Language Program Vitality in the United States: From Surviving to Thriving in Higher Education

The perception of a permanent enrollment crisis in US postsecondary foreign language education has shaped our profession’s image for an entire generation of educators. Over the past 30 years, this crisis rarely invited self-examination or inspired creativity. Instead, it was routinely attributed to external factors: shrinking budgets, unsympathetic administrators, disengaged students. This volume is refreshingly optimistic: After providing a nuanced picture of the complex enrollment situation and focusing on perceptions of language education among undergraduate students, the volume features an inspiring panorama of successful models that revitalized language programs at a wide range of institutions. The diversity of approaches to post-secondary language education in the United States featured in this volume highlights that there are no simple “one size fits all” solutions. To be transformational, initiatives need to be intimately calibrated to the evolving needs and desires of our institutions’ most important stakeholder: the student. Per Urlaub, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA, USA

Emily Heidrich Uebel (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin‐Madison) is an Academic Specialist at the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA) and the Associate Executive Director of the National Less Commonly Taught Languages Resource Center (NLRC) at Michigan State University. Her research interests include foreign language proficiency, educational technology and online instruction, curriculum design, LCTL education, and education abroad topics. More information can be found on her website.

Felix A. Kronenberg is the Director of the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA), Director of the National Less Commonly Taught Languages Resource Center (NLRC), and an Associate Professor of German in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University. His research interests include physical, virtual, and hybrid language learning spaces, educational technology, curriculum design, and program administration. More information can be found on his website. 

Scott Sterling (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an Associate Professor of linguistics and TESL at Indiana State University. His research includes meta-research, research ethics, and second language acquisition. More information can be found on his website.