Vol. 128, No. 64 Tuesday, November 13, 2018
OPINION
SPORTS
ARTS & CULTURE
Fort Collins needs to expand up
CSU can still improve this year
CSU faculty revive ancient art technique
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page 10
page 12
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Nationally, 7 percent of students at the collegiate level are enrolled in a foreign language, according to a Modern Language Association study. At Colorado State University, enrollment numbers are declining, but professors argue institutional investment suggests students are still interested. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MEG METZGER-SEYMOUR COLLEGIAN
Student language interest remains as national enrollment wanes By Peyton Dailey @peyton_dailey_
With plummeting enrollment in languages on the collegiate level, the question that manifests is whether or not Colorado State University should continue to support the Language, Literatures and Cultures Department. CSU offers nine languages, including Spanish, French, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Italian and American Sign Language, according to the department. As of Fall 2018, 673 students are enrolled in one of the nine offered languages either as minor or
major areas of study. A Modern Language Association study attributes this decline in language enrollment to two factors: institutional disinvestment in language programs or waning student interest. On a national level, only 7 percent of collegiate level students are currently enrolled in a foreign language, according to MLA. “Of the eight languages for National Defense, we offer three of them: Arabic, Chinese, Russian,” said Jonathan Carlyon, acting chair of the CSU department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures. CSU has followed the national trend of waning language enrollment, but Carlyon attests that it is
not due to a lack of student interest nor institutional investment. On a University level, Carlyon said CSU students are passionate about languages, and institutional investment in languages at CSU is lining up with student demand. The required enrollment for a single language section is 25 students, but Russian professor Ludmila Pokatilova said that the University makes accommodations so small language classes can still be taught for interested students. “In Russia, students begin learning a foreign language as early as the first grade,” Pokatilova said. Pokatilova currently has three Russian classes, with a total of 41
total Russian students. Typically four Russian language classes are offered, alongside interdisciplinary culture courses taught in English. Pokatilova, alongside other language professors, has experienced lower enrollment not only this semester but over the last few years. “This year the enrollment is low, not only in Russian but in other languages,” Pokatilova said. “Less commonly taught languages never have high enrollment.” With low enrollment, Pokatilova cannot offer the fourth Russian class nor the culture courses required for the interdisciplinary Russian minor. Pokatilova attributes the lower enrollment in crit-
ical languages, including Russian, Arabic and Chinese, to the United States system of education. “Foreign languages are important all over the world and here (in the US) they are electives,” Pokatilova said, “In Russia, it’s required to take at least one foreign language starting in the fifth grade and many students learn more than one foreign language.” Even with waning language enrollment on both national and University levels, primary language majors are going down but secondary language majors from 20152018 have gone up.
see LANGUAGE on page 4 >>