U.S. Falling Behind in Language Education
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Since 2009, language education in the U.S.
has consistently lost ground in the battle for relevance and funding. The shift
in national budget priorities has resulted in some language programs being
discontinued and others being scaled back. At the same time, the number of
college students enrolling in language courses has steadily declined. This loss
in enrollments has been compounded by the problem of students studying the
wrong languages. For example, in 2013 approximately 198,000 U.S. college
students were enrolled in French language courses, while only 64 students were
studying Bengali. The reality is that 193 million people around the world speak
Bengali, while fewer than 75 million speak French. Language education is also
fighting the commonly held belief that only those with a natural gift for
languages can become proficient. Richard Brecht, who oversees the University of
Maryland's Center for Advanced Study of Language, says, "It isn't that
people don't think language education is important. It's that they don't think
it's possible." Not everyone agrees that it's important. Educators argue
amongst themselves about the value of learning a language, especially when math
and science programs are competing for the same limited funding. And those who
do value language education disagree about which languages should be studied.
In the end, advocates for language education say this is not one problem, but
many. They add there is no simple solution.
From "America's Lacking Language
Skills"
The Atlantic (DC) (05/10/15) Friedman,
Amelia