Fewer students are learning foreign languages in elementary and middle school according to a new study released by the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). Looking at enrollment patterns at all levels of schools over the last 20 years, the authors found that foreign language instruction has remained relatively stable only at the high school level .
“The findings indicate a serious disconnect between the national call to educate world citizens with high-level language skills and the current state of foreign language instruction in schools across the country,” they write in the study’s Executive Summary.
Based on data provided by CAL, a recent article in the New York Times described how Mandarin is becoming a very popular language, but Japanese and European languages are being taught less. Spanish continues to be the most popular language taught in schools.
According to the Times: “Experts said several factors were fueling the surge in Chinese. Parents, students and educators recognize China’s emergence as an important country and believe that fluency in its language can open opportunities.”
One of the main culprits for the lack of language programs in elementary and middle school according is the No Child Left Behind law which has required schools to test in English and Math and has drawn resources away from teaching foreign languages.
The trend does not seem to be confined to the United States. “Foreign language lessons are becoming the privilege of elite and wealthy children,” according the British newspaper The Times of London. In the UK, the government recently dropped the requirement that all students had to learn a foreign language.
Here in Norwalk, French and Spanish are offered in Middle School. In High School, Classical Latin, German, Italian, French, Spanish and Greek are offered. In addition, The Center for Global Studies at Brien McMahon High School has courses in Arabic, Mandarin, and Japanese. Foreign languages are not taught in elementary school, with the exception of Silvermine Elementary School.
As a parent of elementary school students, I often wish more was done with foreign languages in the early years when language acquisition seems easy for children. I know several parents that supplement their child's education with foreign language classes outside of school. However, I also understand the need to focus on basic skills at a young age.
Do you consider learning foreign languages an essential part of your child's education or an extra?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I would love my children to learn a foreign language at school, however, many children are just having trouble learning English at this age. Perhaps some Spanish or French could be integrated into the cirriculum instead of making it into a separate category.
ReplyDeleteJapanese is also offered in middle school, or at least it is at Ponus, not sure about the other middle schools. The culmination of the middle school program is the opportunity to travel to Japan and spend 2 weeks with a Japanese host family.
ReplyDeleteRoton offers French, Spanish, Japanese and Heritage Spanish for bilingual students.
ReplyDelete