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Amid numerous proposed cuts to language programs in higher education, the Executive Council of the Modern Language Association has issued a statement calling for colleges to provide students with the chance to become fluent in a second language. "[D]espite student demand for language courses and public recognition of the opportunities of globalization, many college language programs have been reduced, closed, or threatened with closure," the statement says. "These actions deny students critical learning opportunities and impoverish their education. Preventing students from participating in college-level language learning does them a profound disservice, diminishes our cultural capacities, and isolates the American public from the conversations of the rest of the world."