# 2017 Consultation with Federal Agencies

## CONSULTATION WITH FEDERAL AGENCIES ON AREAS OF NATIONAL NEED

Section 601(c)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) requires that the Secretary of Education consult with Federal agency heads in order to receive recommendations regarding areas of national need for expertise in foreign languages and world regions.  The Secretary may take those recommendations into account when identifying areas of national need for the International Education Programs authorized by Title VI of the HEA and administered by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE).  See HEA, Sec. 601(c) (20 U.S.C. 1121 (c)).  Listed below are the areas of national need most recently identified by the Secretary, consisting of seventy-eight priority languages that are less commonly taught, followed by the world regions.  Also included below is a summary of responses from those Federal agencies that responded to the Secretary’s request for recommendations for Title VI competitions in fiscal years (FYs) 2017 and 2018.

### PRIORITY LANGUAGES

· Akhan (Twi-Fante)

· Albanian

· Amharic

· Arabic (all dialects)

· Armenian

· Azeri (Azerbaijani)

· Balochi

· Bamanakan (Bamana, Bambara, Mandikan, Mandingo, Maninka, Dyula)

· Belarusian

· Bengali (Bangla)

· Berber (all languages)

· Bosnian

· Bulgarian

· Burmese

· Cebuano (Visayan)

· Chechen

· Chinese, Cantonese

· Chinese, Gan

· Chinese, Mandarin

· Chinese, Min

· Chinese, Wu

· Croatian

· Dari

· Dinka

· Georgian

· Gujarati

· Hausa

· Hebrew, Modern

· Hindi

· Igbo

· Indonesian

· Japanese

· Javanese

· Kannada

· Kashmiri

· Kazakh

· Khmer (Cambodian)

· Kirghiz

· Korean

· Kurdish – Kurmanji

· Kurdish – Sorani

· Lao

· Malay (Bahasa Melayu or Malaysian)

· Malayalam

· Marathi

· Mongolian

· Nepali

· Oromo

· Panjabi

· Pashto

· Persian (Farsi)

· Polish

· Portuguese

· Quechua

· Romanian

· Russian

· Serbian

· Sinhala (Sinhalese)

· Somali

· Swahili

· Tagalog

· Tajik

· Tamil

· Telugu

· Thai

· Tibetan

· Tigrigna

· Turkish

· Turkmen

· Ukrainian

· Urdu

· Uyghur/Uigur

· Uzbek

· Vietnamese

· Wolof

· Xhosa

· Yoruba

· Zulu

### WORLD REGIONS

· Africa

· Central Asia/Inner Asia

· East Asia

· Middle East 

· South Asia

· Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands

· Russia/East Europe

· Western Hemisphere (Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Central/South America)

## SUMMARY OF RESPONSES FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES

### 1. U.S. Agency for International Development

In addition to our ongoing demand for French, Spanish and Portuguese (European), USAID has identified the following languages as having a critical need for our operations in the following geographic regions:

Africa:

Amharic

Berber

Hausa

Igbo

Swahili

Tuareg

Yoruba

Asia:

Bahasa/Indonesian

Bengali

Burmese

Hindi

Tagalog

Tamil

Thai

Urdu

Vietnamese

Eastern Europe/Central Asia:

Albanian

Armenian

Azeri

Dari

Georgian

Macedonian

Russian

Serbo-Croatian

Turkish

Ukrainian

Latin American and Caribbean:

Haitian Creole

Middle East:

Arabic (all dialects)

Farsi (Persian)

Kurdish (Kurmanji and Sorani)

### 2. U.S. Department of Defense

The Department of Defense “strongly supports the national effort to create a cadre of U.S. citizens with advanced,  professional-level skills in languages and cultures that are critical to our national security” and lists the following languages as those for which the Department wishes to develop more capability:

Arabic

Acholi

Amharic

Azerbaijani

Balochi

Bengali

Burmese

Chinese Mandarin

Dari 

Farsi 

French

Hausa 

Hindi

Indonesian

Japanese

Kirghiz

Korean

Kurdish

Malay

Portuguese

Punjabi

Pushtu-Afghan

Romanian

Russian

Somali 

Swahili 

Tagalog

Tadjik

Thai

Turkish

Ukrainian

Urdu

Uzbek

Vietnamese

Additionally, the Department of Defense recommends the development of more language and regional study programs for Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Central Asia, South Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

### 3. U.S. Department of Energy

Languages

Arabic (all dialects)

Bahasa Indonesia

Dari

Farsi

French

German

Hindi

Japanese

Korean

Mandarin Chinese

Portuguese

Russian

Spanish

Swahili

Urdu

Vietnamese

### 4. U.S. Department of State

The Department of State identifies the following languages as having critical need:

Arabic (all forms)

Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese)

Dari

Farsi

Hindi

Urdu

Pashto

Azerbaijani

Bengali

Kazakh

Korean

Kyrgyz

Nepali

Punjabi

Kurdish

Russian

Tajik

Turkish

Turkmen

Uzbek

### 5. U.S. Department of Transportation

The following are the regions/countries/language that we believe will further the U.S. international transportation interest:

South America/Brazil/Portuguese

Asia/China/Chinese Mandarin

Middle East/Iraq/Afghanistan/UAE/Kuwait/Arabic/Kurdish/Oman/Pashto/Dari

### 6. Peace Corps

Africa:

Benín:Bariba, Ditamari, Dendi, Fon, French, Mahi, Nagot

Botswana: Setswana, Ikalanga, Kgalagadi

Burkina Faso:Bissa, Dagara, French, Jula, Lyele, Lobiri, Moore 

Cameroon:French, Fulfuldé, Pidgin (Cameroon)

Comoros:French, Shikomori

Ethiopia:Afan Oromo/Oromo, Amharic, Tigrigna

The Gambia:Jola, Mandinka, Pulaar, Sarahule, Wolof

Ghana: Dagaare, Dagbani, Dangbe, Ewe, Ghanaian Sign Language, Kasem, Mampruli, Sisali, Twi

Lesotho:Sesotho/Suthu

Madagascar:Malagasy (standard), Malagasy (Betsileo), Malagasy (Betsimisaraka), Malagasy (Antakarana), Malagasy (Antanosy), Malagasy (Antemoro), Malagasy (Tsimihety).

Malawi:Chichewa, Chilambya, Chitonga, Chitumbuka, Chiyao

Mozambique:Chichewa/Cinyanja, Chimanyika, Cichangana, Cicopi, Cimakonde, Cindau, Cinyungue/Cinyungwe, Citewe, Citswa, Ciyao, Echuabo, Ekoti, Elomwe, Emakwa, Gitonga, Portuguese

Namibia:Afrikaans, Khoekhoegowab, Otjiherero, Oshindonga, Oshikwanyama, Rukwangali, Silozi

Rwanda:Kinyarwanda

Senegal:Fulakunda, Jaxanke, Mandinka, Pulaar du Nord, Pulafuta, Seereer, Wolof 

South Africa:Sepedi, Siswati/IsiSwati, XiTsonga, Ndebele, IsiZulu, Setswana

Swaziland:Siswati/IsiSwati

Tanzania:Swahili/Kiswahili

Togo: Akebou, Bassar, Ewe, French, lfe, lkposso, Kabiye, Konkomba, Lamba, Moba, Tchamba, Tem

Uganda:Acholi, Luganda, Lumasaaba, Lusoga, Runyankore/Rukiga, Runyoro/Rutooro  

Zambia:Bemba, Kaonde, Lunda, Mambwe-Lungu, Nyanja, Tonga, Tumbuka 

Europe, Mediterranean and Asia:

Albania:Albanian

Armenia:Armenian 

Cambodia:Khmer

China:Chinese/Mandarin

Georgia:Georgian

Indonesia:Bahasa Indonesian, Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese

Kosovo:Albanian, Serbian

Kyrgyz Republic: Kyrgyz, Russian

Macedonia:Albanian, Macedonian

Moldova:Romanian, Russian

Mongolia:Mongolian

Morocco:Arabic (Morocco), Tamazight, Tashelheet

Nepal:Nepali

Philippines:Bikol-Naga, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilokano, Kinaray-a, Sorsoganon, Tagalog, Waray

Thailand:Thai, Thai (Northern Dialect), Thai (Southern Dialect), Thai (North Eastern Dialect)

Timor Leste:Tetun

Ukraine:Russian, Ukrainian  

Inter-America, Pacific:

Belize:Kriol (Belize) Q’eqchi (Maya), Spanish

Colombia:Spanish

Costa Rica:Spanish

Dominican Republic: Spanish

Eastern Caribbean:Kweyol (E. Caribbean), Vincentian/Grenadian Creole

Ecuador:Spanish

Fiji:Fijian, Hindi 

Guatemala:  Ixil, Kaqchikel,  K'iche, Mam, Spanish

Guyana:Creolese (Guyana), Wapishana, Macushi

Jamaica:Patois (Jamaica) 

Mexico:Spanish

Micronesia and Palau:  Chuukese, Kosraean, Mortlockese, Pohnpeian, Ulithian, Yapese

Nicaragua:Spanish

Panama:Ngabere, Spanish 

Paraguay:Guaraní, Spanish

Peru:Quechua, Spanish

Samoa:Samoan

Tonga:Tongan 

Vanuatu:Bislama