Attempts at persuasion might, indeed, arouse so much antagonism that it would be better not to try. Foreign language departments, however, if they want more financing and if they want administrative support in fund raising, must face the sad fact that four A's in a four-term foreign language requirement frequently do not guarantee that the student can actually communicate in that language. Not only should they face this fact, they should use it as strong evidence of the need for change. Sometimes one needs to demonstrate failure. Quantifiable success in a practical skill may ultimately persuade administrators to support a more expensive program.
Visible success can raise the prestige of an institution and benefit business.
It will not, however, necessarily win over tenured faculty members to do such a barbaric thing as to come in five days a week to teach beginners to communicate in a foreign language. I would be greateful for any advice I can receive on this issue. While primarily concerned with encouraging faculty growth, I seem to be emphasizing here the engineering of a dean's growth, that is, how to encourage a dean to part with a portion of his or her budget. If that force, for whatever reason, is operating against them, the most innovative teachers retreat and return, disillusioned, to using the classroom simply as a place to earn a salary. It is important for faculty to gauge the hidden curriculum of their institutions, to infiltrate it, and to win it over.