The perception of a permanent enrollment crisis in US postsecondary foreign language education has shaped our professions image for an entire generation of educators. Over the past 30 years, this crisis rarely invited self-examination or inspired creativity. Instead, it was routinely attributed to external factors: shrinking budgets, unsympathetic administrators, disengaged students. This volume is refreshingly optimistic: After providing a nuanced picture of the complex enrollment situation and focusing on perceptions of language education among undergraduate students, the volume features an inspiring panorama of successful models that revitalized language programs at a wide range of institutions. The diversity of approaches to post-secondary language education in the United States featured in this volume highlights that there are no simple one size fits all solutions. To be transformational, initiatives need to be intimately calibrated to the evolving needs and desires of our institutions most important stakeholder: the student. Per Urlaub, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA, USA
Introduction; E. Heidrich Uebel, F. A. Kronenberg, S. Sterling.- Part
I.- The MLA Language Enrollment Census and beyond: From Research to Advocacy;
L. Tang, N. Lusin.- Modern Language Enrollment at Community Colleges in the
U.S.; T. Nagano.- Part II.- Amplifying student voices: Undergraduate student
perspectives on expanding access and increasing relevance of world language
study; D. Murphy, J. Martin.- Understanding student (a)motivation towards
learning a language: students' perspectives on continued language study; M.
D'Amico, S. Sterling.- Why Doesn't Everyone Take a World Language Class?
University Students Perspectives on World Language Learning; B.
Linford.- Motivational Factors Affecting More and Less Commonly Taught
Language Student Enrollment and Retention; S. Crum, P-K. Kivik.- Preparing
for the future: What do high school students think about language learning?
R. Simonsen.- University students beliefs about the foreign language
requirement; C. Cinaglia.- What About Now?: Tracking the Progression of
African Language Courses at a large Southern University; A. Cacciatore, E. J.
de Jong.- Leveraging student surveys to promote recruitment and retention, L.
Spino.- Portuguese Language Program Evaluation; B. Sommer-Farias, A. M.
Carvalho.- Part III.- Reimagining and Rebranding the 21st Century Foreign
Language Department; P. Moore-Martinez.- Uniting on all Levels; J.
Sokolosky.- Centering Intercultural Skills to Sustain Language Programs in
the Digital Age; K. MacLean.- It Takes a Village: A Planned Initiative Toward
Language Program Revitalization; R. S. Borden, D. M. Anderson.- Professional
Content-Based Courses for Novice Language Learning; J. Fees.- The Seal of
Biliteracy as a recruitment opportunity; J. Eckereson.- The Language Brief:
Showcasing Language Learning Opportunities; S. A. Maggin, J. C. Baskerville
Jr., J. D. Benjamin, J. M. Pendergast.- Internationalize Your Major:
Embracing Language Studys Supportive Role; L. Edwards, J. Lynd.- Centers of
Change: Forming Administrative Structures to Support Language Study; G. Cory
Duclos, Y. Hirata.- Staying afloat; attracting Hebrew language students with
collaboration and the use of Content Based Instruction; A. Raz, O.
Eubanks-Segal.- Contributing Factors and Achievable Solutions to the World
Language Enrollment Downturn: A Midwestern Case Study; E. Langley.- Expanding
Access through Online Asynchronous Language Courses; K. May-Chu, J. Court, J.
Williamson, J. Wipplinger.- Leveraging Language for Specific Purposes as a
Motivating Factor for Foreign Language Study Leveraging Language for Specific
Purposes as a Motivating Factor for Foreign Language Study, Z. Miller, S.
Maggin, C. Chenoweth, J. Benjamin.- A Multilanguage Seminar for the
Twenty-First Century: Rethinking Self-Instruction for the Least Commonly
Taught Languages; K. Thompson.- Language as a Bridge to Other Disciplines; D.
Reisinger.- Community-engagement as an innovative way to revitalize language
programs; S. Blaise.- Innovative Strategies for Stabilizing Enrollment in
Korean as a Foreign Language (KFL) Education; Y-m. Cho, H. Chung
Chun.- Trial, Error, and Success: Recruitment and Retention Initiatives in a
Small German Program; K. Lange, S. Windham.- Changing the Narrative Around
Language Study; R. Ulland.- Retaining Students with Shared Courses and
Meaningful Credentials; L. Rosen, K. Kong.- Language Programs at Rochester
Institute of Technology: A Successful Recent Initiative (2018-Present); S.
Armengot.- The Revamp of a Language Major in a Business Institution; C.
Rubio.- Global Honors: Responding to Language Learners' Real World Goals; C.
Baumann.- The Language Certificate: Encouraging Foreign Language Proficiency
for All University Students; T. Cox, M. Wilcox.
Emily Heidrich Uebel (Ph.D., University of WisconsinMadison) is an Academic Specialist at the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA) and the Associate Executive Director of the National Less Commonly Taught Languages Resource Center (NLRC) at Michigan State University. Her research interests include foreign language proficiency, educational technology and online instruction, curriculum design, LCTL education, and education abroad topics. More information can be found on her website.
Felix A. Kronenberg is the Director of the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA), Director of the National Less Commonly Taught Languages Resource Center (NLRC), and an Associate Professor of German in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University. His research interests include physical, virtual, and hybrid language learning spaces, educational technology, curriculum design, and program administration. More information can be found on his website.
Scott Sterling (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an Associate Professor of linguistics and TESL at Indiana State University. His research includes meta-research, research ethics, and second language acquisition. More information can be found on his website.
