The U.S. government has acknowledged the demand for foreign languages, but managed to reduce funds that support language programs for K-12 grades. However, advocates have been emphasizing the importance of learning a foreign language at a younger age to promote the program. School districts have developed a plan to incorporate a foreign language curriculum in grade schools, which is designed to improve communicative competencies. Learning a language at adolescent years helps with the memory, creativity, and critical thinking. Also, students develop a positive attitude towards diversity and are receptive to learning about other cultures.
During the 1950’s and 1960’s the foreign language program in grade schools were
abolished since teachers were not qualified to teach languages. The program also lacked necessary funding as well as adequate policies and guidelines. When implementing a foreign language program the language committee has to incorporate a viable systematic approach that’s structured to teach adolescents. They should engage in exploring a feasible model that would help teachers articulate in the foreign language at various levels. Nevertheless, the language committee should consider professionals who are proficient in the language to avoid future discouragement in students. The ideal language program for elementary schools provides language choices, such as the romance languages (Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Italian) that play a historical role in today’s society. Student evaluations are recommended to determine the level of proficiency of the language spoken and a minimum of 30 minutes of in class instruction.
According to the American Educational Research Association, a child tends to absorb a language th...
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"Learning a Second Language: When & Why | District Administration Magazine." District Administration Magazine |. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .
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Basic foreign language skills are important in communicating with people. With new technologies, we can communicate with people who do not speak English. In recent years, the number of people in the United States who do not speak English has also risen. Also, only ten percent of the world's population speaks English. Although one year of a foreign language will not allow students to...
Every year, the number of immigrants in the U.S. has grown “significantly.” Chen predicts that by the year of 2020, public schools will have at least 50 percent of students that are non-English speakers (¶5). This shows that it is important that public schools have a successful ESL program. The purpose of ESL programs is “to enhance” ESL students learning, to help students’ “emotional well-being”, and to accelerate students’ ability to learn the new language. According to Chen, some district schools have failed to support ESL students’ learning. For example, Chen stated that “...[some] school districts [have been] accused of not meeting t...
In the United States of America we have become a large melting pot of ethnic and cultural peoples. Along with these peoples have come many different languages and alphabets. However the US has been seen as a mostly English speaking country. Yet many of this country's newcomers do not speak English. Adults and children alike come into the US speaking and writing only their native tongue. This poses a huge gap in communication. If the adults are unable to teach their children English, then it becomes the school districts' responsibility. However to make learning easier on the child, many school districts choose to teach the child in their native language, while they receive English lessons on the side.
Exposing children to different cultures is necessary, and our culture needs to face that soon. It is proven that foreign language study can create more positive attitudes and less prejudice toward different cultures, which shows just how important foreign language really is (Latimer). Additionally, international travel is made a lot simpler (Latimer). Not to mention, speaking a foreign language can help to save money and improve a person's overall experience during their travels. Plus, foreign language can lead to appreciation of cultural diversity, which is much needed in
In immersion programs children are allowed at most one year of English study before being placed in main-stream English-only classes. Proponents of this sink-or-swim approach often site the success of their forbearers who learned English without schools trying to accommodate them with native-language classes. Immersion proponents also cite the fact that the bilingual approach creates a cultural segregation of students. The English language is a tool of national unity, they point out.
Children are better learners than adults except in the area of the pronunciation of words. That is why the second language program will be accepting children who are in elementary, they will be taught how to read signs, and learn how to speak in the desired second language. The objective goal of the second language program is to get students ready to speak another language as if it were their primary language. The second language program will not be as any other school program because it will require dedication, responsibility, and focus. Kids now are lazy and also don’t communicate well with other people, which is important because they will need to know how to communicate when they graduate high school, but because they were not taught how to they are lacking that skill. Students because they are being taught out the book they don’t get to learn different skills that will be useful when they leave high school. In the program students won’t be learning straight off the book they will be assigned a pen pal who they will be writing to not in English but in their chosen second language, and every so often they will talk on Skype this will show if they are understanding the language; with the interaction that the students will be doing they will develop communicative skills that will be helpful when they are out of high
Dual language is a form of education in which students are taught to read and write in two languages. The majority of dual language programs in the United States teach in English and Spanish, although there are emerging programs that teach in Mandarin, Japanese and Hindi. The programs start of mostly in kindergarten sand 1st grade and continue throughout primary education, in addition some dual language programs depending on the grade continue through middle and high school. Even Hayward’s own Burbank elementary and Winton middle school are offering dual language programs. Each level of teaching uses a different language ratio in which class is instructed the classes start off with a 90:10 ration and later as years pass the ration becomes a steady 50:50 (Lindholm-Leary, Kathryn J,2001). The goals of dual language immersion programs are to get children to become both bi-literate and bilingual, in other words, they will be able to speak and write fluently in two different languages. Dual language programs are becoming more and more common most of them are in public school but there are some beginning to become present private and charter schools. Dual language education should be introduced in all elementary schools beginning in the Kindergarten to boost achievement for English language learners, benefits it will bring to the community, outstanding brain benefits and lastly cost efficiency in education across the United States.
Being able to speak more than one language is proving to be a valuable skill in modern society. Many children across the world are at least bilingual, leaving many American parents wondering if they too, should learn to speak another language. While this debate remains ongoing, many adults are seeking to learn a second language either to communicate with a new client base or to attain higher status within a corporate setting.
Language is an important part of our lives. I remember when I arrived to USA I could speak a little English. I went to school to improve my language, reading and writing skills; even now I am learning my second language, without English I cannot survive in this new environment. Now I am raising my own kids and I want them to have this important skill, this privilege of knowing a second language, language of their parents and grandparents. By looking at studies of bilingual children, research shows how important it is for a child to learn a second language. Raising a bilingual child is a benefit because it improves social skills, academic proficiency, introduces child to a different culture, and prepares for the future.
Currently there are about 6,000 languages (Language Loss). “10,000 years ago, there may have been 12,000 languages (Cancio).” In the next century about ninety percent of all world languages could go extinct, because “languages are no longer being learnt by children” (Law). Some of these languages are also being lost because people move to the United States in search for a better life. Another cause would be that “the United States is failing to graduate enough students with expertise in foreign languages” (Saiz, and Zoido 523). In 2009, there were 38,517,234 immigrants in the U.S. (Batalova and Aaron). In 2011, 23 percent of children from elementary school and secondary school in California had LEP, or limited English proficiency (Percent Limited English Proficient Student). Bilingual education is one way of teaching a child in his or her own native language while learning English at the same time (Bilingual Education). Schools should teach a child in their native language while teaching the child English because it helps preserve his or her culture, secure a better employment future, and bilingual students perform better in school.
Learning another language provides high rewards including “improved cultural understandings, communication abilities and job prospects.” (Preston and Seedhouse, 2013) Because of the rapid development of technology, applying an array of media is being presented to students in different parts of the world in an effort to achieve different purposes such as educational needs.
Language has pioneered many interracial relationships and historical milestones. Language is a necessity for basic communication and cultural diversity. Being multilingual is a skill proven influential to a successful future. Due to rapid globalization, countries all over the world are stressing the importance of learning a second, or even third, language. With the exception of time and lack of resources, adults have very few widely applicable disadvantages to learning multiple languages. However, language learning as a child presents more complications. Some of those include not having enough funding at the elementary school level to introduce a program for secondary language, academic overload for the youth, stress for both the parent and student parties, and the mixing of languages. Not all of these complications are true in any or all situations, however, and the absence of them provides multitudes of opportunity for future career and academic success. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the parents or the education legislation to decide whether they encourage the learning of a secondary language at the young age necessary for retention. “The general consensus is that it takes between five to seven years for an individual to achieve advanced fluency,” therefore the younger a child begins to learn, the more likely they are to benefit to the maximum potential (Robertson). Keeping the language learning in high school or beginning the process earlier is a greatly controversial discussion that is important to address because of the topic’s already lengthy suspension.
Early Childhood Care and Education, UNESCO (2007) points out the overlooked advantages of multilingual education in the early years. When children are offered opportunities to learn in their mother tongue, they are more likely to enroll and succeed in school and their parents are more likely to communicate with teachers and participate in their children’s
As time goes by and as the global community develops, the world grows more and more international, making second or third language acquisition become necessary to the majority. With the growing importance of multiple language ability, more and more parents think of bilingual or multilingual education, which means acquisitions of two or more languages, for their kids. In fact, we do have many reasons showing why multilingual education is important and beneficial, such as aspects of interpersonal relationship, employment, brain health, and so on.
In 2009, teachers of a New Jersey school banned foreign languages and stated, “any language other than English will not be tolerated" (Debaron 1). This situation was soon no longer allowed. While over ten percent of the total adolescent education systems contain emergent bilinguals, a whopping sixty percent of those students are educated in only English (Bale). Maria Estela Brisk, a Boston College Education professor, believes, “schools has wasted much energy in the search for a "perfect" model and the best way to learn English” when they could just focus on proving “quality education” to every student in the system (1). Teacher’s main priority should consist of effectively teaching their students to prepare them for the future, but currently there are a lack of certified bilingual education teachers. When students are taught more in different ways, they can educationally benefit their cognitive abilities, involving the brain with “mathematics, problem solving, logic and memory”, can be improved to create an overall better student. Even by learning another language at a earlier age can contribute to __________. Learning another language will be