MLA data show foreign language study is on the decline, but it’s unclear what comes first: institutional disinvestment in language programs or waning student interest. In any case, some campuses—generally those making investments in programs—are bucking the trend.
March 19, 2018 By Colleen Flaherty
Click here to read the full story from Inside Higher Ed that features Donald L. Dyer, associate dean of faculty and academic affairs for the University of Mississippi College of Liberal Arts and former chair of modern languages, talking about the University of Mississippi becoming “something of an unlikely destination for students who wish to obtain superior language proficiency. That’s thanks to its Chinese Language Flagship Program at the University of Mississippi, funded in part by the National Security Education Program, along with an Arabic program that’s seeking flagship status and an overall institutional commitment to advanced language study.
With a few exceptions among the University of Mississippi’s 11-language department, Dyer said, ‘our enrollments in language classes are as high as they’ve ever been, and we’re continually adding sections of these languages over years.'”