While there are many difficulties faced by world language educators, both teachers and students of certain languages--languages commonly identified with countries and cultures deemed to be hostile to the United States--often find themselves in uniquely paradoxical situations. This article begins with a brief anecdotal description of the personal…

SINCE 1958, the Modern Language Association (MLA) has gathered and analyzed data on undergraduate and graduate course enrollments in languages other than English in United States colleges and universities. The previous survey examined language enrollments in fall 2009; here the MLA presents its twenty-third survey in the series, describing trends…

Total enrollments (undergraduate and graduate) in languages other than English dropped by 9.2% between fall 2013 and fall 2016, as reported in the Modern Language Association's twenty-fifth language enrollment census. Despite the overall drop, there were gains in nearly half of all language programs (45.5%) that mitigate somewhat the downward…

Efforts to fund the teaching of critical languages, along with increasing enrollments in less commonly taught language (LCTL) classes, have evidenced a renewed interest in LCTL pedagogy. While much is known about enrollment trends, materials development, and professional training, far less research has compared LCTL and commonly taught language…

Information is provided about enrollment rates in the less commonly taught language classes. An innovative language education method, the Self-Instructional Language Program (SILP), is described. (SW)

Presents data obtained from a survey of 2,796 colleges and universities regarding foreign language enrollment, focusing on trends in foreign languages at 2-year colleges, language registrations between 1960 and 1990, and less and most commonly taught languages. (CB)

Presents a rationale for the supervised tutorial component of the African language program at Michigan State University. The supervised tutorial is one of two modes through which African languages are offered at Michigan State University. The other, which is teacher led, is offered for high enrollment languages such as Arabic, Swahili, and Hausa.…

Speech delivered at the National Council on the Humanities, on October 21, 1971, in Washington, D.C. Author is Executive Secretary of the Modern Language Association of America. (DS)

Makes a case for studying the truly foreign languages--the less commonly taught languages. Discusses the needs and ramifications of supervising the teaching of less commonly taught languages, covering the nature of the curriculum, the state of the field, and available resources. (Author/VWL)

Presents the results of the Modern Language Association's fall 1995 survey of foreign language registrations in American institutes of higher education. Results are presented in tabular form and are broken down by grade level, language studied, and comparison with prior years. The survey contains data on commonly and less commonly taught…

This paper investigates the beliefs about language learning held by 53 first-month university students enrolled in Swahili compared to those of 113 students of French and Spanish. Based in part upon the research design and instrument of Elaine Horwitz (University of Texas-Austin), this paper isolates the results from a larger study of eight…

Presents the results of research designed to explore the possibilities of expanding the number of students in Arabic studies departments and to develop recommendations for admissions policies and course structures. There is a need for cooperation among Arabic departments on innovation in language teaching and for an improved image of Arabic…

College Students enrolled in East Asian language classes were surveyed about their language learning motivational orientations (MOs). MOs were classified and measured on seven subscales; integrative, instrumental, heritage-related, travel, interest, school-related, and language use. Learners were highly influenced by interest, language use, and…

Statistics indicate a growing interest in the study of Latin across the country. In elementary and secondary schools, it is taught as an end in itself and as a means of improving the English language skills and the linguistic background of Hispanic students. The American Classical League supports this revival. (PMJ)

This article reports the results of a survey, funded by the American Classical League (ACL) and conducted during 1990-91, that assessed attitudes toward high school foreign-language study, in particular the study of Latin and Greek, in the college admissions process. (21 references) (VWL)