Many secondary schools require that their students complete one or two years of a second language to graduate. As well, some colleges list two years of a foreign language as a requisite to apply. As students, sometimes we fail to realize the reasoning behind this and the benefits that we may receive by learning a foreign language. Being bilingual helps a person advance cognitively, broadens job opportunities, and enriches a person in a cultural way.
As stated by the previous secretary of education, Arne Duncan, only eighteen percent of Americans reported speaking a second language. In his speech at the Foreign Language Summit at the University of Maryland, he emphasized how important it is to learn a second language. Mr. Duncan claims that “It's absolutely essential for the citizens of the United States to become fluent in other languages—and schools, colleges and
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Nelson Mandela stated that “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart." According to Veronique de Miguel, when a person opens their mind to learning a new language, they are not limiting themselves to learning a new language, they are opening themselves up to learning about diverse cultures, traditions, and social behaviors. When a person is this open to the diversity of different cultures, it increases the tolerance of racism because the person is more open to differences between cultures, traditions and social behaviors. A monolingual who has only experienced their own culture, traditions and is only accustom to their own social behaviors will most likely believe their own culture is superior, also known as ethnocentrism. Americans have constantly relied on others to learn English so they could communicate with other countries, they do not tend to take on the idea of learning the other country's
There are more than 6,500 languages around the world. We can't control where we are born nor what will be our native language. Although, we can choose which we are going to speak as a second language. Speaking more than one language has obvious benefits in today's internationally growing world, and it has become common to know more than one. Being bilingual is a benefit, that one is never too old nor too ahead to experience and learn from
For decades, education has been one of the most important aspects of life. Because education has always been around, it has unintentionally changed over time. These changes have been the result of various historic and legislative events that have occurred throughout the years. After taking a closer look at the history of bilingual education, I have selected a handful of events that, in my opinion, led to drastic changes and greatly impacted bilingual students.
As a result, people should be able to learn a different language with the aid of a professor. At Grand Canyon University, students are unable to learn new foreign language, as they are limited to Spanish. Students should have the choice to learn different language from around the world in college as an elective. Seems, as students that are bilingual, are able to gain more in the future on jobs, as they will know how to communicate better. Nevertheless, Grand Canyon University should provide different foreign languages classes for students, to enhance their knowledge by learning
Bilingualism in the U.S has been closely related to political, economical, and social concerns. The United States is a nation of immigrants founded by colonists of multiple language backgrounds and nationalities. In such a divers county as the U.S the ability to speak two languages fluently gives an individual a greater chance of survival. Benefits of bilingualism mean better job qualifications in an otherwise extremely competitive job. Bilingualism has a positive effect on intellectual growth, enriches and enhances development, leaves individuals with more flexibility, greater sensitivity to language and a better ear for listening and opens doors to other cultures and helps a child better understand and appreciate people from other countries.
In today’s society, especially in the United States, most people are monolingual English speakers. As a result, these monolingual speakers are at a significant disadvantage compared to those who speak more than one language fluently. This disadvantage is crucial to realize since it is important to learn how individuals and the nation can be enhanced. Multilingual speakers have an advantage in global affairs that involve countries that speak different languages. Speaking multiple languages makes it easier to communicate with people when involved in foreign affairs. Those who speak multiple languages are also more aware of other cultures in society. Monolingual speakers are not as exposed to other cultures and have difficulty understanding or even recognizing them. Furthermore, being multilingual increases your
Being bilingual always made my life differ as if I lived two lives, speaking Spanish at home and English everywhere outside of home. On the daily basis at my house, my family speaks Spanish. When we communicate we speak very fast, at times we can not even understand one another. After this occurs we all burst out in laughter super loud, no boundaries are enforced in our lexicon. The enforcement changes when entering a different discourse community.
...thousands of years. Generally, bilingual education can mean any use of two languages in school, by teachers, students, or both – for a variety of social and pedagogical purposes. It also refers to the different approaches in the classroom that use the native languages of English language learners (ELLs) for instruction. These approaches include teaching English, fostering academic achievement, acculturating immigrants to a new society, and preserving a minority group’s linguistic and cultural heritage. Building on, rather than just discarding the students’ native-language skills, create a stronger foundation for success in English and academics. Also, if students learn languages at a younger age, it will be easier to remember and learn them, rather than if they were older. It helps to learn another language for students, and can later be useful in the future.
Hypothesis: Bilingual brains are better at temporarily storing and manipulating information in working memory in their first language, but varying in the second.
Most Americans learn a second language in adulthood. Many public schools do not begin teaching second languages until high school, and all college students must study a foreign language in order to graduate from the university. Another population within the United States that is learning a second language are those immigrating from other countries, particularly Mexico. Most of these immigrants who are learning are adults, their children will not have to deal with learning a second language because they will most likely learn two languages, English and Spanish.
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.
Being bilingual implies a process in which everything looks so difficult at the beginning, but at the same time it is easier than what it looks like.
“Learning a second language not only has cognitive and academic benefits, it also supports a greater sense of openness to, and appreciation for, other cultures” (Tochen, 2009). For many students in the United States, English is not the primary language spoken at home. There are several options for getting these children to reach proficiency in the English Language. However, there is only one model that preserves the child’s first language, while also gaining literacy in English. This model is Bilingual Education. Bilingual education is not new to the United States. It in fact started in 1968 under title VII. However, there is still a lot for the general public, and parents of language learners, to learn about this form of education. Bilingual
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.
What exactly is bilingualism? Is bilingualism speaking two or more languages? Does it have to do something with culture? Are there different ways to define bilingualism? There are different ideas on what bilingualism is from different people. These people are Martin Espada and Richard Rodriguez. Espada believes bilingualism as having the right to speak a language and believe a culture the way they want to. On the other hand, Rodriguez believes that we must speak the public language, like everyone else. I believe that bilingualism is the free will to speak a language and maintain a culture that you would like.
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.