteering their time, operating without formal organizational structure, and bound together only by the motivation to strengthen access and equity in language education, thus fulfilling the goals and recommendations of America’s Languages: Investing in Language Education for the 21st century. The WG members are not official representatives of their organizations, as they act here only as individuals. However, the organizations with which they are affiliated clearly demonstrate the scope of the “Language Enterprise.”

By virtue of their presence, all members of the WG endorse the “America’s Languages Initiative.” In addition to advising and promulgating the effort, they identify and nominate and monitor America’s Languages Fellows.

The current list of WG members can be found here.