27, no. 2 (Winter 1996): 57-84 To the Editor Search

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Works Cited

SINCE 1958, the MLA, with the aid of funding from the United States Department of Education, has done periodic surveys of foreign language registrations in United States colleges and universities. Typically, response rates to the MLA surveys have exceeded 95%; thus, the surveys present a comprehensive picture of registration levels during the fall term of each year under study. In conjunction with the most recent survey, which covered the fall 1990 term, MLA staff created a database that contained registrations data for selected years (1990, 1986, 1980, 1974, and 1970), along with information on a number of institutional characteristics. This report draws on the information in the database to identify changes through time in registration levels and the percentage of institutions that offer various languages and language clusters and discusses trends within groups that differ by several institutional characteristics. ¹

The 308 institutions in the MLA database designated as “professional schools and other specialized institutions” in the 1987 classification developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (“Carnegie Foundation's Classification”) have been excluded from the analyses presented here. ² Elimination of the specialized institutions means that the registration totals presented here are smaller than those in previous reports of individual MLA surveys (Brod “1970,” “1974,” and “1986”; Brod and Huber; Müller). ³ Registrations in the classical languages are most markedly reduced by the exclusion because so many specialized institutions are seminaries.

Figure 1 depicts changes through time in graduate and undergraduate registrations in modern foreign languages. ⁴ (The solid squares identify the surveys included in the database use here.) Registrations grew strongly during the 1960s, declined during the 1970s, and enjoyed renewed growth during the 1980s. The most recent growth exceeded growth in the total number of students attending college (Brod and Huber 7–8). By 1990, the total number of registrations in modern foreign languages exceeded one million, outstripping the previous high point, in 1986. The 1970–90 period under study here omits the 1960s growth period but encompasses the decline of the 1970s and the growth of the 1980s. Only registrations in seven of the commonly taught languages can be examined for the full twenty-year period. For other languages, the 1974–90 period is considered. During this period, total registrations in modern foreign languages declined modestly (from approximately 897,100 to 877,700) and then, after 1980, grew relatively strongly.

Course Offerings and Registrations in Different Language Groupings

In addition to providing information on registration levels through time, the MLA database allows one to calculate the percentage of United States colleges and universities offering given languages and language clusters (i.e., those reporting any registrations in a given year). Because these percentages provide additional insight into postsecondary opportunities for language study, changes in them are dealt with here.

Table 1 shows the percentage of institutions reporting registrations in selected years in each of the 20 languages and language groups identified for the purposes of this study. The 20 categories were defined on the basis of number of registrations in fall 1990. Twelve of the categories represent individual languages with at least 3,400 registrations in that year, while 7 are collective categories used to group 79 of the remaining languages, each of which had fewer than 2,500 registrations in 1990. ⁵ The category “other languages” contains the 31 less commonly taught languages that could not be accommodated in the 7 language groupings. For two of the classical languages, courses in the ancient and modern languages are combined. In Greek, registrations in the modern language are minimal (829 out of 17,230 in 1990), while in Hebrew, registrations are more evenly split (5,724 in biblical Hebrew in 1990 and 7,271 in Modern Hebrew). ⁶

Table 1 indicates that during the 1974–90 period the East Asian and Southeast Asian languages exhibited the greatest increases in the percentage of institutions offering them. The percentage offering Japanese was 3.7 times as high in 1990 as in 1974, while the percentage offering Chinese was 2.1 times as high. The percentage of institutions offering other East and Southeast Asian languages (e.g., Korean) doubled, as did the percentage offering “other languages.” Smaller gains in the percentage of institutions offering courses were registered in Arabic (60%), Hebrew (29%), and other Near Eastern languages (29%). In contrast, the percentage of institutions offering courses in the African languages (e.g., Swahili) declined by almost half during the 1974–90 period. Smaller but noticeable declines were registered in several other categories (South Asian languages, German, Scandinavian languages, and Slavic languages other than Russian). The pattern displayed by Russian is atypical. Between 1970 and 1986, the percentage of institutions offering the language decreased by 24%, only to increase by 23% between 1986 and 1990. The percentage of institutions offering Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian remained relatively unchanged during the 1974–90 period; the percentage increased slightly for Spanish and Italian (by 4% to 5%) and decreased slightly for French and Portuguese (by 6% to 7%).

The number of institutions offering courses in the languages included in the 8 language groupings in table 1 are combined during subsequent discussion in the less commonly taught languages category. ⁷ The 12 commonly taught languages were combined into three larger clusters for more detailed analysis: the 3 most commonly taught languages, 6 other commonly taught languages (a grouping created for the purposes of this study), and 3 classical languages. In 1990, registrations in each of the most commonly taught languages exceeded 130,000 while those in each of the other commonly taught languages were somewhere between 3,400 and 50,000. Registrations in each of the classical languages were similar to those in the other commonly taught languages (between 12,500 and 28,500). Registrations in 1990 never exceeded 2,500 in any of the less commonly taught languages. Throughout this section and the first part of the next section, trends and patterns are discussed only for the four language clusters (i.e., most commonly taught languages, other commonly taught languages, classical languages, and less commonly taught languages). Trends for individual languages are discussed in the larger report from which this article is drawn (Huber, “Foreign Enrollments”).

The left-hand column of table 2 shows the languages included in the three clusters of commonly taught languages. The other columns show the percentage of institutions offering each language or language cluster. The percentage of institutions offering one or more of the three most commonly taught languages remained largely unchanged during the 1970–90 period, primarily because almost all institutions offer at least one of them. Spanish was somewhat more frequently offered in 1990 than in 1970, while French and German had become less widely offered by the end of the period. Collectively, the other commonly taught languages became more widely offered between 1974 and 1990, registering a gain of 27% in the percentage of institutions offering one or more of them. The classical languages became somewhat more widely offered during the 1974–90 period, largely because of growth in the percentage of institutions offering Hebrew, while the percentage of institutions offering one or more of the less commonly taught languages remained largely unchanged.

The first section of table 3 presents total national registrations (graduate and undergraduate), as well as the average per-institution registrations, in the most commonly taught languages for each of the years under study. Both total and average registrations in these languages decreased during the first decade of the 1970–90 period and increased during the second. the increase in total registrations was evident by 1980, with the number increasing by 25% between 1980 and 1990; the increase in average registrations did not manifest itself until the second half of the 1980s.

In keeping with the overall trend in registrations depicted in figure 1, total registrations in the other commonly taught languages decreased somewhat during the 1974–80 period. Thereafter, they increased substantially; by 1990 they had grown by 90%. Average registrations began to increase in the late 1970s and continued to do so throughout the 1980s. Total undergraduate and graduate registrations in the classical languages fell by 23% during the 1974–86 period and then increased by 6% between 1986 and 1990. The decline is linked to a drop in institutional enrollments, while the increase is due to growth in the number of institutions offering classical languages. ⁸ Like registrations in the classical languages, total registrations in the less commonly taught languages did not increase until the 1986–90 period, when they grew by 29%; between 1974 and 1986 registrations declined by 11%. Growth in total registrations between 1986 and 1990 can be traced to modest increases in the number of students taking classes in the less commonly taught languages and the number of institutions offering courses in such languages.

Trends in group averages, such as those presented in table 3, can mask the prevalence of growing or declining enrollments at individual institutions. Thus, enrollment trends at individual institutions were examined by calculating percentage changes for combined undergraduate and graduate enrollments in each institution and in each time period. The resulting scores were grouped according to whether enrollments declined, remained the same, or grew. Institutional enrollments were considered to have remained the same if they increased or decreased by less then 5% during the period under consideration. Table 4 presents the percentages falling into each of the three groups by language and year. ⁹ The table indicates that the percentage of institutions whose enrollments in the most commonly taught languages grew during each time period increased steadily throughout the 1970–90 period, from just under a quarter in the early 1970s to almost two-thirds during the late 1980s. Like enrollments in the most commonly taught languages, those in the other commonly taught languages grew at an increasing percentage of institutions throughout the 1974–90 period, with a larger percentage of institutions experiencing growth in these enrollments during the 1980s than in the most commonly taught languages.

The pattern in the classical languages differs from that for the commonly taught languages, with expansion in the percentage of institutions experiencing growth in enrollments evident during the 1980s only. Between the last half of the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s the percentage declined. The pattern of growth in institutional enrollments in the less commonly taught languages is much like that for the classical languages: the percentage of institutions experiencing growth in enrollments between the last half of the 1970s and the first of the 1980s decreased, while the percentage increased between the early and late 1980s. During the 1974–80 period, the percentage of institutions experiencing growth in enrollments in the less commonly taught languages was greater than the percentage experiencing growth in the commonly taught languages. During the 1980s, however, the growth in enrollments was less widespread in the less commonly taught languages and the classical languages than in the commonly taught languages.

Table 4 presents a different way of examining change in foreign language registrations from those used in previous reports on MLA enrollment surveys; those reports present figures through time for total registrations in various languages. Before 1990, it was necessary to assess change through time by using national totals, since no longitudinal database existed. Did such a focus lead to misrepresentation of trends in foreign language enrollments? Table 5 indicates that it generally did not. The table compares the percentage change in total registrations with the median percentage change in institutional enrollments for each of the four language clusters. In addition, it presents the percentage of institutions experiencing growth or decline in enrollments. Only two pairs of percentage-change figures differ significantly: the figures for classical languages during the 1974–80 period, when enrollments increased at more institutions (43%) than the decline in total registrations suggested, and those for less commonly taught languages during the 1986–90 period, when enrollments decreased at 42% of the institutions offering these languages while total registrations grew strongly. ¹⁰ The second discrepancy can probably be attributed to big enrollment gains in a small number of relatively large programs.

Registrations in Institutional Subgroups

Of the institutions included in the longitudinal database of foreign language registrations, 44% are two-year colleges and 56% are four-year colleges and universities. The range of languages offered by two- and four-year institutions differs in a number of respects, as table 6 indicates. Almost all two-year and four-year institutions offer the most commonly taught languages. Approximately half of four-year institutions offer the other commonly taught and classical languages and relatively few offer the less commonly taught languages. By contrast, during the 1974–90 period only 20% to 30% of two-year colleges offered the other commonly taught languages and no more than 8% offered the classical or less commonly taught languages.

Throughout the period under consideration, total registrations in the commonly taught languages and language clusters are anywhere from 3 to 75 times greater in four-year than in two-year institutions. In addition, average registrations in the most commonly taught languages are consistently higher in four-year institutions. Differences in average registrations in the other commonly taught languages are less pronounced but evident, while average registrations in the classical languages are higher in four- than in two-year institutions throughout the 1974–90 period. Average registrations in the less commonly taught language, in contrast to those in other languages, do not differ significantly between two- and four-year institutions; in fact, average registrations are higher in two- than in four-year institutions. These findings suggest that the few two-year colleges that offer less commonly taught languages have enrollments that are similar to those found in four-year institutions. ¹¹

Because the frequency with which two- and four-year institutions offer language clusters differs so sharply, separate multivariate regression analyses were undertaken to determine how registrations differ by institutional characteristics. Analyses for two- and four-year institutions examined four characteristics: geographic region, source of funding institutional size, and administrative arrangements for language programs. The four-year-institution analyses also included institutional type and the presence or absence of language requirements in selected years. Table 7 presents the major subgroups examined for both two- and four-year institutions. Two clear differences are evident: four-year institutions are more likely than two-year colleges to be privately funded and to house their foreign language programs in independent administrative units. In addition, four-year institutions are somewhat more likely than two-year colleges to be located in the Northeast and somewhat less likely to be located on the Pacific Coast.

Regression analyses were undertaken for the four language clusters identified earlier, for the three most commonly taught languages, and for Japanese, a language that experienced remarkable growth during the period under consideration. The multivariate regression analyses also dealt with total registrations in undergraduate or graduate foreign language courses. All two-year colleges and virtually all four-year institutions in the database offer undergraduate courses in foreign languages, while only 20% to 22% of the four-year institutions offered graduate courses throughout the 1974–90 period. According to table 8, both total and average undergraduate foreign language registrations increased steadily between 1974 and 1990 in two-year colleges. Among four-year institutions, in contrast, total and average undergraduate registrations decreased during the last half of the 1970s and then increased throughout the 1980s. At the graduate level, a similar pattern evident for total registrations but not for average registrations. While total registrations increased during the 1980–90 period, average graduate registrations tended to decline, suggesting that registrations grew because the number, though not the percentage, of four-year institutions offering graduate courses increased during the decade.

In keeping with the substantial decline in total registrations in foreign language courses during the 1974–80 period, the percentage of institutions experiencing increased enrollments during this period is small, as table 9 indicates. The percentage of four-year institutions experiencing increased graduate course enrollments during the 1980–86 and 1986–90 period is substantially higher than during the 1970s, though lower than the percentages experiencing growth in undergraduate enrollments. Table 9 shows steady growth in the percentage of four-year institutions experiencing increased undergraduate enrollments during the 1974–90 period. Two-year colleges were also increasingly likely experiencing growth in their foreign language enrollments throughout the 1974–90 period. Moreover, the percentage of two-year colleges experiencing growth in enrollments during the 1986–90 period is higher than the corresponding figure for four-year institutions. This finding, along with the steady growth in total registrations at two-year colleges during the 1974–90 period, suggests that foreign language registrations in two-year colleges, although smaller in size than those in four-year institutions, may have fared better during the last two decades. The 59% growth in total two year registrations, compared with 25% for total four-year undergraduate registrations, further supports this conclusion. Moreover, average registrations in two-year colleges were 32% higher in 1990 than in 1974; the comparable figure for undergraduate registrations at four-year institutions is 17%.

Subgroup Differences in Two-Year Registrations

Table 7 shows that most two-year colleges with foreign language programs are publicly funded and enroll moderate numbers of full- and part-time students; half of these colleges enrolled between 1,221 and 5,811 in fall 1988. Approximately half are located in the South Atlantic region or the Midwest. Almost four in five two-year colleges house their foreign language programs within a larger administrative unit, with joint English-foreign language programs somewhat more prevalent than divisions that offer both foreign language and other courses. ¹²

Courses Offered and Average Registrations

In all MLA surveys under consideration, the percentage of two-year colleges offering courses in language clusters and selected languages varies by institutional size and geographic region. For the sake of simplicity, only the 1990 survey figures are presented in tables 10 and 11. No. figures are presented for the most commonly taught languages considered collectively because almost every two-year college surveyed offers at least one (see table 6). The vast majority offer courses in Spanish, though very small and small institutions (those with fewer than 2,000 students) are less likely to do so than those with larger student bodies (84% vs. 97%). For French and German, in contrast, the percentage of institutions offering courses increases with institutional size, as table 10 indicates. In particular, very large two-year colleges (i.e., those with more than 5,000 students) are more likely to offer one of the languages than colleges with smaller student bodies (92% and 71% vs. 62% and 27%). Institutions with more than 5,000 students are also more likely than those with fewer students to offer other commonly taught languages (68% vs. 13%) and Japanese (38% vs. 6%). Relatively few two-year colleges offer classical languages, but those with large or very large student bodies are more likely to do so than those with smaller student bodies (17% vs. 4%).

Table 11 summarizes geographic differences in the percentage of two-year colleges offering language clusters and selected languages. ¹³ French is more frequently offered by colleges on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts (i.e., northeastern states, South Atlantic states, and Pacific Coast states) than by colleges in the center of the country (78% vs. 64%). German, in contrast, is offered most frequently by colleges on the Pacific Coast and least frequently by colleges in the South (61% vs. 28%; 46% of the two-year colleges in the Northeast, the Midwest, and the Rocky Mountain states offer German). Other commonly taught languages are most frequently offered by colleges in the Pacific Coast states (67% vs. 21% for all other regions), as are courses in Japanese (56% vs. 9%). Finally, two-year colleges in the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountain states are more likely than those in other parts of the country to offer less commonly taught languages (14% vs. 3%).

Like the percentage of colleges offering language courses, mean registrations vary by institutional size and geographic region. Again, only the figure for the 1990 survey are presented in tables 12 and 14; similar patterns are evident for the other surveys considered. Table 12 shows a highly consistent pattern: for every language and language cluster considered, average registrations increase with institutional size. For registrations in all languages, the most commonly taught languages, and Spanish, average registrations clearly differ for each of the three larger size groups, while average registrations in very small and small two-year colleges are almost identical. For registrations in French, German, other commonly taught languages, and Japanese, average registrations differ only for large and every large institutions. ¹⁴

Even though very large two-year colleges consistently have the largest average enrollments, they do not make the largest contribution to total two-year college registrations in all languages or the most commonly taught languages. The right-hand column of table 13 indicates that registrations in very large two-year colleges accounted for under a third of the 1990 registrations in all languages and the most commonly taught languages, while large colleges accounted for close to half. This discrepancy occurs because large two-year colleges are more numerous than very large colleges (28% vs. 7% of the total). A different pattern is evident for the other commonly taught languages because very large two-year colleges make up a larger percentage of the institutions offering these languages. The bottom rows of table 13 indicate that very colleges account for 18% of the institutions offering other commonly taught languages and 46% of the total 1990 registrations in these languages. Large institutions contributed a similar percentage of the total registrations while accounting for slightly over half of all institutions offering other commonly taught languages.

Institutions with fewer than 5,000 students accounted for almost two-thirds of all two-year colleges with foreign language enrollments in 1990, but they contributed only 22% of the registrations in all languages, 24% of those in the most commonly taught languages, and 9% of those in the other commonly taught languages. These findings suggest that the size of two-year registrations in all languages and the commonly taught languages is largely determined by enrollments in very large and large colleges; smaller colleges, which constitute a majority, contribute relatively little to total registrations.

Table 14 indicates that average two-year-college language registrations are consistently higher in the Pacific Coast states than in other regions of the country. The contrast is least pronounced for German (a mean registration of 83 in the Pacific Coast states vs. 41 in other states) and French (133 vs. 54). For the other languages and language clusters considered, the average registrations are at least three times as great in the Pacific coast states as they are in other states. The sharpest contrast is evident for registrations in all languages: the mean is 644 in the Pacific Coast states and 178 in other states. In addition to having the largest average enrollments, two-year colleges in the Pacific Coast region make a larger contribution to all registrations than those in other regions. Two-year colleges in the Pacific Coast states account for 18% of all those with foreign language enrollments, but account for 44% of the registrations in all languages and 40% of those in the commonly taught languages. Colleges in the South Atlantic and midwestern states, in contrast, account for 23% of all two-year institutions with foreign language enrollments, but 13% to 17% of the registrations in all languages or the most commonly taught languages. Registrations in other commonly taught languages are more heavily concentrated in the Pacific Coast region than those in the most commonly taught languages, in part because colleges in this area account for a larger percentage of the institutions with enrollments in the other commonly taught languages. More specifically, colleges in the Pacific Coast states account for 70% of all registrations in other commonly taught languages and 40% of the institutions offering these languages.

Some clusters of registrations differ not only by geographical region and institutional size but also by administrative arrangements for language programs. Average registrations in all languages are higher in institutions with independent language units than in colleges housing foreign languages in larger administrative units (504.1 vs. 201.3). The same is true for the most commonly taught languages (427.1 vs. 180.0), Spanish (303.5 vs. 130.4), and French (191.1 vs. 55.0). Mean registrations for the minority of colleges with independent language units are at least twice as great as those for colleges whose language programs are part of larger administrative units.

Changes through Time

Change through time in the percentage of institutions offering selected languages varies primarily by institutional size. Figures 2 and 3 show that the percentage of two-year colleges offering French and German has tended to decline during the 1970–90 period all institutional size groups. In French the decline has been greatest among small and very small colleges, where the percentage offering courses dropped by 21 to 23 points. Very little decline is evident for larger and very large colleges, but medium-sized colleges experienced decline of 16 percentage points. In German, all groups but very large colleges registered substantial declines in the percentage of institutions offering the language (a drop of 12 to 14 percentage points). Though the percentage of very large colleges offering German fluctuated considerably between 1970 and 1990, it declined little overall.

In contrast to the percentage of institutions offering French and German, the percentage offering other commonly taught languages increased considerably during the 1974–90 period most institutional size groups. Figure 4 shows a decline only for very small colleges, where the percentage offering other commonly taught languages dropped by 3 percentage points. In small and medium-sized colleges, the percentage increased by 6 to 9 percentage points, while it grew by 16 to 19 points in large and very large colleges. According to figure 5, the percentage of two-year colleges offering grew in all size groups during the 1986–90 period. ¹⁵ Growth did not exceed 4 percentage points in small and medium-sized colleges, but it was substantial in large and very large colleges (15- and 23-percentage-point increases respectively). Growth in the percentage of colleges offering Japanese also varies by geographic region, as figure 6 indicate. Growth is least evident in the northeastern, South Atlantic, and south central states, where the percentage of colleges offering courses grew by no more than 3%. In the midwestern states, the percentage of colleges offering Japanese grew by 7 percentage points, while in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast states it grew by 21 to 24 percentage points.

Two factors affect change through time in the size of registration levels: institutional size and geographic region. Average registrations in all languages increased during the 1974–90 period in each of the five institutional size groups. According to figure 7, absolute growth in average registrations was considerably greater in large and very large two-year colleges than in smaller two-year colleges. Relative growth was most marked in very large colleges, where average registrations grew by 44%, compared with 20% to 36% in the four other size groups. The picture is somewhat different for the most commonly taught languages, as figure 8 indicates. In both absolute and relative terms, average registrations grew most in very large colleges (by 54%) and modestly or not at all in medium-sized and small institutions. In large institutions, growth was moderate, with average registrations growing by 22%. ¹⁶

A similar pattern is evident for other commonly taught languages: both absolute and relative growth in registrations were far greater in very large colleges than in smaller ones. Figure 9 indicates that in very large colleges average registrations grew by 171 students (168%). Among smaller colleges, average registrations grew by no more than 16 students between the beginning and end of the 1974–90 period; this represents a significant percentage increase among small colleges (76%). Registrations in other commonly taught languages also vary by geographic region, as figure 10 indicates. Average registrations in colleges in the Pacific Coast region more than doubled between 1974 and 1990, growing substantially more than average registrations in colleges in other geographic regions did. In the latter, average registrations either declined slightly or grew by 18 to 23 students. In both the southern and Rocky Mountain states, the increase represents considerable percentage growth in average registrations (64% and 88%).

The Importance of Language Instruction in the Pacific Coast Region

The findings summarized above reveal that both average registrations and the percentage of two-year colleges offering languages differ most clearly and consistently by institutional size. In particular, large colleges, enrolling more than 5,000 students, are most likely to offer languages and to have the average foreign language enrollments. In addition, large two-year colleges have experienced the greatest growth in language registrations through time. The preceding discussion also shows that another group of two-year institutions is distinctive: colleges in the Pacific Coast states, 65% of which are in California. ¹⁷ Since colleges in the Pacific in the Coast states are disproportionately likely to be large—64% enrolled more than 5,000 full- and part-time students in fall 1988 compared with 23% of the colleges in other regions—the question of whether region has an effect independent of institutional size presents itself.

Table 15 address this question by examining whether large and smaller two-year colleges in the Pacific Coast region differ from similarly sized colleges in other regions. The top part of the table indicates that the percentage of colleges offering each of the languages or language clusters considered is consistently greater in colleges in the Pacific Coast region than in similarly sized colleges in other regions. In both smaller and large institutions, differences by region are more pronounced for other commonly taught languages and for Japanese than for French and German. The bottom part of table 15 indicates that average registrations are also greater in Pacific Coast colleges than in similarly sized two-year colleges in other geographic regions. Among smaller colleges average registrations in Pacific Coast colleges are least twice as great as those of colleges in other regions for registrations in all languages, the most commonly taught languages, Spanish, and other commonly taught languages; regional differences are inconsequential for French only. Among the large colleges none of the differences by region are insignificant; they are marked for registrations in all languages, other commonly taught languages, and Japanese.

Like differences in average registrations and percentage of colleges offering languages, regional differences in change through time remain evident when institutional size is held constant. Figure 11 shows that growth in the percentage of two-year colleges offering Japanese during the 1974–90 period is greater in Pacific Coast colleges than in smaller and large colleges in other regions. Among smaller colleges, the percentage of colleges in the Pacific Coast region offering Japanese grew by 27 percentage points between 1974 and 1990, compared with a growth of 3 percentage points for smaller colleges in other regions. The comparable figures for large colleges are 48 and 24 percentage points. Growth in average registrations in other commonly taught languages also differs by region among similarly sized colleges. Figure 12 indicates that average registrations in both smaller and large colleges outside the Pacific Coast region remained constant or declined between 1974 and 1990. In the Pacific Coast region, in contrast, average registrations grew substantially, by 23% in smaller colleges and by 161% in large colleges.

In short, the findings indicate that two-year colleges in the Pacific Coast region, which by and large means California, have well-established language programs with large enrollments in a variety of languages. In 1990, registrations in these institutions accounted for 44% of the two-year registrations in all languages and 70% of those in other commonly taught languages. To some degree, Pacific Coast and California colleges have high enrollments because they are disproportionately large. In addition, however, conditions in the region appear to foster an unusual commitment to language instruction in a spectrum of languages among both large and small two-year colleges. One of these conditions is undoubtedly the frequency with which students in California's two-year colleges seek to transfer to the California State University and University of California systems, many of whose campuses require entering students to have completed some foreign language study. ¹⁸

Subgroup Differences in Four-Year Registrations

Like two-year colleges, four-year institutions tend to be mid-sized; half enrolled between 1,138 and 6,596 full- and part-time students in fall 1988. In other respects, four-year institutions with foreign language programs differ from two-year colleges with such programs. Table 7 indicates that just over 60% of four-year institutions are privately funded and just over 40% are baccalaureate institutions with liberal arts programs leading to bachelor's degree. Another 40% are comprehensive institutions that offer master's and professional degrees in some fields, but are primarily undergraduate institutions; only 15% are doctorate-granting institutions with numerous graduate programs. Two-thirds of all four-year institutions with foreign language programs house them independent administrative units. Approximately 80% of these have a single multilingual program (e.g., a department of modern languages of foreign languages) that is responsible for all foreign language courses offered at the institution. Only 13% of all four-year institutions have multiple foreign language units (e.g., separate Spanish, French, and German departments). The last sections of table 7 indicate that the majority of four-year institutions had graduation requirements in foreign languages throughout the 1974–90 period. In 1970, however, the percentage of institutions with such requirements was considerably higher than in 1974 or in 1987. ¹⁹

Courses Offered and Average Registrations

In all MLA surveys under consideration, the percentage of four-year institutions offering graduate or undergraduate courses in language clusters or selected languages varies by at least one of the institutional characteristics under consideration. For the sake of simplicity, only the 1990 survey figures are presented in tables 16 and 17. As with two-year colleges, no figures are presented for the most commonly taught languages considered collectively because, for all practical purposes, every four-year institution surveyed offers at least one (see table 6). Almost all four-year institutions offer courses in Spanish. ²⁰ For French and German, the percentage of institutions offering courses varies by several factors. One factor is institutional type. Baccalaureate institutions are less likely than comprehensive and doctorate-granting institutions to offer French (80% vs. 94% and 100%), while doctorate-granting institutions are more likely than baccalaureate or comprehensive institutions to offer German (99% vs. 58% and 78%). Doctorate-granting institutions are also most likely to offer other commonly taught languages, while baccalaureate institutions are least likely to do so (95% vs. 42%). ²¹ Further, doctorate-granting institutions are more likely than comprehensive or baccalaureate institutions to offer classical languages (86% vs. 47%) and less commonly taught languages (47% vs. 8%). Not surprisingly, doctorate-granting institutions are far more likely than comprehensive and baccalaureate institutions to offer graduate courses in languages (81% vs. 15% and 4%).

With two exceptions (Spanish and French), the percentage of institutions offering courses in the languages and language clusters under study varies by institutional size. Table 16 indicates that as institutional size increases, the percentage of institutions offering a language or language cluster increases. Very large institutions (those with more than 15,000 students) are considerably more likely than smaller institutions to offer courses in several groupings: Japanese (85% vs 32%), classical languages (90% vs. 48%), and less commonly taught languages (54% vs. 9%). Very large institutions are also much more likely than smaller institutions to offer graduate courses in languages (89% vs. 13%).

The likelihood that institutions offer some languages or language clusters varies not only by institutional size and type but also by their administrative arrangements for foreign languages. Table 17 reveals that institutions housing foreign languages in larger administrative units are likely than those with independent language units to offer either French (78% vs. 96%) or German (49% vs. 86%). Further, institutions with multiple language units are considerably more likely than those housing languages with other disciplines to offer other commonly taught languages, including Japanese, and classical languages; institutions with a single multilingual unit fall midway between the two extremes. The percentage of institutions offering Japanese and other commonly taught languages varies by geographic region. Institutions in the northeastern and Pacific Coast states are more likely than those in other regions to offer other commonly taught languages (72% and 79% vs. 51%), and institutions in the Pacific Coast states are most likely to offer courses in Japanese (69% vs. 34% in other regions).

Like the percentage of four-year institutions offering language courses, mean registrations vary by several characteristics. Again, only the figures for the 1990 survey are presented; similar patterns are evident for the other surveys considered. ²² Average registrations in other commonly taught languages, Japanese, and classical languages are approximately twice as large in public institutions as in private institutions. Average registrations also differ by institutional type for most of the language groupings studied. The top rows of table 18 reveal that average undergraduate registrations in doctorate-granting institutions are almost 11 times larger than those in baccalaureate institutions and more than 4 times larger than those in comprehensive institutions. A similar disproportion is evident for average registrations in graduate classes; those in doctorate-granting institutions are 5.6 times larger than those in comprehensive institutions. For the most commonly taught languages, considered collectively, average registrations in doctorate-granting institutions are 4.2 times larger than those in comprehensive institutions and 10 times larger than those in baccalaureate institutions; considered separately, the three languages show similar disproportions. For other commonly taught languages and classical languages, average registrations in doctorate-granting institutions are 5 to 7 times greater than those in baccalaureate institutions and 3 to 5 times greater than those in comprehensive institutions.

The substantial disparities by institutional type average registrations are almost entirely due to differences in size. ²³ That is, doctorate-granting institutions have larger student bodies than comprehensive or baccalaureate institutions and therefore have larger foreign language registrations. For the same reason, public institutions tend to have larger language registrations than private institutions. Table 19 shows the importance of institutional size for language registrations. (The second-to-last section considers variation in registration levels independent of institutional size.) For every language grouping examined, average registrations in very large institutions (those with more than 15,000 students) are substantially larger than those for smaller institutions. The discrepancy between registration levels in the smallest and largest institutions is greatest for total undergraduate registrations; mean registrations in very large institutions are 35 times greater than mean registrations in very small institutions (those with 1,000 or fewer students). Even the smallest divergence in mean registrations is substantial; average registrations in less commonly taught languages are almost 5 times greater in very large than in very small institutions.

Given their large average registrations, it is not surprising to find that very large institutions account for the lion's share of total registrations, despite their small numbers. Table 20 indicates that registrations in very large institutions accounted for 44% to 46% of total 1990 registrations in all undergraduate language courses and in the commonly taught languages, even though these institutions accounted for only 10% of those offering such courses. Small and very small institutions (those with fewer than 2,000 students), in contrast, accounted for 43% of all institutions offering courses, but only 11% to 12% of the total registrations in all undergraduate language courses and the most commonly taught languages. In other commonly taught languages, the percentage of all registrations found in very large institutions—more than half of the total—is larger than in the most commonly taught languages, presumably because very large institutions account for a larger share of the institutions offering courses in these languages. Registrations in the classical languages are somewhat anomalous; the percentage of very large institutions offering courses in these languages is similar to the percentage offering courses in other commonly taught languages, but the percentage of all 1990 registrations found in these institutions is just under half. Compared with registrations in the other language clusters, those in the less commonly taught languages are more heavily concentrated in very large institutions. These institutions account not only for just over three-fifths of the total 1990 registrations but also for two-fifths of the institutions offering courses in such languages.

According to table 20, small and medium-sized institutions (those with fewer than 5,000 students) accounted for two-thirds of all institutions with undergraduate registrations in foreign languages in 1990. Such institutions also accounted for the majority of institutions offering courses in the most commonly taught languages, the classical languages, and other commonly taught languages. Nonetheless, these smaller institutions accounted for only 24% of all undergraduate registrations, 25% of those in the most commonly taught languages, 31% of those in the classical languages, and 17% of those in other commonly taught languages. These findings suggest that total registrations in the three language cluster and in all languages considered together are largely determined by registration levels in large and very large institutions. Smaller four-year colleges, like smaller two-year colleges, contribute relatively little to total registrations, even though they constitute a majority of four-year institutions.

Registration levels in other commonly taught languages differ by geographic region as well as by institutional size. Average registrations in these languages are higher at institutions in the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountain states than they are at institutions in other regions (309 vs.160). Regional differences are also evident for Japanese; institutions in the Pacific Coast states, which are more likely to offer courses in Japanese, have higher average registrations than institutions in other regions (116 vs. 53). Although 1990 registrations in the most commonly taught languages do not differ by region, they do vary by the presence or absence of graduation requirements in foreign languages. ^24> When 1990 registrations in the commonly taught languages are considered collectively, the average registration in institutions with language requirements in 1987 is 748, compared with 333 at institutions without language requirements. Similar differences are evident for Spanish (410 vs. 184) and French (247 vs. 116). ^25> These findings suggest that although language requirements may elevate enrollment levels in the most commonly taught languages, they have little effect on enrollment in classes in other or less commonly taught languages. Survey findings reported elsewhere suggest that when language requirements elevate enrollment levels, they do so primarily if first- and second-year language classes (Huber, “The MLA' 1987–89 Survey” 27).

Changes through Time

Both administrative arrangement for foreign language study and institutional size affect change through time in the percentage of institutions offering courses in selected languages and language clusters. Figures 13 and 14 show that the percentage of institutions offering French and German has tended to decline during the 1970–90 period in institutions with all types of administrative arrangements. However, the decline has been far greater for institutions housing foreign languages within larger administrative units than for institutions with independent administrative units for languages. Among the latter, almost all institutions with multiple language units offered French and German throughout the 1970–90 period. The same is true of French for institutions with multilingual programs; in German, however, the percentage of such institutions offering the language declined noticeably, though not as strongly as among institutions in which languages as part of a larger administrative unit.

Change through time in the percentage of institutions offering other commonly taught languages also varies by administrative arrangements, with the subgroup trends contrasting with those for the most commonly taught languages. Figure 15 indicates that the percentage of institutions offering such languages grew fairly strongly during the 1980s in institutions with multilingual language programs and in those in which languages are part of larger administrative units. For the latter, the percentage almost doubled between 1980 and 1990 (it grew from 18% to 34%); for institutions with multilingual language units, the percentage increased by a third. Among institutions with multiple language units, the percentage offering other commonly taught languages grew relatively little, largely because it was already high at the beginning of the decade. Change in the percentage of institutions offering other commonly taught languages varies by institutional size as well as by administrative arrangements. According to figure 16, the percentage of institutions offering other commonly taught languages grew during the 1980s in all institutional size groups. Growth was substantial in small, medium-sized, and large institutions but modest in very institutions. The percentage of very large institutions offering less commonly taught language increased only minimally between 1980 and 1990, largely because almost all the institutions offered such languages at the beginning of the period.

Change in the percentage of institutions offering Japanese also varies by institutional size. The pattern of change differs, however, as figure 17 indicates. Between 1974 and 1990 the percentage of institutions offering Japanese grew consistently and substantially in all institutional size groups, with the greatest growth evident in large and very large institutions. In small and very small institutions (those with fewer than 2,000 students), the percentage of institutions offering Japanese between 1974 and 1990 grew by 12 and 19 percentage points respectively; the comparable figures for larger institutions are 32 percentage points for medium-sized institutions and 39 percentage points for large and very large institutions. In contrast to the percentage of institutions offering Japanese, the percentage of those offering less commonly taught languages declined somewhat in most institutional size groups between 1974 and 1986. Figure 18 indicates that the percentage increased again during the 1986–90 period but not enough to compensate for the earlier losses. Only small institutions (those with fewer than 2,000 students) do not conform to this pattern; among them, the percentage of institutions offering less commonly taught languages remained largely unchanged during the 1974–90 period. ²⁶ Change in the percentage of institutions offering graduate courses also varies by institutional size. Figure 19 indicates that between 1974 and 1990 the percentage grew modestly in very large institutions, declined notably in large institutions, and remained unchanged in smaller institutions.

Change in registration levels varies by institutional size. Subgroup patterns vary, however, for the different language groupings studied. Figure 20 indicates that between 1974 and 1990 average undergraduate language registrations increased in all institutions except very small ones (those with fewer than 1,000 students), where average registrations declined. Both absolute and relative growth in undergraduate registrations is most marked for very large institutions; relatively growth is also substantial for large and small institutions, where mean registrations increased by 20% to 22% between 1974 and 1990. Like undergraduate registrations, those in graduate language classes also changed most in very large institutions, but instead of increasing, they decreased by more than 25%. Figure 21 indicates that average graduate registrations fluctuated in the other institutional size groups, but were not very different in 1990 from what they were in 1974.

Figure 22 reveals that average registrations in the most commonly taught languages at large and very large institutions behaved very differently from those at smaller institutions. The latter declined between 1970 and 1974 and then held steady. At very large and large institutions, in contrast, average registrations declined throughout the 1970s and then increased throughout the 1980s. By 1990, average registrations in large and very large institutions were close to their 1970 levels, while is smaller institutions they remained well below the earlier levels. ²⁷ Figure 23 shows that registration levels in classical languages did not grow in any institutional size group during th 1974–90 period. The greatest absolute decline in average registrations was in very large institutions, while the greatest relative decline was in small and very small institutions, where average registrations dropped by 32% and 50% respectively; in larger institutions average registration dropped by 7% to 18%.

Unlike registrations in classical languages, registrations in other commonly taught languages grew in all institutional size groups except very small institutions. Figure 24 shows that between 1974 and 1990 average registrations grew strongly in very large institutions and moderately in smaller institutions. A similar pattern is evident for registrations in Japanese, as figure 25 indicates. ²⁸ Average registrations in very large institutions more than doubled, growing by 131% between 1974 and 1990; in the other institutional size groups, average registrations in Japanese grew substantially but less dramatically. Growth in registrations in less commonly taught languages is not as universal as growth in registrations in other commonly taught languages. Figure 26 indicates that during the 1980s average registrations held fairly steady in very large and very small and small institutions. In medium-sized institutions, in contrast, they decreased relatively sharply, while in large institutions they grew just as sharply.

Registrations per 1,000 Students

The preceding discussion shows that four-year institutions with large student bodies offer the largest array of foreign languages and have the largest enrollments in their foreign language classes. But as important as the total number of students enrolled in language classes is the total number served relative to the number of potential enrollees (i.e., all students at the institution). It is not possible to develop such a relative measure of registrations for surveys completed during the 1970s and early 1980s, since the MLA database contains no measures of institutional size for these periods. Figures for the number of full- and part-time students enrolled in fall 1988 can, however, be used to control for institutional size in the 1986 and 1990 surveys. The resulting average registrations per 1,000 students for 1986 and 1990 are presented in table 21. Like absolute registration numbers, these relative registrations vary considerably by language cluster. They increased between 1986 and 1990 for undergraduate courses, the most commonly taught languages, and other commonly taught languages, while remaining fairly constant in the classical and less commonly taught languages.

Registrations per 1,000 students vary by a number of institutional characteristics, with institutional type affecting all language groupings examined. Similar differences are evident for 1990 and 1986; for simplicity's sake only the 1990 figures are discussed here. Table 22 indicates that for registrations in all undergraduate classes and other commonly taught languages, average registrations per 1,000 students are lower in comprehensive institutions than in doctorate-granting or baccalaureate institutions, with the latter displaying the highest average registrations per 1,000 students. Further, for the most commonly taught languages, classical languages,and less commonly taught languages, average registrations per 1,000 students are larger in baccalaureate institutions than in comprehensive or doctorate-granting institutions.

In addition r institutional type, source of funding serves to differentiate registrations per 1,000 students. Average registrations are higher in private than in public institutions for all undergraduate registrations (153.3 vs. 98.6), the most commonly taught languages (128.5 vs. 85.4), and classical languages (24.4 vs. 6.4). The disproportion is particularly striking for the last. Administrative arrangements for language programs also affect registrations per 1,000 students, as table 23 indicates. For registrations in all undergraduate classes, the most commonly taught languages, and other commonly taught languages, average registrations per 1,000 students are lowest in institutions where foreign languages are part of a larger administrative unit and highest in institutions with multiple language units; average registrations in institutions with multilingual language units fall midway between the two extremes.

In two instances, geographic region affects registrations per 1,000 students. In other commonly taught languages, average registrations per 1,000 students are largest in institutions in the northeastern and Pacific Coast states (33 vs. 18 in other regions), while for the less commonly taught languages, institutions in the Pacific Coast and midwestern states have the highest average registrations per 1,000 students (9 vs. 3 in other regions). Registrations per 1,000 students also vary in some groupings by the presence or absence of language requirements. Institutions with graduation requirements in foreign languages in 1987 have higher average registrations than those without requirements for registrations in all undergraduate classes (162 vs. 101) and the most commonly taught languages (139 vs. 82). These findings confirm a conclusion reached earlier: that language requirements elevate enrollments in the most commonly taught languages only.

By and large, growth or decline in registrations per 1,000 student does not vary by the institutional characteristics considered. There is one exception: figure 27 indicates that change in registrations per 1,000 students differs by institutional size for less commonly taught language. ²⁹ Between 1986 and 1990, average registrations decreased in small and very small institutions and increased slightly in larger institutions. Despite the decline, smaller institutions continued to have the largest registrations per 1,000 students in 1990.

Characteristics of Four-Year Institutions with Strong Language Programs

The findings reported here suggest that four-year foreign language programs embedded in a larger administrative unit may have the least propitious setting for establishing and maintaining a diverse and comprehensive set of language courses. Institutions with such administrative arrangements for languages are considerably less likely than institutions with independent foreign language units to offer courses in the most commonly taught, other commonly taught, and classical languages. Further, the percentage of institutions offering the most commonly taught languages during the 1970–90 period declined most sharply among institutions in which foreign languages are housed in larger administrative units. In contrast, the percentage of institutions offering the most commonly taught, other commonly taught, and classical languages exceeded 85% throughout the 1974–90 period in institutions with multiple language units. Further, average registrations per 1,000 students were largest in institutions with multiple language units and smallest in institutions housing foreign languages in larger administrative units. It appears, therefore, that four-year institutions that have no independent administrative units for their foreign language programs can offer only a restricted range of courses to a limited proportion of their relatively small student bodies.

The findings reported here also suggest that four-year language programs exhibit differing strengths at two types of institutions: baccalaureate institutions, nine-tenths of which are small (i.e., enroll no more than 2,000 students), and very large institutions, three-quarters of which are doctorate-granting. The findings for registrations per 1,000 students reveal that language programs at baccalaureate institutions are particularly adept at drawing a relatively large proportion of their student bodies into foreign language classes. For all language groupings examined, such institutions have the largest average registrations per 1,000 students, consistently exceeding those for doctorate-granting institutions. In contrast, very large, doctorate-granting institutions offer the widest array of languages and teach the largest number of students. Such institutions are more likely than smaller institutions to offer courses in classical languages, other commonly taught languages, and less commonly taught languages. In addition, registration levels in the four language clusters, and in all undergraduate and graduate classes combined, are substantially higher in very large institutions than in smaller institutions. Further, average registrations in all undergraduate classes grew most markedly in very large institutions during the 1974–90 period. In short, very large doctorate-granting institutions offer language instruction to substantial numbers of students, while baccalaureate institutions provide such instruction to a larger proportion of their smaller student bodies.

The author is Director of Research for the Modern Language Association. This article is a shortened version of a longer report, which is available from ADFL on request.

Notes

¹ Special thanks are due to Richard Brod for his assistance and sage advice during all phases of the data analysis underlying this report.

² These institutions were excluded because their specialized missions render them atypical and because trends in their enrollment are therefore likely to differ from those at most colleges and universities.

³ Registrations are further reduced for the 1970, 1974, 1980, and 1986 surveys because the database includes only those institutions still in existence in 1990. Institutions that closed their doors during the 1970s and 1980s are not included.

⁴ Modern foreign language include all languages except Latin and ancient Greek.

⁵ Korean is the largest of these, with 2,286 registrations in 1990. Two other languages had more than 1,000 registrations: Swahili (1,209) and Swedish (1,051).

⁶ In this paragraph, the registrations for Greek and Hebrew in parentheses are taken from the original report on the 1990 survey (Brod and Huber) rather than from the figures presented in this report.

⁷ These groupings are combined because the number of institutions offering each is too small to yield reliable percentages and averages. Figures for the individual language groupings are presented in an appendix to the larger report from which this article is drawn (Huber, “Foreign Language Enrollments”).

⁸ For purposes of clarity, the term enrollments is used whenever registrations at specific institutions are discussed.

⁹ The percentage presented here and elsewhere may not sum to 100% because of rounding. In addition, the number of institutions varies from table to table because institutions for which no information is available have been eliminated from consideration.

¹⁰ Two minor discrepancies are also evident: total registrations in the most commonly taught languages increased slightly during the 1974–80 period, even though half of all institutions experienced declines in their enrollments; and total registrations in the less commonly taught languages declined during the 1974–80 period, even though half of all institutions offering the languages experienced an increase in enrollments.

¹¹ For more detailed discussion of trends in registration levels at two- and four-year institutions, see Huber, “Foreign Language Enrollments.”

¹² For discussion of the interrelation among the institutional characteristics, see Huber, “Foreign Language Enrollments.”

¹³ The percentage of two-year colleges offering classical languages and Spanish does not differ by geographic region, and therefore no figures are presented in table 11. Similarly, table 10 presents no figures for the less commonly taught languages because the percentage of two-year colleges offering them does not differ by institutional size.

¹⁴ Mean registrations for the classical and less commonly taught languages are not represented because too few colleges offer them to calculate meaningful subgroup averages.

¹⁵ The 1974 and 1980 figures for Japanese were not considered because the percentage of two-year colleges offering the language was so small.

¹⁶ Growth in enrollments in Spanish, French, and German also varies by institutional size. The patterns of growth are similar to those for average registrations in the most commonly taught languages; consequently, separate figures are not presented.

¹⁷ The Pacific Coast region includes Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii. Of the 162 two-year colleges in this region, 106 are in California.

¹⁸ According to the MLA's 1987–88 survey of foreign language requirements, 9 of the 13 campuses in the California State University system have entrance requirements, as do 7 of the 8 University of California campuses (Brod and Lapointe). Few campuses in either system have graduate requirements in foreign language.

¹⁹ For a discussion of the interrelations among institutional characteristics of four-year colleges and universities, see Huber, “Foreign Language Enrollments.”

²⁰ Institutions housing foreign languages in a larger administrative unit are slightly less likely to offer Spanish than institutions with administratively independent foreign language programs (91% vs 99%).

²¹ Comprehensive institutions fall midway between the two extremes; 62% offer other commonly taught languages.

²² In the examination of average registrations in different types of institutions, both graduate and undergraduate registrations were used to calculate means for the language clusters and languages studied in a given survey year.

²³ Regression analyses of registrations in the four language clusters revealed that institutional size considered alone accounted for 87% to 96% of the total variance explained. A similar result emerged for the regression analysis of total undergraduate registrations; size considered alone accounted for 97% of the variance explained. For registrations in graduate courses, the variance explained by institutional size is somewhat less; size considered alone accounts for 77% of the total variance explained.

²⁴ Because information on language requirements is not available for 1990, figures on the presence or absence of requirements in 1987 served as a proxy.

²⁵ Average registrations in German are also higher in institutions with language requirements than in institutions, without language requirements (138 vs. 85), but the difference is not statistically significant.

²⁶ Because so few small and very small institutions offer less commonly taught languages, the two subgroups are combined in figure 18. The two groups are also combined in figure 19, because so few of the institutions offer graduate courses.

²⁷ Growth registrations in Spanish also varies by institutional size. Since the growth pattern is similar to that for all commonly taught languages, it is not described here. Institutional size does not have a significant effect on change in registration levels for French and German.

²⁸ Because so few very small institutions offer Japanese, they are combined with the small institutions offering the language in figure 25. The same applies to figure 26 and less commonly taught languages.

²⁹ Because so few very small institutions offer less commonly taught languages, they are combined with small institutions in figure 27.

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Brod, Richard, and Bettina J. Huber. “Foreign Language Enrollments in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 1990.” ADFL Bulletin 23.3 (1992): 6–10. [Show Article]

Brod, Richard, and Monique Lapointe. “The MLA Survey of Foreign Language Entrance and Degree Requirements, 1987–88.” ADFL Bulletin 20.1 (1989): 17–41. [Show Article]

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