The number of American college students who are studying foreign languages has continued to grow, but at a slower pace, a new study shows.
Course enrollments in languages other than English in US colleges and universities reached a new high in 2009. Enrollments grew by 6.6 percent between 2006 and 2009, following an expansion of 12.9 percent between 2002 and 2006, the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) said in a report released Wednesday.
The MLA began to produce this survey since 1958 with the support of the US Department of Education. The report is considered as the most comprehensive analysis of the study of foreign languages at US colleges and universities.
The new survey found that the study of Arabic registered the largest percentage growth at US colleges and universities. Enrollments in Arabic language courses grew by 46.3 percent between 2006 and 2009, building on an increase of 126.5 percent between 2002 and 2006. Arabic is now the eighth most studied foreign language at US colleges and universities, up from tenth in 2006.
Also registering significant increases in enrollments in the new survey are Korean (up 19.1 percent), Chinese (up 18.2 percent), American Sign Language (ASL) (up 16.4 percent), Portuguese (up 10. 8 percent), and Japanese (up 10.3 percent).
Enrollments in languages outside the fifteen most commonly taught, classified in this report as less commonly taught languages, or LCTLs, grew by 20.8 percent between 2006 and 2009.
“It’s gratifying to see that so many US students recognize the importance of language study for our future,” said MLA Executive Director Rosemary G.Feal.
“The demand for an ever-greater range of languages demonstrates the vitality of the field. Despite troubling cutbacks in language offerings at some institutions, this report shows that overall interest in language study remains strong at US colleges and universities.”
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