Language barriers were meant to be broken.

The survey, released Nov. 6, reports the highest total enrollment since the study first began in 1958 and the highest percentage of modern foreign language enrollment, at 8.7 percent, since 1977.

“In light of recent world events, students have become more aware that they need to know about other cultures beside their own,” said Rosemary Feal, executive director of the MLA.

The study shows Arabic study increased 92.5 percent and biblical Hebrew jumped 59.0 percent, mostly a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to the study. The two largest percentage increases besides American Sign Language at 432.8 percent.

Marquette, which had a total of 196 declared foreign language majors in fall 2002, currently has no plans to add Arabic or Hebrew courses to its curriculum, according to Belen Castaneda, director of foreign languages.

“There really hasn’t been a show of interest for these courses from students,” Castaneda said.

Although she hasn’t seen a significant increase in the proportion of Marquette students taking foreign language courses in general, Castaneda said the percentage of students studying Spanish has increased steadily in recent years. Nearly 1,300 students were enrolled in Spanish courses at Marquette in fall 2001 and 1,435 in fall 2002.

The number of students studying Spanish, the most popular foreign language to study nationwide, increased in enrollment by 23 percent from 1998 to 2002, according to the MLA survey.

The increasing attraction to Spanish is largely “because it is most useful due to the large Hispanic population” in the United States today, said Castaneda.

Also, interest in Italian rose by 29.6 percent. Japanese, Chinese, ancient Greek, modern Hebrew and Portuguese posted gains between 20 and 30 percent. Spanish, German, Latin and Korean enrollment increased between 10 and 17 percent, while Russian and French remained stable.

While enrollment in traditional European languages haven’t increased as much as in the past, Asian languages have experienced larger growth in recent years, said Feal, who currently teaches Spanish and French at the university level.

“Historical events have had a major impact (on enrollment patterns),” she said, citing the unprecedented growth in the study of Russian and Eastern European languages during the Cold War and following the launch of Sputnik.

For many students, studying a foreign language is a way to expand potential job opportunities as well as explore another culture.

“I just think that having command of a foreign language would make me a much greater asset for employers,” said sophomore Kimberly Moehle, a French, international business and marketing major.

“I’ve been to Spain and I just love the culture,” said sophomore Laura Spella, a public relations major and Spanish minor. “Hopefully, knowing Spanish will give me the edge in the professional world.”

The study, which collected data from 2,767 two- and four-year colleges, found enrollment in language students to be highest in the Northeast, Midwest and South Atlantic regions, each comprising just over 21 percent of the nationwide total.