Interest in learning foreign languages at The University of Texas at Dallas is growing at a significant pace, with the highest increases in Spanish, Japanese and Korean.
Overall, language class enrollment has increased more than 76% in the past five years.
“I think younger generations are more open-minded and want to travel the world,” said Dr. Lorena Camacho-Guardado, professor of instruction and director of languages in the School of Arts and Humanities (A&H). “They know that, in order to do that and to have a better experience overseas, they need to speak other languages.”
Camacho-Guardado also cited the influence of social media as sparking increased interest in foreign languages.
Spanish is the most popular language offering on campus, nearly doubling in enrollment over the past five years to 185 students in spring 2021. Of the 16 minor programs in A&H, Spanish is the most popular. In addition, the school recently established a new Spanish concentration within the bachelor’s degree in literature.
Dr. Charles Hatfield, associate professor and program head of literature, said much of the success of the foreign language program stems from a strategy of coordinating class offerings and developing state-of-the-art placement tests.
“We are doing more to coordinate within the course offerings to ensure that classes are aligned, with similar pedagogical styles,” he said. “Therefore, I think students are having a much better experience. We have fewer students getting lost.”
While Spanish has the highest enrollment among the languages offered by UT Dallas, the interest in Japanese and Korean has risen significantly. In the past five years, enrollment in Japanese classes has increased nearly 250%, from 35 students in spring 2016 to 122 students in spring 2021.
Beginning Korean classes started in fall 2021 and had 36 students enrolled in spring 2021. Next fall, an intermediate Korean class will be offered, which likely will increase numbers in that language.
Camacho-Guardado said the popularity of South Korean K-pop music has had a lot to do with the interest in the Korean language.
“I have so many students in my classes who talk a lot about K-pop,” she said. “It’s a very popular genre.”
Paola Daniela Petrides, an international political economy junior, takes both Spanish and Korean classes. While she is a native Spanish speaker, she said she is taking Spanish to learn grammar and sentence structure.
“I think younger generations are more open-minded and want to travel the world. They know that, in order to do that and to have a better experience overseas, they need to speak other languages.”
Dr. Lorena Camacho-Guardado, professor of instruction and director of languages in the School of Arts and Humanities
Like Camacho-Guardado, Petrides said exposure to different countries, languages and cultures inspired her — and other students — to take Korean language classes.
“It has a lot to do with social media, and it has a lot to do with living in a globalized country — with people from all over the world living here,” Petrides said. “The more time we spend online, the more we see people from all different worlds. We see videos of people living in different countries — how they live, the culture, the food that they eat, how they interact with each other.”
Hatfield acknowledged that not every language offering has grown. German, Arabic and French all recorded some declines. He said that he and Camacho-Guardado are working with the instructors of those languages to reverse the declines and find ways to build on the growth of other languages.
“When we study a foreign language, we discover different ways of seeing and being in the world. It’s a powerful way to encounter cultural differences,” he said.