Progress Report on the South Carolina Market for Foreign Languages Study.

The Market for Foreign Languages Study was begun in South Carolina to ascertain both the state's projected needs for modern foreign language competencies and the state's foreign language resources over the next five years. Questionnaires have been sent to industrial plants, secondary schools, and junior and senior colleges. Of the plants responding, 21.48 percent presently use or expect to use foreign language skills. Such firms engage in business abroad and use the languages in manufacturing or marketing. Staff members speaking foreign languages do needed translations or use the language in overseas business or with foreign businessmen in South Carolina. Most businesses would like to employ engineering or management graduates with foreign language skills. Languages that will be needed most in the future are German, Japanese, Spanish, French, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, and Swedish. Of the schools questioned, most teach some foreign language, chiefly French, German, Russian, and Spanish. Enrollment in high school language classes is constant or growing; in college it is tending to decline. Schools also gave their activities and plans in regard to dropping or adding foreign languages and their policies on foreign language requirements. Reasons given by the educators indicate that languages are generally selected because they are traditional, rather than because of community needs. The future outlook is that the business community will develop a substantial demand for people fluent in Japanese and Chinese before schools can meet the need. Copies of the survey forms and accompanying letters are appended. (CHK)