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National K-12 Foreign Language Survey Findings on Programs and Teachers

World Language Teacher Certification SummitSTARTALK-NFLCDecember 9, 2009

Nancy RhodesCenter for Applied Linguistics

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Background of Survey

Goal: Collect comprehensive data on FL instruction in elementary and secondary schools (2007-08)

Replicate 1987 and 1997 surveys Focus on national and regional data Stratified random sample included 5,115

public and private elem. and sec. schools 4-page questionnaires (paper or online) 76% response rate

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Key Findings: Amount of Instruction

Decrease in public elementary and middle schools teaching languages

Stable in high schools

Unequal access (rural and low SES schools)

Disparity between public and private elementary schools

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Foreign Language Instruction in Public Elementary Schools in the U.S. (2008)

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Key Findings: Languages

Spanish remained most commonly taught language

French, German, Japanese, and Russian decreased

Arabic and Chinese increased

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Additional Key Findings

Negative effects of NCLB

Increased use of target language in classroom

Increased use of language standards

Increased articulation from middle to high school

Teacher shortages

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Public(%) Private (%) Total (%)

Foreign language teaching at the elementary school level and for elementary school teaching

41 7 25

Foreign language teaching at the K–12 level 19 22 21Foreign language teaching at the elementary school level

22 15 19

Elementary school teaching, but not specifically for foreign language

19 17 18

Foreign language teaching at the secondary school level but not at the elementary level

4 8 6

Others who are not certified 17 30 24

Certifications of Elementary School Language Teachers (by School Type) (2008)

Note. Data refer to percentage of elementary school teachers with the specific teacher certifications. Totals equal more than 100% because respondents could check more than one response.

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Certification of Public Elementary School Language Teachers (by Location) (2008)

Urban(%)

Suburban (%)

Rural(%)

Uncertified Language Teachers in Public Elem. Schools

13 12 37

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25% of elementary schools offering FLs reported being affected by a teacher shortage

Rural schools and low SES schools most affected

Schools in Pacific Northwest and Central States most affected; schools in Southern region least affected

Language Teacher Shortages at the Elementary School Level, 2008

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Nontraditional Means of Recruiting Elementary School Language Teachers, 2008

Nontraditional Means of Recruiting

Hiring teachers from other countriesContracting with proprietary language schoolsHiring instructors from local colleges/ universitiesSharing teachers with other schools

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Has FL instruction in your school been affected by a FL teacher shortage?

“Absolutely. We would not be subcontracting out to private language schools for our teachers if there were qualified teachers available.”

Comment from Public Elementary School that Offers Language Instruction (2008)

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Funding issues

District-level decision making, not school-level

FLs not seen as a core component of an elementary curriculum

Previously existing program no longer feasible

Shortage of FL teachers

Extracurricular FL instruction available

Reasons Elementary Schools Are Not Planning to Offer Foreign Languages, 2008

Recommendations

Establish foreign language programs that start in the elementary school, aim at a high degree of proficiency (intensive instruction), and have well-designed articulation.

Offer programs that teach a wide range of world languages.

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Recommendations, cont.

Expand the research base on foreign language instruction.

Elevate the importance of language education and make the teaching and learning of foreign languages a priority in the K–12 curriculum.

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iGracias!Visit us online for the Executive Summary (free

download) or to order the final report, Foreign Language Teaching in U.S. Schools: Results

of a National Survey.

www.cal.org/flsurvey