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Choosing a Language to Study:
the role of attitudes and ease
by Liddy Gerchman
First-year Honors Tutorial: Second Language Acquisition
Donna Van Handle
Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts
this site completed on May 10, 1999
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This site examines attitudes toward second
    language learning, relying on a set of surveys distributed to
    students at Mount Holyoke College and language department heads
    at secondary schools throughout Massachusetts. The surveys suggest
    that both students and teachers of foreign languages believe
    that some languages (perhaps not so coincidentally, those most
    frequently taught in schools) are easier to learn than others.
    However, contrary to this popular belief, educational research
    has shown that virtually all languages are learned at the same
    rate. This site attempts to show the prevalence of this myth
    and to present the research that negates it. In addition, the
    site examines other issues related to the selection of languages
    for teaching and study in secondary schools. Please feel free
    to e-mail me if
    you have any comments or questions.


    
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