Very few high schools in the United States currently offer Portuguese as part of the regular curriculum. Aside from areas of Portuguese immigrant concentration -California and the new England states, only Texas has made inroads into the establishment of high school programs in Portuguese. Through its federally funded program, ALCANCE, the University of Texas has begun training many high school teachers to start and to develop Brazilian Portuguese programs at local schools. Since the picture for Portuguese in the high schools is dim, and because the national economic situation is such that it is hardly advisable to begin anything new that costs money, why would someone wish to make a case for Portuguese in the high schools?

I will not dwell on the benefits for those of us who currently teach Portuguese at the post-secondary level. It is evident that to strengthen our programs we must have students. It is also clear that teaching Portuguese in high schools will provide college and university programs with a larger pool of students. Aside from this very pragmatic reason for making a case for Portuguese, there are other issues that are not altogether unrelated. Specifically, we should look at the poor economic forecast as an opportunity that seldom presents itself so clearly to us in Portuguese.

All of us who teach languages have seen a revolution in our methodology in the last ten years. Along with our changes internally, we have also experienced a new popularity among the general public. The awareness that we do exist and do provide a strong link in the educational chain of American young people is stronger today that it has been for a long time. Along with this new awareness has also come the realization that other languages -besides those commonly taught- need attention. It is here that we, in Portuguese, encounter our opportunities.

Portuguese is one of the official «less-commonly-taught» languages. Still listed in all government publications as a «critical language», Portuguese currently ranks, along with Asian languages, as a priority to be developed in the schools. The National Endowment for the Humanities, in its new Foreign Language Initiative, specifically calls for attention to the LCTs (Less-Commonly-Taught). The Rockefeller Fellowships for High School Teachers, now called the NEH Fellowships for High School Teachers, indicate that one of its priorities is the development of programs for LCTs. The United States Department of Education Title VI funds specifically call for LCTs.

It is our responsibility, as Portuguese teachers, to follow the lead of our colleagues in Texas and to take advantage of these new opportunities. We need to develop collaborative efforts with our colleagues in the high schools and in Spanish so that we may begin to make our mark in the high schools.

As 1992 approaches, Portugal, its history and culture, as well as its role in Europe, are being noticed. As the United States continues to move toward an ecologically sound society, the importance of Brazil and of its resources is becoming recognized. Historically and economically, this is the time for us to become active in promoting and developing Portuguese programs in our high schools so that our youth will learn the Luso-Brazilian language, and through it, the rich cultural background offered by this heritage.

Hispania [Publicaciones periódicas]. Volume 74, Number 3, September 1991