[lg policy] US: Enrollment in Most Foreign-Language Programs Continues to Fall

[Harold Schiffman]

 Enrollment in Most Foreign-Language Programs Continues to Fall
By Julian Wyllie March 07, 2018

Enrollment in language courses other than English fell 9.2 percent in
colleges and universities in the United States between the fall of 2013 and
the fall of 2016, according to a new study
<https://www.mla.org/content/download/83540/2197676/2016-Enrollments-Short-Report.pdf>
by the Modern Language Association.

The study includes research based on the enrollments of undergraduate
introductory courses as well as advanced-degree programs.

Of the 15 most commonly taught languages, the only two that showed gains in
enrollment during the 2013-16 time frame were Japanese and Korean.
Enrollment in Japanese language programs grew 3.1 percent, and enrollment
in Korean language programs grew 13.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the sharpest declines during that same span were in Italian,
ancient Greek, Portuguese, Biblical Hebrew, and modern Hebrew programs,
which ranged from 17-percent to 24-percent drops.

Dennis Looney, one of the authors of the study, says the results reflect
the continued interest in Asian languages.

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Looney, who is director of programs and of the Association of Departments
of Foreign Languages at the MLA, said the study’s full report, due this
summer, will display the top performing programs in each language. These
figures are already available online though a database.
<https://apps.mla.org/flsurvey_search>

“What one wants to do with these numbers is drill down and look more
carefully at the program level to find examples of programs where there
hasn’t been a decline,” he said. “This is the way we hope our enrollment
data is used. Readers can use the data and compare it to their own programs
and figure out why some are growing at a time when enrollments are dropping
on average.”
Looking Back

Enrollment in language programs between 2006 and 2009 was mostly growing.
Arabic, Chinese, American Sign Language, and a few others showed enrollment
growth of at least 5 percent in that time period. At the time, Arabic was
the standout with nearly 47-percent growth during that period.

But by 2013, enrollment in Spanish, French, German, and other programs had
taken a dive. The only states with an increase in language-program
enrollment by 2016 were Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, and Rhode Island.

The largest decrease during the 2013 to 2016 period was in Oregon, at 28
percent, although some other states, like North Dakota and Illinois, were
close behind.

Spanish, French, and American Sign Language continue to be the top three
studied languages. Overall, enrollment in modern-language courses has been
steadily declining since 1960, according to the study.
Forwarded from the Chronicle of Higher Education 3/8/18

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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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