Chapter 3 Verbal Communication 75THINK
ABOUT
THIS❶ In communication
terms, what kind of code
is code? Is it a language
like English or Mandarin?
Is it verbal communication
or something else entirely?
❷ Should schools require
students to learn code the
same way most schools
require them to learn a
foreign language? If com-
puter languages can be
learned fairly easily with
a book via a Web-based
class, why might it be
important to offer them in
schools?
❸ Is the dominance of
English in the program-
ming world significant?
What meaning might it
carry in non-English-
speaking contexts?
❹ Consider your envi-
sioned field of study and
the career you hope to
pursue after college. Do
you think having some
knowledge of computer
code would be helpful
for you?Speaking in Code
There’s a large contingent of educators and parents who think the key to se-
curing a good-paying job after college lies with learning a foreign language.
Envisioning a future in which China leads the world’s economy, they push
school boards to teach Mandarin or enroll their children in extracurricular im-
mersion courses (McDonald, 2012). But what if there were another language
just as likely to lead to fruitful employment, one that applied to just about
every existing and emerging industry that not only could be taught in schools
but also learned at home for little cost? And what if that language, already in
use around the world, were based primarily on English?
That language—well, technically, those languages, since there are
many—is computer code. Code essentially refers to the directions given to
a computer to make it do what you want it to do. The apps you use to play
games on your phone, the programs that spit out your credit card bill each
month, the tools that small businesses use to manage supply chains and
payroll, even the sensor that dings in your car when you forget to buckle up,
all run on code. In every industry, from information tech to communications,
manufacturing to agriculture, and food service to shipping, computers and
code play a role. The most popular computer languages (like Ruby, Python,
and C++) are “spoken” in just about every technologically advanced country,
even though these languages are, by and large, based on English language
keywords. But most Americans—even the digital natives who were raised on
technology—simply don’t know how to code, and so employers find them-
selves duking it out to hire the ones who do. “Our policy is literally to hire
as many talented engineers as we can find,” notes Facebook founder Mark
Zuckerberg. “There just aren’t enough people who are trained and have these
skills today” (Zuckerberg, 2013). Others are careful to point out that cod-
ing is not just for engineers or engineering majors. It’s a skill that will benefit
anyone in just about any job. Huffington Post CTO John Pavley points out
that even for nontech types, coding can open doors to satisfying work.
“[N]on-technical people can learn to code, which will open doors to better
jobs and a richer understanding of the rapidly changing world around us,
where computer chips and software are finding their way into every aspect of
our lives” (Pavley, 2013).
Pavley likens the divide between those who can and cannot code to the
low levels of literacy during the Dark Ages, when the written word, along with
the power it conferred, was the provenance of only a small elite. But there
is a movement to bring the power of code to the masses. Organizations like
CodeAcademy and Code.org advocate making more computer science
courses available to students from kindergarten through high school and
offer free coding lessons online for anyone interested in learning a programming
language at home (Wingfield, 2013). Some even suggest making learning
code an educational requirement along the lines of, or even in place of, a
foreign language (Koerner, 2013). Other nations have already taken that step.
Multilingual education may take on a whole new meaning.WIREDFORCOMMUNICATION