{"id":332,"date":"2015-02-12T10:01:34","date_gmt":"2015-02-12T16:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/dorer\/?p=332"},"modified":"2015-02-25T08:32:33","modified_gmt":"2015-02-25T14:32:33","slug":"nordic-language-instruction-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/dorer\/2015\/02\/12\/nordic-language-instruction-in-the-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Nordic Language Instruction in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Modern Language Association of America (MLA) released a comprehensive study this month entitled Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2013<\/a>. \u00a0Their first paragraph summarizes the project well:<\/p>\n

SINCE 1958, the Modern Language Association (MLA) has gathered and analyzed data on undergraduate and graduate course enrollments in languages other than English in United States colleges and universities. The previous survey examined language enrollments in fall 2009; here the MLA presents its twenty-third survey in the series, describing trends in language course enrollments in fall 2013. From 1958 through 2009, the MLA conducted these surveys with the support of the United States Department of Education. The Department of Education\u2019s International Research and Studies Program has not funded new awards since 2010. In 2013, the survey was partially funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Security Educational Program. (1)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

General findings (interesting but not Nordic\u00a0specific)<\/strong>
\nNot surprisingly, Spanish is still the most commonly taught language in the US. But, examining the data more thoroughly one sees that\u00a0it is\u00a0the first time since data has been collected (1958) that the enrollments dropped (by approx. 70,000!). \u00a0French still holds the rank of second, but\u00a0American Sign Language is now in third\u00a0bumping German to fourth and Italian is in fifth. \u00a0I find this so interesting because it doesn’t correlate very closely with\u00a0the\u00a0current enrollment trends where I teach, at St. Olaf<\/a>\u00a0College.<\/p>\n

Their research\u00a0found\u00a0a total of 248 Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs) were taught in 2013\u00a0(which they define as those not in the top 15). \u00a0Overall, LCTLs saw\u00a0a 2.6% decrease, but only after they had a huge increase in 2009 and 2006.<\/p>\n

What I really appreciate about the MLA report\u00a0is that they don’t only prepare a lengthy summation of their findings, but they also give the public the data for\u00a0further investigation. \u00a0With that I was able to create a number of\u00a0tables to learn more about Nordic language instruction in the US. \u00a0Below you will find some of the tables I created using their data which reports enrollments for\u00a0Nordic Languages in the US from 1960-2013. \u00a0If you want to look at anything in more depth, check out\u00a0their Language Enrollment Database<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nordic\u00a0Findings
\n<\/strong>I should start off by\u00a0saying that I have found several errors in the MLA\u00a0data, notes are made of these below. \u00a0I’m sure there are other examples for other languages as well. \u00a0In terms of helping us see and eventually understand enrollment trends, it does prove to be a\u00a0very useful tool, we just won’t get\u00a0too persnickety with details.
\n
\n<\/strong>I think it’s safe to say that the general consensus amongst those of us who teach\u00a0Nordic languages in the US is that even though we are small in number, we believe we are a relevant field of study. \u00a0I think the question is if we are remaining relevant,\u00a0which in a university setting is frequently defined by enrollment numbers.\u00a0Some learners begin learning a Nordic language\u00a0because of their\u00a0heritage, but a growing number of learners arrive in our classrooms with a plethora of other reasons ready to learn a Nordic language.\u00a0A big part of our job is to help\u00a0learners discover\u00a0the connections Nordic languages\u00a0have with other fields of study and their free time interests, because that is what keeps their language study relevant.<\/p>\n

According to the MLA data, Norwegian has\u00a0roughly slightly higher\u00a0enrollment in 2013 as it did in\u00a01960, though it is down roughly 50% since its\u00a0peak in 1980.<\/p>\n

\"norwegian_modern\"<\/p>\n

Also interesting to note (if you read my blog post when I originally posted, you’ll notice I updated this), there are two institutions (BYU and Augsburg) reporting “Norwegian, modern” as opposed to “Norwegian” in 2013; this is not nynorsk<\/em>, this is a reporting glitch. This also happened in 1965 at the University of Minnesota. \u00a0So this means that total enrollment for Norwegian in 2013 was 762.<\/p>\n

\"new_norwegian\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The number one\u00a0question\u00a0that this does not answer is this: what was going on in the 80s beyond a general resurgence of heritage language learning?<\/p>\n

\"norwegian_states\"<\/a>The findings\u00a0for where students are enrolled in Norwegian is not overly surprising.\u00a0Minnesota\u00a0takes the lead in Norwegian language learning (which should be 325 with Augsburg’s 15 counted under “Norwegian, Modern”), North Dakota teaches the second largest group of Norwegian language learners, followed by Washington in third and then Iowa in the fourth, and there’s a close tie for fifth\/ sixth between\u00a0California and Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Examining\u00a0further the enrollments\u00a0from\u00a0each state\u00a0we see that Norwegian instruction\u00a0has\u00a0actually increased in some states in the last 20 years\u00a0(specifically\u00a0Minnesota, North Dakota, Indiana and Texas); these increases are especially encouraging when factoring in that some of these states have had program closure(s). \u00a0Knowing the programs in these states, I think these increases are partially\u00a0thanks to the hard work, clever networking and advertising\u00a0and ever increasing community outreach of the faculty within these programs.<\/p>\n

\"norwegian_bystate\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Data for Nordic, overall<\/span>
\nOne can also compare the data for enrollment over the years within the\u00a0Nordic languages\u00a0as seen below.<\/p>\n

\"nordic_all\"<\/a>Here, similar to the division of Norwegian, we also see the division of Icelandic (Icelandic\/ Old Icelandic\/ Old Norse). \u00a0 Here we see that Norwegian has the highest enrollment\u00a0with\u00a0Swedish coming in as a close second. \u00a0Then we have a huge jump to the third highest enrollment, Finnish. \u00a0Then if tallied as one group Icelandic\/ Old Icelandic\/ Old Norse and Danish in fourth and fifth. \u00a0That said, I’m not sure that I know the Icelandic programs well enough to know that those should be tallied together.
\n
\nData by state (2013)<\/span>
\nThere isn’t a good table to illustrate the number of states each language is taught in (in 2013). \u00a0I was surprised with these findings, not that Swedish was in more states than Norwegian, but that Finnish was in so many.<\/p>\n

Swedish: 16 states
\nNorwegian: 13 states (including Norwegian, modern)
\nFinnish: 10 states
\nDanish: 6 states
\nNorse, old: 2 states
\nIcelandic, old: 1 state
\nIcelandic: 1 state<\/p>\n

Data, by institution (2013)
\n<\/span>When examining the number of institutions that teach each language, the languages fall in the same order (again, I had to manually count these, there wasn’t a good table for this).<\/p>\n

Swedish: 24\u00a0institutions
\nNorwegian: 20\u00a0institutions (including Norwegian, modern)
\n<\/span>Finnish: 10\u00a0institutions
\n<\/span>Danish: 6\u00a0institutions
\n<\/span>Norse, old: 3\u00a0institutions
\nIcelandic, old: 1\u00a0institution
\nIcelandic: 1\u00a0institution<\/span><\/p>\n

First, what doesn’t come as a shock:<\/span>
\n–In general, I’m not too surprised by the\u00a02013\u00a0findings. \u00a0Norwegian and Swedish have followed the same trends though have gone back and forth in terms of the highest enrollment.\u00a0Norwegian programs are\u00a0larger but there are more Swedish programs.<\/p>\n

–It’s unfortunate (but still\u00a0not surprising) that Danish has had such a huge decrease in the past 10 years. \u00a0This is likely due to recent funding cuts which previously supported Danish language instructors. \u00a0There was a similar proposal (threat?)\u00a0from the\u00a0Swedish government this year, but after a large letter writing campaign, the idea was nixed. \u00a0The Swedish programs should be relieved\u00a0after seeing how this funding affected enrollment in Danish.<\/p>\n

–Sami enrollment isn’t tallied although it is<\/span> taught.\u00a0As\u00a0a survivor of studying this incredibly difficult language, I would guestimate 5 students (on average) studying the language each year for the past 10\u00a0years,\u00a0but my colleagues in Madison would have a better estimate.<\/p>\n

What is surprising\/ interesting:<\/span><\/p>\n

—Loistava!<\/em> The Finns have a\u00a01220% increase since 1960 and a 1360% increase since 2002. \u00a0I had to look into\u00a0where these numbers were coming from because I was so taken aback by the data. Well, a good number of them are from Global University which is a part of Iso Kirja<\/a>, a religious distance education program, part of which is offered in Finnish in the US. I\u00a0don’t know enough about this other than that it is not a traditional language program and maybe shouldn’t be included in this study, but I could be wrong.<\/p>\n

–The reporting glitch with “Norwegian, Modern”. \u00a0My theory is that\u00a0a Swede was in charge of the data and wanted to make it look like they have higher enrollment.<\/p>\n

What I’m left wondering:
\n<\/span>Several universities have begun to offer mixed language intermediate\/ advanced language courses. \u00a0If I understand correctly, it is not taught this way due to instructor or program interest but rather because of lack of\u00a0funding separate intermediate\/ advanced courses. \u00a0If there is a mixed language course, how are those numbers tallied?<\/p>\n

Finally, this study examines enrollment of US colleges\/ universities. \u00a0However, many of us\u00a0who teach Nordic languages in the US consider our field to include all of\u00a0North America. \u00a0Though our colleagues in\u00a0Canada are few in number,\u00a0they\u00a0are a vital part of our field and we are left without their enrollment data. \u00a0I’m not sure if their data is available\u00a0anywhere. \u00a0Canadians? \u00a0I’d love some feedback on this!
\n
\nSummary<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overall, I’m satisfied\u00a0with these figures, I think the data\u00a0illustrate\u00a0healthy enrollment. \u00a0I think it shows that the field of Nordic language learning is\u00a0still relevant in 2013.<\/p>\n

As is explained in the MLA report, this study investigates undergraduate and graduate learning and does not include\u00a0community education, K-12 and summer programs, all of which are a vital part\u00a0of overall Nordic\u00a0language instruction in the US. \u00a0The individuals teaching in these programs\u00a0are a connected and integral\u00a0part\u00a0of our\u00a0healthy\u00a0enrollment numbers. \u00a0There are very large community education programs through\u00a0Mindekirken<\/a>‘s Norwegian Language & Culture Program, and the American Swedish Institute<\/a> in Minnesota and also the Scandinavian School<\/a> in California. Additionally, Concordia Language Villages<\/a> has a thriving language program for children and adults in each of the Nordic languages (except Icelandic).<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see what the future holds. \u00a0\u00a0The big question in our field is, how committed to Nordic language instruction is a\u00a0university or college? \u00a0Every time one of our colleagues retire, the first question we all have is, will the college\/ university continue\u00a0with the language instruction? \u00a0Or will a university take that opportunity to “give” the course to a different language?…Or (sigh)<\/em> to the sciences?<\/p>\n

\"10848537_986973507983024_1346858381655932320_o\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I also wonder if Disney might have helped us with our enrollment in the coming years, if not for Nordic languages in general, then for Norwegian specifically.<\/p>\n

Will the Frozen mania continue with little wannabe Elsas enrolling in Norwegian? \u00a0Knowing my niece, I’m not sure she’ll be able to let this interest go…\u00a0and that early interest has the potential to positively impact the future of our enrollment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Modern Language Association of America (MLA) released a comprehensive study this month entitled Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2013. \u00a0Their first paragraph summarizes the project well: SINCE 1958, the Modern Language Association (MLA) has gathered and analyzed data on undergraduate and graduate course enrollments in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":901,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-work-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/dorer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/dorer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/dorer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/dorer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/901"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/dorer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/dorer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":375,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/dorer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions\/375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/dorer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/dorer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/dorer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}