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Johnson Stress tests
约翰逊语言专栏——压力测试
How to design language tests for citizenship—and how not to
如何设计入籍语言测试？要规避哪些方面？
“Perfect Swedish is overrated. But comprehensible Swedish is deeply underrated,” says Ulf Kristersson, the leader of Sweden’s centre-right Moderate party, which supports a language requirement to become a Swedish citizen. The left has come round, too: the Social Democrat-led government plans to introduce a language test. Sweden would thereby leave the small club of European countries that do not make passing such a test a condition of naturalisation.
瑞典中右翼温和联合党领导人尤尔法·克里斯特松表示，“在对瑞典语水平进行评定时，评为完美则评价过高了，但评为可获理解又评价过低了。”温和联合党支持对申请成为瑞典公民的人提出语言要求。左派也改变了看法：社会民主党领导的政府计划推出一项语言测试。为此，瑞典将脱离那些不把通过语言测试作为入籍的条件的小群体欧洲国家。
To learn the language of the country you live in is the key to a full life there. But many experts in language policy oppose testing for citizenship—because they suspect a less compassionate motive in some who propose them. “Becoming a Danish citizen is something one has to become worthy of,” said Inger Stojberg in 2015, when she was the immigration and integration minister in Denmark’s centre-right government—implying that the unworthy had been slipping through. Her thinly camouflaged goal was not to improve immigrants’ Danish, but to naturalise fewer of them.
学习你所居住的国家的语言是在当地过上充实生活的关键。但许多语言政策专家反对公民资格语言测试，因为他们怀疑，某些人提出这种考试的动机缺乏同理心。2015年，英格·斯托伊贝格表示，“申请者想要成为丹麦公民，必须变得有价值，”当时她是丹麦中右翼政府移民与融合部部长，这句话的言外之意是，无价值的人无法申请成为丹麦公民。她隐藏的目的很浅显，此举不是要提高移民的丹麦语水平，而是要减少移民入籍。
And so the Danish government, which already had language requirements, tightened them significantly. To prove they had reached the specified level in a recent test, applicants had to skim 16 pages of readings on the “People’s Enlightenment”, a movement originating in the 19th century to give ordinary Danes self-improving institutions such as evening classes, libraries and scouting. Applicants must answer questions like: “In principle the People’s Enlightenment is for adults, but children can take part in classes intended for families. But what are the requirements for children to take these classes?” Though not exactly Kierkegaard, the material is well above the level needed to get by.
因此，已经提出入籍语言要求的丹麦政府又大幅提高了要求。在最近的一次语言测试中，申请者为了证明自己达到了规定的水平，他们必须略读16页有关“人民启蒙运动”的阅读材料，这项运动起源于19世纪，旨在让普通丹麦人通过夜校、图书馆和儿童培训等机构自我提高。申请者必须回答一些问题，比如：“原则上，人民启蒙运动的受众是成人，但儿童也可以参加为家庭开设的课程。那儿童参与这些课程的要求是什么呢？”虽然没有像哲学家克尔凯郭尔的想法那样深奥，但这些问题远远高于入籍所需的水平。
The trend in the West is clearly towards such tests. America and Britain typically require English for citizenship—in 2019 Donald Trump proposed adding requirements for certain visas as well. But the problem seems especially acute from a small-country perspective. Many European countries are linguistic communities. Europe is a crowded continent where neighbours often distinguish themselves primarily by how they speak. Centuries of nation-building from the top down strengthened the association of one language with one people in one state, at least in the ideal case. English already threatens the role of small languages. If Denmark, say, does not require even Danish citizens to speak Danish, what is the language for?
显然，西方国家正走向采取入籍语言测试的趋势。想要申请获得美国和英国的公民身份的申请者通常需要掌握英语，2019年，唐纳德·特朗普也提议增加了对某些国家的签证要求。但从小国的角度来看，这个问题似乎格外尖锐。许多欧洲国家是语言共同体。欧洲是一个国家稠密的大陆，邻国往往主要通过说话方式来区分国籍。几个世纪以来，自上而下的国家建设加强了一国中一种语言与一个民族的联系，至少在理想情况下是这样的。英语已经威胁到了小语种的地位。比如说，如果丹麦甚至不要求丹麦公民说丹麦语，那这门语言还有何用？
Even the keenest advocates of immigration agree that speaking the language helps migrants integrate. But they argue that the focus should be on helping them do so, not on overly ambitious targets many can never achieve. Many of Europe’s migrants today arrive with psychological problems born of fleeing war and catastrophe. Others work so hard that they struggle to find the time and energy for classes. Some are barely literate; answering fairly sophisticated written questions means first learning to read and write. When immigrants are told they must meet a highly demanding standard, many stop trying, say language teachers and researchers. They may then remain isolated in their ethnic communities, the only ones that will accept them.
即使是最热衷的移民倡导者也认可，说当地语言有助于移民融入社会。但这些倡导者认为，重点应该放在帮助移民提高语言水平，从而融入社会这一点上，而不在于设立过于宏大而让很多人无法实现的目标。今天，许多欧洲移民带着逃离战争和灾难而产生的心理问题来到这里。有些人工作认真努力，但却没什么时间和精力去上课。有些人几乎不识字；回答相当复杂的书面问题意味着人们首先要学会读写。语言教师和研究人员表示，当移民被告知他们必须达到一个高要求的标准时，许多人停止了尝试。他们可能会继续隔绝在自己的种族社区中，毕竟这是唯一会接受他们的地方。
Ricky van Oers, a Dutch scholar affiliated to the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, explains the effects of raising the bar in her home country. Once, knowledge of the language was assessed in an informal conversation with a local official. When in 2003 written tests were introduced, successful applications fell by half. Since 2007 classes in Dutch have been left to a mix of state and poorly regulated private schools. Reaching the necessary level is estimated to cost 3,600 euros ($4,380) on average, generally paid by the immigrant. Today, new arrivals have three years to reach that standard—one admittedly more modest than in Denmark—or face being fined up to 1,250 euros and being barred from permanent residency and citizenship until the test is passed.
挪威西部应用科学大学的荷兰学者瑞奇·范·奥尔斯解释了其祖国抬高语言要求门槛造成的影响。申请者的荷兰语掌握程度曾经依靠与当地考官的非正式谈话来进行评估。2003年，荷兰引入了笔试，成功申请的人数自此减少了一半。自2007年以来，荷兰语课程一直由州立学校和监管不善的私立学校混合开设。达到必要的荷兰语水平估计平均花费3600欧元（合4380美元），一般由移民自己支付。如今，移民有三年的时间来达到入籍所需语言标准（荷兰入籍所需语言标准公认要比丹麦的要求更温和），否则将面临高达1250欧元的罚款，并被禁止获得永久居留权和公民身份，直到考试通过。
Countries that introduce language tests for citizenship should make sure teaching is of a good quality (the students themselves are in a poor position to spot a dodgy operator). They should learn from Germany, which subsidises lessons so generously that they are practically free. Help people attend by ensuring child care if they need it. Provide incentives such as assistance with work placements. Presented with a feasible goal that can be reached with better skills, newcomers will work harder than when ordered to scale a distant peak that they can scarcely see.
引入入籍语言测试的国家应该确保教学质量良好（学生们自己很难识别不良教学机构）。这些国家应该向德国学习，德国对语言教学课程的资助非常慷慨，德国移民实际上是免费上课。如果移民者需要，国家还应该通过确保儿童看护，从而帮助他们上课。国家也应提供激励措施，如协助安排工作。相比被命令着去攀登遥不可及的高峰，当移民者面对可以通过提高语言技能就能达到的可行目标时会更加努力。
来源：经济学人
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