Foreign/world languages
No Child Left Behind legislation considers foreign language as a core academic subject. The term core academic subjects means English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography (NCLB, Title IX, Section 9101[11]).
California Education Code (EC) Section 51220(c) stipulates that foreign languages be offered no later than grade seven:
"The adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, shall offer courses in the following areas of study. . . . Foreign language or languages, beginning not later than grade 7, designed to develop a facility for understanding, speaking, reading, and writing the particular language."
Nevertheless, most California students begin foreign language study in high school. A smaller number of students begin in grades five through eight, and the fewest number of students begin in the primary grades. Students study English–language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and the arts throughout their school careers; they need to have the same sustained opportunity for attaining foreign language proficiency through an extended sequence of study.1
The ability to communicate in another language helps students to grow academically and personally. To be most effective in today’s global society, a person must have knowledge of, and the ability to interact with, people from different cultures in both California and throughout the world. Moreover, learning a second language helps pupils from different backgrounds interact with each other and build self-esteem. As California corporations continue to establish production facilities in developing countries, there is an increasing need for linguistic competence and cultural understanding in languages other than English.
In 2007, Jack O’Connell, California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2003 through 2011, signed an agreement establishing a collaborative relationship between Italy and California to
support the teaching of Italian language and culture in California public schools that
teach Italian. At the time of the agreement, two California middle schools offered courses on Italian language and culture:
- San Lorenzo Middle in the King City Union Elementary School District
- Burlingame Intermediate in Burlingame Elementary School District
The following research studies indicate that there are substantial benefits to studying a second language:
- In 1992, the College Entrance Examination Board reported that students with an average of four or more years of foreign language study score higher on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test than students who had studied four or more years of any other subject.2
- A study by Moran and Hakuta (1995) found that students who speak more than one language perform higher than their monolingual counterparts on tests of academic achievement, cognitive flexibility, and creativity.3
- A report on Louisiana foreign-language students (2003) found that they significantly outperformed their nonforeign-language counterparts on every subtest of the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program for the 21st century test. In addition, first-year third-grade foreign-language students who continued their foreign-language study through and including the fifth grade in Louisiana public schools significantly outperformed their nonlanguage peers on the language portion of the fifth-grade Iowa Tests of Basic Skills.4
- Recent brain research indicates that being bilingual has distinct advantages. Research conducted by Andrea Mechelli of London’s Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience (2004) revealed that bilingual speakers had denser gray matter compared with monolingual participants. Since gray matter is associated with skills in the areas of language, memory, and attention, the findings indicate that knowing a foreign language can actually change the brain’s anatomy.5
Unfortunately, only 25 percent of students in low-income and low-performing urban schools study a foreign language in contrast to 65 percent of students in wealthy and private suburban schools. This disparity heightens the achievement gap.6
In the Spotlight
Hilltop Middle School, Sweetwater Union High School District
The Foreign Language and Global Studies (FLAGS) magnet program integrates foreign languages with history and cultural studies. Students take either Spanish or French in both seventh and eighth grades.
The ability of Americans to speak foreign languages is increasingly important in the global economy. For example, the Committee for Economic Development, a policy group of business leaders and university presidents, issued a report on the critical importance of foreign languages. Called Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for U.S. Economic and National Security (PDF; Outside Source), the 2006 report emphasized that the global economy requires U.S. corporations to hire multinational teams. If American students hope to be employed as members of those teams, they will need to understand both foreign languages and cultures.7 The report also outlined requirements for “an educated American in the twenty-first century,” saying that students . . . ”should be proficient in at least one foreign language, have studied at least one global issue or region in depth, and be knowledgeable of the geography and history of our country as well as other world regions.”8 The U.S. Senate also emphasized the importance of language instruction for American competitiveness by passing Resolution 170 (Dodd) declaring 2005 as the Year of Languages. The initiative promoted the concept that every American should develop proficiency not only in English but also in other languages.
The National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) (Outside Source) is a plan to strengthen national security and prosperity in the 21st century through education, especially in developing foreign language skills. The NSLI will dramatically increase the number of Americans learning critically needed foreign languages, such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Farsi, and others, through new and expanded programs from kindergarten through university and into the workforce. Under the direction of the President, a comprehensive national plan is being developed by the Secretaries of State, Education, and Defense and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency to expand foreign language education in the U.S. with new programs and resources. Instruction will begin in early childhood and continue throughout formal schooling and into the workforce. The initiative has the following three broad goals:
- Expand the number of Americans mastering critically needed languages and start study at a younger age.
- Increase the number of advanced-level speakers of foreign languages, with an emphasis on critically needed languages.
- Increase the number of foreign language teachers and the resources for them.
Chapter 4 of the Foreign Language Framework for California Public Schools Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (PDF; 2.73MB; 73pp.) calls for schools to teach multiple languages.
“Local educational agencies should offer to their students as many foreign language options as possible. The wider the choices, the more likely that California will produce high school graduates who have progressed to the higher stages of the Language Learning Continuum in second and even third languages. These students will also have knowledge of more than one culture.”9
To meet that need, many schools have begun offering classical languages, heritage languages, and American Sign Language (ASL) courses. (EC Section 51225.3 states, “A course in American Sign Language shall be deemed a course in foreign language.”)
Technology applications for foreign language study. Many teachers use movies, virtual field trips, podcasts, audiotapes of native speakers, Web sites, and presentation or publication of student work to enhance foreign language instruction. In addition, students can learn more about world language and culture through online research.
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Footnotes
1Foreign Language Framework for California Public Schools Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve(PDF; 2.73MB; 73pp.). Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2003, 31-32.
2College-Bound Seniors. 1992 Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers. National Report . New York: College Entrance Examination Board, 1992.
3C. Moran, and K. Hakuta, “Bilingual Education: Broadening Research Perspectives,” in Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education. Edited by J. A. Banks and C. A. M. Banks. New York: Macmillan, 1995, 445-462.
4Carolyn Taylor-Ward, The Relationship Between Elementary School Foreign Language Study in Grades Three Through Five and Academic Achievement on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) and the Fourth-Grade Louisiana Educational Assessment Program for the 21st Century (LEAP 21) Test. A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, December 2003. (PDF; Outside Source)
5A. Mechelli, “Neurolinguistics: Structural Plasticity in the Bilingual Brain" (Outside Source), Nature, Vol. 431, October 2004, 757.
6Susan Black, “Our Tongue-Tied Students" (Outside Source), American School Board Journal, August 2006.
7Education for Global Leadership—The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for U.S. Economic and National Security (PDF; Outside Source). Washington, D.C.: Committee for Economic Development, 2006, 6.
8Ibid., 13.
9Foreign Language Framework for California Public Schools—Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (PDF; 3MB; 73pp.). Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2003, 34-35.
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