Should all school pupils be made to learn at least one foreign language?

No

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by Linda Sunkle-Pierucki

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It's difficult to support the theory all children should learn a foreign language when most appear to be so woefully inadequate in their native tongue.

All learning builds upon previous learning: the lack of emphasis on teaching proper English to American schoolchildren has engendered a nation of illiterate college graduates. I'm not sure how it got to this point, but today's children never learn the finer nuances of grammar, punctuation or sentence construction in their own language.

Consider the effects of language on the developing brain. It has been proven that exposure to language and extended vocabulary helps the young child's brain to develop more effective and numerous neuro-connections . For many years, IQ tests have proven that children exposed to rich language experiences become smarter and keep those gains throughout life. Language represents ideas and children exposed to language develop rich mental imagery to accompany those words. Images and ideas build upon each other and help develop curiosity and problem-solving skills.Children with mastery of their native language build upon early learning more effectively.

Language and good communication skills are the deciding civilizing factor of our society. When words don't work in a situation of conflict, children are more likely to resort to action-inappropriate ly in many cases. Providing children with the tools for mastery in the English language, then, helps them to become better citizens.

A major part of language learning involves understanding the function of words in the sentence. It also relies upon the ability to recognize words through proper spelling and how proper punctuation makes the sentence as easily understood as spoken language. Before a child can readily absorb the finer points of a foreign language, then, he must understand and communicate effectively in his own. Once the child has developed mastery over a large enough vocabulary and can communicate well both verbally and in writing, there is ample time to begin foreign language studies.

Success in learning a foreign language is dependent upon the child's success in learning his own language well. All of the romance languages- Spanish, French, etc build upon Latin-based words. A child with English mastery can see these relationships and can parse out portions of written passages very early in his studies, providing reinforcement through success. Once he sees these similarities and their related meanings, he can then begin to learn how their placement in the sentence fits'. At this point, the child may actually gain a more full meaning of the word in his own language.

Learning the sentence structure, verb tenses and gender differences of foreign words is the most difficult part of learning a foreign language. This is especially difficult if the child has not clearly absorbed the sentence structure, verb tense and placement of English words as he may well get the two confused.

Actually learning a foreign language does not mean learning a few key phrases. Learning the language involves being able to read and write the language effectively. Too often, early language studies leave the child with the mistaken assumption he' knows' another language when in actuality he would not even recognize the words were they written.

This is the problem employers are seeing in their newly hired high school and college graduates: they think' they know how to write and communicate effectively in English, but are actually clueless in the business situation. They face the same problem with people who state they speak a foreign language-they cannot communicate effectively. If we are ever to compete in a global business climate, it is vital that future employees communicate easily and effectively in their own language first.

So, foreign language instruction has a place in education, but that must take place only after children have been instructed in and gained mastery over their own language first. When public education takes the teaching of English seriously once again, and children are thus given the chance to develop their mental abilities to their fullest potential through complete and effective English instruction, foreign language instruction would be a welcome addition and can be most rewarding.

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