<div dir="ltr"><a href="http://shar.es/1oOtri">http://shar.es/1oOtri</a><br><br>Overall enrollments fell 6.7 percent from the fall of 2009 to the fall of 2013, the latest survey by the Modern Language Association finds.<br><br>This message was sent using ShareThis (<a href="http://www.sharethis.com">http://www.sharethis.com</a>)<br><br>
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<p class="">February 11, 2015</p>
<h1>Foreign-Language Enrollments Drop After Years of Increases</h1>
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<p class="">By Maddy Berner</p>
<p>Enrollments in foreign-language courses at American colleges
have declined after nearly 20 years of growth, falling 6.7 percent from
the fall of 2009 to the fall of 2013, according to a <a href="http://www.mla.org/enrollments_surveys">report</a> released on Wednesday by the Modern Language Association.</p>
<p>Rosemary G. Feal, the association’s executive director, speculated
that several factors could have played a role in the decline, including
rising student interest in career-oriented subjects such as business in
the wake of the recession. Those studies leave less time for language
classes, Ms. Feal said.</p>
<p>The MLA’s report was based on a survey of 2,435 American colleges and
universities that offer programs in languages other than English. The
report compares foreign-language enrollment data from two- and four-year
institutions, as well as graduate programs, from 2009 to 2013.</p>
<p>Enrollments in language courses at two-year, four-year, and graduate
programs all dropped over that four-year period. Graduate enrollments
suffered their second such decline, falling further after a drop between
the fall of 2006 and the fall of 2009. All but five of the commonly
taught languages at this level experienced double-digit losses.</p>
<p>Across all institution levels, Spanish and French continued to be the
two most-studied foreign languages, with Spanish posting higher
enrollment numbers than all other languages combined. However, the new
data are significant because they reflect the first decline in Spanish
enrollments at every institutional level in the history of the survey,
with the numbers falling 8 percent over four years.</p>
<p>Ms. Feal attributed the decline to the rising number of other
languages being offered in both high school and college, and she added
that colleges are doing a better job of promoting other languages. The
new survey covered 34 languages that were not included in the previous
one.</p>
<h4>On the Rise: American Sign Language</h4>
<p>One language that bucked the downward trend was American Sign
Language, which continued its fast rise, eclipsing German as the
third-most-studied language over all. At the graduate level, ASL
enrollments increased by 216 percent. At two-year institutions, it was
the second-most-studied language.</p>
<p>The MLA said the increase could be attributed in part to a shift in
how it now counts American Sign Language enrollments, which were first
counted in the 1990 survey. The survey now counts all courses—such as
French history—that are taught in the language, instead of only those
that are formally structured around the language.</p>
<p>Ms. Feal said ASL had seen such increases because more students are
being exposed to the language through classes like linguistics or
psychology, where learning it is integral to the subject.</p>
<p>For many students, Ms. Feal said, learning the language is "a totally
different experience—one that intrigues them, that interests them—and
they think they can use the language in their work."</p>
<p>Among the top 15 most-studied languages, Korean experienced the
highest percentage change: From 2009 to 2013, enrollments increased by
44.7 percent. The report notes, however, that overall enrollments in
Korean were modest compared with other popular languages.</p>
<p>Whenever there is a "hot spot" country mentioned in the national
news, interest in the associated language often follows, said Ms. Feal.
Interest in the political situation in North Korea, coupled with the
growing population of Koreans in the United States, has ignited interest
in learning the language.</p>
<p>Ms. Feal said she was more pleased with the long-term growth of
enrollments in the languages. For her, the minor decrease in graduate
enrollment is not concerning, as it’s still higher than it was 10 years
ago. And instead of focusing on the overall decline of foreign-language
enrollments, she was excited about how high that number still was. The
numbers reflect "the cultural pulse of an entire nation of students,"
she said, and tell us how to build on that pulse.</p>
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