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Spotlight

Kids from Brochure

FL Survey Snapshot Brochure (PDF, 1.6 MB)
Download a brochure of preliminary results of the elementary school survey.

Fingertip Facts Flyer
(PDF, 168 KB)
Download a flyer giving a brief overview of several trends evident in the 2008 survey results.

Resource Corner

Kids in Classroom

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Sign up to receive an email notification of the publication of survey results in 2009.

Learn more about how the survey was conducted.

Meet the CAL Survey Team

 

Projects

National K - 12 Foreign Language Survey

Survey LogoFunder: U.S. Department of Education, International Research and Studies Program

September 2006 – August 2009

The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) conducts a national survey of foreign language instruction in public and private elementary and secondary schools every decade to provide an updated national and regional portrait of foreign language instruction in the United States. Working with Westat, a leader in survey research, we are currently analyzing results from the third survey to be able to show trends in foreign language education at three points in time (1987, 1997, 2008).

Survey questionnaires were mailed to a stratified random sample of more than 5,000 elementary and secondary schools across the country in October 2007. Data collection was completed in June 2008. The response rate was 76%.

The survey was designed to help us understand, among other issues, current patterns and shifts over time in these areas:

  • Foreign language enrollments
  • Number of schools offering foreign languages
  • Types of foreign language programs offered
  • Foreign language curricula and methodologies in use
  • Teacher qualifications and training
  • Effects of No Child Left Behind legislation on foreign language instruction


Survey data will be examined and presented according to various factors that may affect language instruction, including these:

  • Type of school (public or private)
  • Location of school (urban, rural, or suburban)
  • Socioeconomic status of students
  • Percentage of minority students enrolled in the school
  • Geographical region (e.g., Northeast, Pacific Northwest)


The survey results will present national and regional data; state-by-state data are not an outcome of this survey. Answers to the following questions will also be presented in the final survey results:

  • How is students’ language proficiency assessed?
  • Do teachers integrate national and/or state foreign language standards into their instruction?
  • How much do teachers use the foreign language in the classroom?

The overarching theme in the analysis will be how the data can be used to help our country increase and improve language teaching in elementary and secondary schools over the next decade.

Download our Survey Snapshot Brochure
Read our brochure with preliminary results of the elementary school survey.
(PDF, 1.6 MB) Adobe PDF Icon

Download our Fingertip Facts Flyer
Read our flyer giving a brief overview of several trends evident in the 2008 survey results. (PDF, 168 KB) Adobe PDF Icon

Join our List
Sign up to receive an email notification of the publication of the survey results in 2009.

Survey Methodology and Other Details
Learn more about how the survey was conducted as well as additional details about the survey.

Return to CAL's current project list.