The line chart illustrates the proportion of primary school students in New Zealand acquiring a second language, categorised by the language studied, between the years 2006 and 2014.
Overall, there are discernible trends in the percentage of students learning different languages, with notable fluctuations observed particularly in the cases of French, German, and Chinese.
In 2006, French was the predominant second language, engaged by approximately 32% of students. However, this figure experienced fluctuations, culminating in a slight decrease to just below 30% by 2014. Spanish, conversely, commenced at around 20% in 2006, briefly peaked at approximately 23% in 2010, before experiencing a minor decline to approximately 22% by 2014. Japanese initiated at nearly 12% in 2006, reached a marginal peak around 2008, and concluded the period with a decrease to about 9%. Meanwhile, German began at 7% but exhibited a downward trend that resulted in a final representation of just below 5% in 2014.
Chinese, which started at just below 5% in 2006, demonstrated significant growth, intersecting with German around 2010 at around 7% and ultimately surpassing this mark to finish at just over 10% in 2014. Additionally, the ‘Other’ languages category, which commenced from zero, gradually increased, reaching a point above 5% by the end of the period and also intersecting with German around 2011. This data suggests a shifting landscape in language education preferences within New Zealand’s primary schools over the examined years.