Winning hearts and minds – language key to military success
Release Date 17 March 2011
Showing a 'friendly face' is what our military is told to do. How though do you win hearts and minds without conversation, without talking, without opening out a dialogue with the people you meet?
And what happens to the men and women who talk for us? Three hundred and sixty interpreters and translators have died in Iraq since 2003.
A University of Reading led study has found that poorly organised language provision can have a major effect on the success of military intervention. The three-year project is the first study to examine the way war is spoken, and focus on the people who give a voice to the 'friendly faces'.
Languages at War is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and undertaken with partners the University of Southampton and the Imperial War Museum (IWM).
The project analysed two case-studies, Western Europe 1944-47, and Bosnia, 1995-1998. After examining the policy makers and the experiences of those at the sharp end of the conflicts, language was found to be instrumental in the operational effectiveness of troops on the ground.
Getting accurate and timely translation in the field, and understanding conversations enough to be able to intervene in them effectively to change hearts and minds, relies on having local interpreters who can do the job. They need to be properly selected, briefed and trained and respected as professionals in the theatre of operations.
In both case studies, linguists were not always seen as professionals with particular skills and knowledge. There was a tendency to use them for a variety of other tasks such as fixers and secretaries. At the beginning of deployments, there was little professional structure for these people, which meant they could be treated with suspicion as 'aliens' by the military with whom they worked.
Professor Hilary Footitt from the University of Reading's Department of Modern Languages and European Studies led the project. She said: "From the First World War, on to the liberation of Europe in 1944, in Korea, in Afghanistan, soldiers have needed to talk to foreign allies and foreign civilians. Indeed General David Petraeus, Commander of US/NATO forces in Afghanistan has said the 'human terrain is decisive'.
"Our research project has highlighted the need for the military to see languages as a vital part of their operations, and to plan for them accordingly. They need to respect locally recruited translators/interpreters, and make sure that these men and women have the professional structures to do their jobs properly. Languages are not an optional 'add on'. They're essential to winning hearts and minds."
The University of Southampton's Professor Mike Kelly and Dr Catherine Baker investigated the policies and practice of language encounters in the Bosnian peacekeeping operation between 1995 (the end of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina) and 2000.
Professor Kelly, Director of the Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies at the University of Southampton, who led the Bosnian research commented:
"The issues we have discovered have really not gone away. The military did learn from the experiences of Bosnia, but there is a lot more to learn about managing language issues."
Experts from around the world are gathering at IWM London over 7-9 April for a major conference which will conclude the Languages at War project.
Ends
For all University of Reading media enquiries please contact James Barr, Press Officer - tel 0118 378 7115 or email j.w.barr@reading.ac.uk.
Notes for Editors:
The University of Reading is rated as one of the top 200 universities in the world (QS World Rankings 2010).
The University of Reading is one of the UK's top research-intensive universities. The University is ranked in the top 20 UK higher education institutions in securing research council grants worth nearly £10 million from EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, AHRC and BBSRC. In the RAE 2008, over 87% of the university's research was deemed to be of international standing. Areas of particular research strength recognised include meteorology and climate change, typography and graphic design, archaeology, philosophy, food biosciences, construction management, real estate and planning, as well as law.
The University's newly formed Department of Modern Languages and European Studies is made up of five distinct areas of study; French Studies, Italian Studies, German Studies, European Studies, and European Literature and Culture. The Department combines the study of modern languages with history, politics, and culture, giving undergraduates the opportunities to not only expand their knowledge of a modern language, but to also learn about the country and culture surrounding that language. The Department has a strong research profile which includes the 5* RAE awarded Italian Studies department.
The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship across a wide range of subjects in engineering, science, social sciences, health and humanities.
With over 22,000 students, around 5000 staff, and an annual turnover well in excess of £400 million, the University of Southampton is acknowledged as one of the country's top institutions for engineering, computer science and medicine. We combine academic excellence with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to research, supporting a culture that engages and challenges students and staff in their pursuit of learning.
The University is also home to a number of world-leading research centres including the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, the Optoelectronics Research Centre, the Web Science Research Initiative, the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute and is a partner of the National Oceanography Centre at the Southampton waterfront campus. www.soton.ac.uk
Imperial War Museum
The national museum of the experiences of people who have lived, fought and died in conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth since 1914.
The Imperial War Museum is the museum of everyone's story: the history of modern conflict told through the stories of those who were there. It is an educational and historical institution responsible for archives, collections and sites of outstanding national importance.
The Museum's five branches are Imperial War Museum London, with six floors of exhibitions and displays; Churchill War Rooms, housed in Churchill's secret headquarters below Whitehall; the Second World War cruiser HMS Belfast; Imperial War Museum Duxford, a world renowned aviation museum and former Second World War airfield; and Imperial War Museum North, housed in a spectacular award-winning building designed by Daniel Libeskind