Participation and Success of Minority Students in University Foreign Language Programs

This article examines the history of African Americans in the academic study of world languages and presents an overview of inquiry on the topic. The paper focuses on the impact of race in second language acquisition (SLA) as exemplified through the experience of black students in language education and study abroad. It discusses objectives, policies, instructional priorities and strategies, conditions, and materials related to how black students have in the past, are currently, or should be engaged in language learning. The article examines the path forged by African Americans in world language study, signals gaps in the present body of knowledge, and suggests future directions for investigations into this important topic in the field of applied linguistics and SLA for ARAL's 40th anniversary.

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African-American Students' Opinions About Foreign Language Study: An Exploratory Study of Low Enrollments at the College Level

Moore

2005

Foreign Language Annals

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Persistent low numbers of African Americans in the foreign language teacher certification program at the University of Texas at Austin motivated the study reported here. Two groups of students responded to a questionnaire that sought information on foreign language experience at elementary and high school, as well as family experiences in foreign languages. Findings revealed that whereas very few students had the opportunity to study a foreign language at the elementary level, all were exposed to at least a two‐year compulsory program at high school. These experiences were not motivating enough to encourage college‐level continuation, nor were family experiences. Students' language preferences did not support previous findings that low enrollment figures resulted from language offerings that lacked ethnic and cultural appeal. Rather, the study found that there appeared to be little effort made to encourage African‐American high school and college students to consider teaching career paths. Students recommended more aggressive dissemination of information to African‐American students at the college level about the advantages on pursuing foreign language study. They overwhelmingly suggested including a foreign language requirement in all discipline areas.

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Participation and Success of Minority Students in University Foreign Language Programs

Cited by 6 publications

References 1 publication

Needs and development opportunities for educational software for foreign language instruction in schools

Needs and development opportunities for educational software for foreign language instruction in schools

African Americans in World Language Study: The Forged Path and Future Directions

African-American Students' Opinions About Foreign Language Study: An Exploratory Study of Low Enrollments at the College Level

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