History of Foreign Language Teaching at the United States Military Academy

Abstract

I HAVE found after having taught French at the United States Military Academy at West Point that the history of teaching foreign languages at that institution seemed from my own knowledge and experience to differ from the national trends. I felt it would be interesting to trace the history of the teaching of foreign languages at the Academy. The history and traditions of West Point are well known, but unfortunately, not so well known are the beginnings of language teaching there. When Major Williams, the grandnephew of Benjamin Franklin, was superintendent at the very beginning of the Academy's life in 1802, there were only 12 cadets, but it is quite clear from the records of the texts used that a thorough knowledge of a modern language (French) was necessary. Some of the earlier texts were Vauban's Trait& de fortifications, and Jomini's Traite de grand tactique.1 Congress on February 28, 1803 authorized one teacher of French for the Academy. Frangois Masson was appointed because the prevalent belief at that time was that a foreign language should be taught by a native speaker. Thus, at a time when many institutions were teaching the classical languages of Latin and Greek, the Ac demy from its very beginning was teaching a mod n language, French, and using French textbooks for a variety of other subjects as well. West Point was destined to be primarily an engineering institution, which would produce engineer officers for our army and as a result there was no need for scholars in Latin and Greek. The value of the knowledge of a foreign language such as French was proven during the revolutionary war and was a vital aid to the defense of our country. France toward the end of the eighteenth century was the foremost military and scientific power. That country had recently been of tremendous aid to the Americans during the above mentioned war. Our army's Corps of Engineers was still composed principally of French officers who had remained in the service of our country. It was natural therefore that our Academy use the very best textbooks in pplied sciences and math. These textbooks were only available in French. The French language was considered a necessity for the study of engineering subjects and was considered in suggested academic programs for West Point as early as 1783, before its actual founding.2 Examples of some early texts used