Date of Award

6-2017

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Modern Languages and Literatures

First Advisor

Cheikh Ndiaye

Language

French

Keywords

language education, duolingo, rosetta stone

Abstract

The Anglophone population of the world is not as large as we think it is. In fact English is the third most common language spoken in the world. Yet this population (primarily Americans) expects other people to speak English without bothering to reciprocate. As a result of this phenomenon a discrepancy has occurred in how children learn a foreign language. America is severely lacking in their language education and readily accepts it when children no longer want to learn a foreign language. Students in France are required to take English starting in elementary school. Most schools in the United States start their programs when the students are 11 or 12. Sometimes they start earlier but most schools have eliminated the language programs because of budget cuts. My presentation will focus on the education systems of both countries. Within France I will look at the progression of English education from when they start teaching the language to proficiency testing and how the language is spoken in the country. For the United States I will look at regional language education for the Northeast and the Southwest. These regions were chosen specifically because they border a country that speaks a different language that may have more influence on language education. I will also examine language acquisition application like Duolingo and Rosetta Stone that may benefit the rate of interest in language learning.

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