In our rapidly changing society, public schools and community colleges have a responsibility to help individuals meet the challenges of change through lifelong learning. One effect of massive social changes has been the loss of control over language as a means of communication. The reduced effectiveness of academic language is particularly evident in the community college, where teachers and their nontraditional students no longer share a common language, culture, or values. From the perspectives of humanist, linguist, and social observer, one finds evidence that the problem of reduced communication is a major one. The same technology-triggered changes that resulted in this loss of control over language make the need for lifelong learning critical, as lifelong learning recognizes the importance of a continuous process of adaption to change. In the face of massive demographic shifts, increased urbanization, the obsolescence of the single career, and the altered structure of the family, well-planned lifelong education could well emerge as the main component of education's answer to the challenges of the future. The education of children, adolescents, and adults should focus on helping them effectively solve problems, cooperate intelligently, and adapt to change while preserving their rights and characteristics. (KL)