Overview of U.S. Foreign Language Education Policy

Authors

Karin P. HartmaierFollow

Abstract

Foreign language education policy has been a topic of concern in the USA since the time of the founding fathers. A paradox of American society is that it is a nation formed from a “melting pot” of immigrants, while the pressure to assimilate to a uniform American culture has resulted in a dominantly monolingual population. With changes in immigration rates and shifts in the national origins of immigrants, the attitudes and perspectives of the general public toward foreigners and foreign languages have also adjusted over time. This literature review will give an overview of how current events and public opinion have shaped foreign language education policy by mapping how languages have been taught over the past century.