The economic utility of foreign language study

The study applies economic utility theory to the question of why students choose to learn a specific foreign language (FL). Economic utility, a basic theory of economics, explains the preference of a consumer for a given product. To measure utility, we surveyed 84 graduate business students about th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Modern language journal (Boulder, Colo.) Colo.), 1998, Vol.82 (4), p.457-472
Main Authors: Uber Grosse, Christine, Tuman, Walter Vladimir, Critz, Mary Anne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business Administration Education
Business education
Cost Effectiveness
Didaktische Grundlageninformation
Economic costs and benefits
Economic Impact
Economic Impact Studies
Economic theory
Economic utility
Educational Economics
Employment opportunity
Erwartungshaltung
Fragebogen
Fremdsprachiger Spracherwerb
Graduate Students
Graduate studies
Graduate Study
Gross domestic product
Higher Education
International Trade
Language
Language Enrollment
Language Proficiency
Language Research
Languages
Motivation
Nonnative languages
Relevance (Education)
School enrollment
Second language learning
Second Languages
Sprachenwahl
Student Attitudes
Studies
Surveys
Travel
Wirtschaft
Wirtschaftswissenschaft
World Bank
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Summary:The study applies economic utility theory to the question of why students choose to learn a specific foreign language (FL). Economic utility, a basic theory of economics, explains the preference of a consumer for a given product. To measure utility, we surveyed 84 graduate business students about their reasons for studying 1 of the 8 languages offered at Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management. We compared their responses with economic indicators such as the gross domestic product (GDP), population, GDP per capita, corporate job opportunities, direction of trade statistics, and most active big emerging markets. According to the indicator, different languages assume economic importance. The study, although limited in scope by sample size, yields insight into the real and perceived costs and benefits of learning a FL. (Verlag).
ISSN:0026-7902
1540-4781
DOI:10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb05533.x