The charts illustrated data about the figure of students from 14-16 years old who studied a foreign language and the top three languages that they mainly obtained in English-speaking nations, from 1984 to 2007.
Overall, what stands out from the charts is the dominance of female students that were likely to enroll in a second language. Additionally, French also accounts for the vast majority of student’s options, compared with Spanish and German.
In terms of both genders, there was a downward trend in the proportion from nearly 50% to 40% for female students, and 30% to 25% for males. Despite the decrease, girls still keep their study records highest all over the time.
Regarding languages, even though Spanish was ranked at the lowest position, the figure showed a positive change as the percentage of this language rose as twice as it was in 1984, from 5% to 10%. Conversely, German’s proportion went down to nearly double, from 50% to 25%. Similarly with French, with a fall off from 20% to 12%, respectively.
