The given bar charts illustrate the percentage of 14 to 16 year old pupils studying a modern foreign language in an English-speaking nation, along with the top three popular foreign languages in 1984 and 2007.
Overall, the percentage of girls studying foreign languages surpassed that of the boys in both given periods. As for the most preferable languages, French showcased a significant amount, although it moderately decreased over the next period, whereas German and Spanish had fallen behind.
Looking into the percentage of students that studied a modern foreign language, girls topped both periods with 65% in 1984 compared to the boys with just below 50%. Meanwhile, in the second period, both girls and boys had declined; namely, the females experienced nearly a 15% decrease, whereas the boys experienced a decline close to 10%.
As for the most popular foreign languages, French dominated both periods with 65% in 1984, although encountering a decline later on in 2007 to 50%. Meanwhile, German remained stable, showcasing no change throughout the period. In the meantime, Spanish had quite the increase, with a 15% surge towards 2007.