Language Pedagogy in the the United States: A Comparative Analysis of California and Tennessee through the European Lens
Abstract
The geographic, political, and cultural diversity of the United States of America is a pivotal aspect at the core of its national identity. For the purposes of this paper, a specific aspect of the educational experience has been examined: how languages are taught and learned within the context of two states' education systems.
The aim of this paper is to provide a comparative perspective of language teaching in two U.S. states: California, a large and diverse western state with a substantial immigrant population; and Tennessee, a rural mid-sized Southern state with a vast majority of native born residents. Statistics regarding foreign language teaching in Europe will also be considered.
Aspects of the U.S. educational landscape have been examined within the context of English language learners, as well as world language teaching and learning. In order to provide this comparative overview, data has been gathered from government websites specifically focusing on language teacher training, statistics gathered on language learning achievement, and the demographic composition of language learners in each location.
Findings show that although the U.S. lags far behind Europe in terms of language education in schools, both California and Tennessee have instructional methods and guidelines in place that have the potential to lead to positive outcomes in terms of language learning.