Lost in Translation: Cultural Competency and Foreign Language Policy in K-12 Education (2016)

Undergraduate: Jessica Roney

Faculty Advisor: Patrick Akos
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Numerous research reports show that learning a foreign language is correlated with cognitive and motivational benefits, especially for school age people. Leaving foreign language policy up to the individual states is one of the predominant reasons that foreign language courses are not strongly implemented in the United States. This project demonstrates what foreign language policies are in place in the United States, and how those policies compare to those of other countries. In 2012 the Department of Education Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) that funded $27 million worth of foreign language education grants was cut, leaving fewer resource options for implementation of foreign language classes. This project observes some instances of this budget cut in a German language classroom at East Chapel Hill High School, and suggests what future policy needs to advocate for to ensure the learning of both high demand and a wider selection of world languages in the United States K-12 curriculum.