For those seeking jobs teaching English or foreign languages, the job market remains bleak — but what passes for good news may be that the number of openings is flat this year, and isn’t dropping further after dramatic declines in the previous two years.

That’s the conclusion of the annual report on job openings of the Modern Language Association, which tracks its job listings each year as a measure of the health of the market overall. While not all openings are listed with the MLA, its figures for English and foreign languages match the overall rises and falls of available jobs — especially tenure-track assistant professor openings that are most sought by new Ph.D.s. The association is today releasing its projections for the 2010-11 academic year listings, in advance of the group’s annual meeting, which starts Thursday in Los Angeles.

See: Inside Higher Ed