C.E.P. Will Deliberate Language Requirement

The 560 College Board score to satisfy the language requirement may be altered in the future, the CRIMSON learned recently. Discussion has already started in the Committee on Educational Policy to reconsider this traditional proficiency measurement.

Two major reasons lie behind the CEP's debate. First, the College language requirement is lower than that of comparable schools. Second, increased national interest in foreign languages has caused a re-examination of teaching methods and requisites.

Four Alternatives

The CEP can recommend four possible courses to the Faculty. The first proposal, to maintain the language requirement at its present level, seems unlikely given the higher level required by other colleges. A second suggestion, abandoning the requisite, likewise will probably not be recommended.

A year of language study at the University is the third possible recommendation, and raising the minimum standard is the fourth.

Brown, Cornell, Columbia, and Yale have a requirement nearly double that of Harvard. In effect, a good student at one of these colleges must study a language for two years before receiving the needed credits; at Harvard, an apt student can satisfy the requirement after a single year.

Instead of asking for a numerical score, Brown and Cornell require students to take a year of literature after they attain an intermediate stage--comparable to French C or German C. The elementary language courses at Cornell differ from those in the College by running eight hours weekly, instead of three or four.

The Committee on Educational Policy first considered changing the minimum standard last Wednesday, and may continue its discussion at its meeting today. Any decision, however, will not be recommended to the Faculty until the Spring Term; it will then vote any change.