This paper investigates the extent of electronic dictionary use by language learners in an Australian university. All students in the study are formally enrolled in language courses across ten languages at first, second or third year level. The study places a particular emphasis on gauging student perceptions of the beneficial aspects of…

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…

This paper presents the findings of a six-week telecollaborative project between sixteen American students enrolled in a second-semester German class at an American university and sixteen German students enrolled in an advanced English course at a high school in Germany. Students discussed various cultural topics with their partner in two e-mails…

In a period of renewed efforts to encourage language study in Australia, with a particular view to increasing the number of students completing secondary school and studying a language, consideration of the reasons behind retention and attrition of students becomes paramount. In this preliminary study, which surveyed nearly 200 students entering…

This article is part of a large-scale project on the study of Spanish in high school that reports on an investigation of the low college enrollments in Spanish courses of students who study Spanish in high school. An online survey was administered to 631 high school students studying Spanish and 19 Spanish teachers, and the results revealed that…

Four aspects of the problem of retention of students in foreign language programs are discussed. (1) "Retention and Dropout: The National Situation," by K. E. Muller, describes a survey of retention rates in a sample of colleges and universities; (2) "Retention and Dropout: Some Remarks on One Department's Experience," by F. Valette, reflects on…

Reports a survey of postsecondary institutions in the United States. Questionnaires were sent to foreign language departments. A 79 percent response indicated that 60.1 percent of all enrollments were in elementary courses. Information reported concerns languages offered in various types of institutions, institutional factors affecting enrollment,…

Reports on data gathered in an AATG-sponsored national survey of U.S. high school students enrolled in upper-level German courses, investigating why students select German, continue learning German, and plan to take German in college. The results are discussed and recommendations with regard to affective motivators are made. (AS)

Describes "Project Languages," a research study which looked at: (1) reasons for language study, (2) its perceived contribution to secondary education, (3) availability of languages in the secondary schools, (4) reasons for the decline in numbers studying languages, (5) new developments in language offerings, and (6) current examination…

Examines the current situation regarding the study and use of French in various European countries as well as the United States. It is suggested that French language and culture can best be promoted through the promotion of the study of many languages. (AM)

This study began with a survey of twenty-eight school districts of Erie County, New York, and its aims were to determine and compare attrition in foreign languages in those districts. The data, obtained through discussion with teachers, interviews with students, questionnaires, and Flander's Interaction Analysis, assisted in the formulation of the…

A trend in adult foreign language classes in England is that a large enrollment leads to a large dropout rate. Many dropouts are intimidated by class organization and atmosphere and the range of student ability and experience. Solutions include integration of language classes into adult learning centers and diversification of the syllabus to meet…

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)

A survey administered to 53 African American freshmen at Hampton University (Virginia), a private historically black institution, gathered information on attitudes toward the learning of foreign languages in general and toward German second language learning specifically. Only two respondents had studied two or more years of German in high school,…

As a group, the uncommonly taught languages have benefited greatly from government funds and activities that support their instruction. Although in absolute terms their enrollments are low, many of these languages have been gaining students in recent years. Instruction in the uncommonly taught languages accounts for more than half of the student…