Language education is dwindling at every level in the US, from school to university, and a diminishing share of the country鈥檚 residents speak languages other than English, according to a new report from the 亚色影库app.
The State of Languages in the U.S.: A Statistical Portrait is a precursor to another forthcoming report from the academy about how the US might build language capacity to meet the needs of the increasingly global economy and otherwise 鈥渟hrinking world鈥.
鈥淲hile English continues to be the lingua franca for world trade and diplomacy, there is an emerging consensus among leaders in business and politics, teachers, scientists, and community members that proficiency in English is not sufficient to meet the nation鈥檚 needs,鈥 the new report says.
John Tessitore, senior programme adviser at the academy, helped to compile the statistical portrait based on existing data on second-language learners and speakers in the US for the academy鈥檚 Commission on Language Learning.
He said the commission believes that foreign language should be of a higher priority throughout the American education system 鈥 not at odds or competing with other priorities, such as science and maths, but alongside them.
鈥淭his is about increasing access and making language learning available,鈥 he said. 鈥淓very student should have access and should be able to learn a language over the course of their educational life, whether they go to college or not.鈥
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