Data Scarce for Gauging Scope of Language Study

Foreign-language organizations conduct surveys of programs but once a decade.

By all accounts, interest in language classes outside the traditional offerings has grown over the past several years as more attention is paid to the need for speakers of Arabic and Chinese to help deal with the United States’ security and economic concerns. But hard data are lacking in a field that is measured only periodically.

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, or ACTFL, in Alexandria, Va., has traditionally conducted surveys of foreign- language programs, students, and teachers once a decade, the last in 2000. The Center for Applied Linguistics released its own survey...

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