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영어

The first part of this paper examines foreign language enrollment statistics from 1960 to 2002 in United States institutions of higher education. Spanish has been the most widely taught language for more than 35 years, and it counts for more than half (54.3%) of all enrollments in 2002. The second part of this paper reviews United States language policy history and its main debate focusing on two different policies: Bilingual Education and English Only Movement, and it reviews also their different points of view about the national identity of U.S.A. and their perspectives on foreign languages. The last part of this paper recommends that foreign languages be considered as precious resources for Korean future, not only several but more various foreign languages be taught in Korean middle and high schools, and bilingual education system or immersion program be introduced and implemented in special purpose institutions at least from middle school level.