There are a growing number of language immersion schools in the

US. including one that was founded in Columbia called La Petite Ecole,

which teaches children French as a second language at an age when

children’s brains are the most compliant. Statistics, however, show that

language instruction in regular schools is actually decreasing, and

relatively few Americans know the second language. Scholars have spent 【M1】_________

years studying why Americans seem to regard the importance of learning 【M2】_________

languages. While they have developed theories and posit potential 【M3】_________

solutions, the future of language learning in the US remains hazy.

Since 1997, the percentage of elementary and middle schools that

offer foreign language courses has dropped significantly, from 31

percent to 25 percent at the elementary level and from 75 percent to 58

percent at the middle school level.

However, the decline in elementary schools appeared primarily in

public schools, as private elementary schools teaching foreign language 【M4】_________

remained roughly same at 51 percent. The percentage of high schools 【M5】_________

teaching foreign language have remained at about 91 percent. This 【M6】_________

information comes from a nationwide survey of public and private

schools conducting in 2008 by the Center for Applied Linguistics in 【M7】_________

Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, the number of language immersion schools designed to

teach a second language to English-speaking children and young adults

has actually increased. Since 1962, 367 two-way immersion programs—

schools that pair native English speakers with these who speak another 【M8】_________

native language—developed rapidly in 28 states, including Washington, 【M9】_________

D.C. And, as in 2007, 263 total and partial immersion schools have 【M10】________

seen established.

【M4】