Dramatic decline in number of university students taking modern foreign languages
The Telegraph, 14 Feb 2015
UK figures:
Entrants for modern foreign language degree courses fell by 16 per cent between 2007/08 and 2013/14, Higher Education Statistics Agency's latest (HESA) data shows. French and German entrants have sharply declined over the past seven years.
"The statistics will spark fresh concerns about the future of language study, amid reports that some university departments are being forced to cut back or close down due to a lack of demand."
US figures:
US Language Enrollments and Percentage change (2009-2013)
Published by MLA in February 2015.
Spanish 790,756 -8.2%
French 197,757 -8.1%
American Sign Language 109,577 19%
German 86,000 -9.3%
Italian 71,285 -11.3%
Japanese 66,740 -7.8%
Chinese 61,055 2%
Arabic 32,285 -7.5 %
Latin 27,192 -16.2%
Russian 21,962 -17.9%
Greek, Ancient 12,917 -35.5%
Hebrew, Biblical 12,551 -8.75%
Portuguese 12,415 10.1%
Korean 12,229 44.7%
Hebrew, Modern 6,698 -19.4%
Other languages 40,059 -6.7%
MLA attributes part of the decline in enrollments to departments and programs shutting down across the country.
Inside Higher Ed has interesting commentary on this reversal:
Not a Small World After All
See also:
Job Openings Down in English, Foreign Languages
Inside Higher Ed, 29 Feb 2015
Faculty positions decline for third year in a row, MLA report finds.
Global job search by language skill
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