Foreign Language Foreign Language Study in AmericaStudy in America

Abbie LewisAbbie Lewis

Laura McDanielLaura McDaniel

Cody RandelCody Randel

Where it’s Going, Where it’s Been, and What’s Being Studied

Just how many high school Just how many high school language students are we language students are we

talking about here?talking about here?Percentage of Public High School Students Enrolled in a Foreign Language in the US Over 30 Year Period

(from Table 256)

0

10

20

30

40

50

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Years

Pe

rce

nta

ge

28.4% in

1970

44% in

2000

55% increase in language study over 30 years!

Languages studied in high Languages studied in high schoolschool

(of all students enrolled in a language)(of all students enrolled in a language)Hish School Students By Language Studied and By Year (from table 256)

-0.1000

0.0000

0.1000

0.2000

0.3000

0.4000

0.5000

0.6000

0.7000

0.8000

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Year

Per

cen

tag

e

Spanish

French

Japanese

43.5%increase

44% decrease

48% in 1970

69% in 2000

33% in 1970

18% in 2000

.21% in 1970

302% increase!!

.86% in 2000

Same data, different format:Same data, different format:

High School Students By Language Studied and By Year (from table 256)

0.0000

0.1000

0.2000

0.3000

0.4000

0.5000

0.6000

0.7000

0.8000

1970 1974 1978 1982 1985 1990 1994 2000

Year

Per

cen

tag

e

Spanish

French

Japanese

43.5%

302%

44%

Enlargement of DataEnlargement of Data

Increase in high school Japanese language study

Students with foreign born Students with foreign born parents in 2003:parents in 2003:

Elementary and High School Students with atleast one Foreign Born Parent by Race in 2003: Table 213

20.0

7.2

13.6

91.0

65.6

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

White White, nonhispanic

Black Asian Hispanic

Race

Perc

en

tag

e

College students with at least one foreign born parent by race in 2003 (from table 213)

16.69.3

22.2

92.4

61.7

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

White White, non-Hispanic

Black Asian Hispanic

race

perc

en

tag

e

Which languages do you think Which languages do you think have the highest enrollment?have the highest enrollment?

Higher Education Enrollment in Top Five Foreign Languages in 2002: Table 271

0.0000

0.2000

0.4000

0.6000

Spanish French German Italian Russian

Language

Per

cent

age

55%

14%6%

5% 1%

Language Enrollment from Language Enrollment from 1970-20021970-2002

Higher Education Enrollment in Top Five Foreign Languages: Table 271

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Year

Per

cen

tag

e

Spanish

French

German

Italian

Russian

The influence of nonimmigrant The influence of nonimmigrant Latino students on Spanish Latino students on Spanish language study in American language study in American

universities:universities:Nonimmigrant Students From Latin America Studying in U.S.

Compared to College Students Taking Spanish (Tables 269 & 271)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Years

Perc

en

tag

e o

f S

tud

en

ts

Nonimmigrant Students from Latin America

College Students Taking Spanish

From ’85 to ’95, Spanishlanguage study went up by almost 30%.

During same period, the percentage of nonimmigrant Latin American students dropped 28%.

Over next 7 years the percentage of Latino Students went back up 12%…

while the

percentage of Spanish students stayed fairly constant.

The influence of nonimmigrant The influence of nonimmigrant European students on Euro European students on Euro language study in American language study in American

universities:universities: From ’85 to ’95, European language study decreased by 30%

During same period, thepercentage of nonimmigrant Europeanstudents rose by 49%.

Over next 7 years the percentage of European students stayed fairly constant…

while thepercentage of language students declined by 16%.

Nonimmigrant Students From Europe Studying in U.S. Compared to College Students Taking A European Language*

(Tables 269 & 271)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Years

Per

cen

tag

e o

f S

tud

ents

Nonimmigrant Students from Europe

College Students Studying a European Language

*European languages looked at:French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Russian.

The influence of nonimmigrant The influence of nonimmigrant Japanese students on Japanese Japanese students on Japanese

language study in American language study in American universities:universities:

Nonimmigrant Students from Japan Studying in U.S. Compared to College Students Taking Japanese

(Tables 269 & 271)

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Years

Perc

en

tag

e o

f S

tud

en

ts

Nonimmigrant Students from Japan

College Students Taking Japanese

From ’85 to ’95, Japaneselanguage study went up by another 68%. During same period, the percentage of nonimmigrant Japanesestudents jumped up163%.

Over next 7 years the percentage of Japanese language students dropped almost 5%…

while the percentage of nonimmigrant Japanese students fell by 18%.

89%

9.5%

The influence of nonimmigrant The influence of nonimmigrant Saudi Arabian students on Arabic Saudi Arabian students on Arabic

language study in American language study in American universities:universities:

Nonimmigrant Students From Saudi Arabia Studying in U.S. Compared to College Students Taking Arabic

(Tables 269 & 271)

0.00%

0.50%

1.00%

1.50%

2.00%

2.50%

3.00%

3.50%

4.00%

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Years

Perc

en

tag

e o

f S

tud

en

ts

Nonimmigrant Students from Saudi Arabia

College Students Taking Arabic

From ’85 to ’95, Arabiclanguage study rose by 15%.

During same period, the percentage of nonimmigrant Saudistudents dropped 61.5%

Over next 7 years the percentage of Saudi students went back up another 6%…percentage of Arabic students went up by 95%!

10.5%

33%

while the

Current trend of high school Current trend of high school language study vs. the futurelanguage study vs. the future

Percentage of Public High School Students Enrolled in a Foreign Language in the US Over

30 Year Period (from Table 256)y = 0.7305x - 1417.5

R2 = 0.7342

0

10

20

30

40

50

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

Years

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Percentage of Public High School Students Enrolled in a Foreign Language in the US Over

30 Year Period (from Table 256)y = 0.7305x - 1417.5

R2 = 0.7342

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

Years

Pe

rce

nta

ge

43.8% in 2000

50.8% projected in 2010

1) R squared value is .73, which isn’t terribly far off from .8, which is

considered“acceptably linear”.

2) We are only forecasting 10 years into the future from the last year of data (2000), which isn’t an unreasonable amount of time.

3) 2010 is less than 4 years away from where we are today. It seems reasonable to us that over the next 4 years roughly 50% of all high school kids will study a foreign language of some kind.

Therefore we are fairly-to-quite confident in this prediction.