Connecting Communities through Modern Language Courses in California

When we think of modern language classes in higher education, universities and liberal arts colleges often come to mind. However, community colleges are quietly making a significant contribution to postsecondary language learning. As one might expect, Spanish, French, German, and a few others are easily found in community colleges across the state. But did you know you can also take classes in less commonly taught languages as well? In fact, students at community colleges are much less likely to take Latin or Ancient Greek, and much more likely to take Farsi or Vietnamese than their four-year counterparts. Languages taught in California community colleges often reflect the particular multicultural makeup of their local community.

Data from the California Community Colleges Chancellor Office (CCCCO) shows that community colleges in the state offer a varied pool of language classes, including less commonly taught languages like Tagalog, Hmong, Armenian, Hupa, Luiseno, Kumeyaay, and Cahuilla. While Spanish has enough course sections to warrant its own category, East Asian languages like Japanese and Chinese are taught at the same frequency as European languages, with the number of course sections surpassing German and Italian. Furthermore, several languages that normally fall into the less-commonly-taught category, like Vietnamese and Armenian, had a comparable number of course sections in the system when compared to more widely taught ones at the national level, like Russian and Korean.

There seems to be a correspondence between the geographical distribution of some language courses offered at community colleges and the ethnic groups with a large presence in the area. For example, the majority of Armenian courses are taught at Glendale Community College where more Armenians live than in any other city except Yerevan. Glendale has an Armenian language certificate and associate degree and offers courses for both native Armenian speakers and those who want to learn the language.

Meanwhile, course sections of Vietnamese and Korean cluster around the Los Angeles and San José areas, where the corresponding population is high. While this might be expected for less commonly taught languages like Vietnamese and Armenian - and even more so for extremely rare languages like Hupa and Luiseno - the case of Korean is less straightforward. Nationwide studies reveal that Korean is one of the few languages with growing enrollments in community colleges and overall.

Not only does the CCCCO course section data reflect California’s linguistic richness, but it also shows how many language studies are place-based, reflecting the cultural and linguistic composition of communities across the state. According to data from the Migration Policy Institute, 41 percent of children and 46 percent of adults in California speak a language other than English at home. Knowledge of multiple languages can contribute strongly to a successful career, a thriving economy, and welcoming communities. The availability of services in different languages is of vital importance for access to health care, education, civic engagement, and more. Through their deep local roots, community colleges are making language learning accessible for Californians across the state.