Lingua Franca

1. broaden your experiences; expand your view of the world
2. encourage critical reflection on the relation of language and culture, language and thought; fosters an understanding of the interrelation of language and human nature
3. develop your intellect; teach you how to learn
4. teach and encourage respect for other peoples
5. contribute to cultural awareness and literacy, such as knowledge of original texts
6. build practical skills (for travel or commerce or as a tool for other disciplines)
7. improve the knowledge of your own language through comparison and contrast with the foreign language
8. expose you to modes of thought outside of your native language
9. give you a sense of relevant past, both cultural and linguistic
10. balance content and skill (rather than content versus skill)
11. expand opportunities for meaningful leisure activity (travel, reading, viewing foreign language films)
12. contribute to achievement of national goals, such as economic development or national security
13. contribute to the creation of your personality
14. enable the transfer of training (such as learning a second foreign language)
15. preserve (or foster) a country’s image as a cultured nation

The above was adapted from Alan C. Frantz, “Seventeen Values of Foreign Language study” (ADFL Bulletin, vol. 28, N.1, Fall 1996)by Dr. Dávila .