Over the course of the past century, the MLJ was one of the sites where the vigorous, and often times passionate justification for, and defense of, foreign language (FL) study in the educational curriculum of the United States unfolded. Almost 10% of the slightly more than 4,000 articles published in the MLJ during the past century focused on the value and relevance of FL study in the educational enterprise. This article will focus on five major themes that surfaced throughout the 8 decades covered by our survey. The first theme comprises the general arguments offered by the profession in support of the value of FL study, most of which were impacted directly or indirectly by world events. The second and third themes document periods of general doubt and optimism about the place of FLs in the curriculum. In the fourth major theme, we describe the passionate and intense argumentation between the faculties of education and the defenders of FL study. The fifth, and final theme, addresses the question of which FLs should be taught in the schools and what contribution each might make to a student's education. As we enter the 21st century, it seems clear that the profession still feels compelled to justify the educational merit of its subject matter. In the end, given the twists and turns that history can take, it is difficult to predict whether FL study will eventually find an uncontested place in the sun.
INTRODUCTIONOver the course of the past 84 years, the MLJ has been one of the sites where the vigorous, and often times passionate, justification for, and defense of FL study in the educational curriculum of the United States unfolded. While the pressures on FL study were greater on the public schools than on universities, the profession as a whole felt the need to defend and justify itself for the better part of the century. Our task here is to tell this story, at least in part, as it played out in pages of the MLJ.It is revealing that almost 10% of the slightly more than 4,000 articles published in the MLJ during the past 84 years focused on the value and relevance of FL study in the educational enterprise. To discuss each one of these nearly 400 items here would be unwieldy and, more often than not, redundant. Therefore, we will focus on the major trends that emerged from our reading of the relevant articles. We believe that the sheer number of contributions to the topic reflects a general insecurity in the language teaching profession with regard to the contribution of FL study to the overall education of students. In many ways, this state of affairs continues today.Although several options presented themselves for how best to organize the discussion to follow, this article will focus on five major themes that have surfaced over the more than eight decades covered by our survey. To be sure, the reader will note some overlap across themes, and on occasion a case could be made for situating a particular discussion within a different theme and even within more than one theme.
