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Rhode Island Elementary Schools Should Teach Second Language Students

1038 Words5 Pages

From the day children begin school, math, grammar, science, and history are pounded into their brains. This provides a foundation for future years of education. As they age, the expand their knowledge of these subjects and obtain a general understanding across the board. If these topics are understood by children from a young age, why can’t foreign languages be presented in the same manner? Many people believe that foreign language education does not play a key role in a student’s life because English is spoken internationally and not every student benefits from foreign languages academically (McMahon and Wright). On the contrary, Rhode Island elementary schools should begin teaching foreign languages to their students while it is easier to …show more content…

They begin their educations as young as 3 years old (in Belgium) and as old as 11 years old (in the United Kingdom). However, most countries begin their foreign language education between the ages of 6 and 9 (Delvin). As a result, 54% of Europeans are bilingual, 25% are trilingual, and 10% of people can speak four languages as of 2014. This is a total of 89% of European citizens who are at least proficient at a language other than the one they grew up speaking. On the other hand, only 40% of English and Irish people can speak a foreign language (Nardelli). This is most likely because United Kingdom schools do not start language education until around the age of 11, so the students do not have as much time to obtain the full breadth of their knowledge. Most Rhode Island school systems do not begin teaching a foreign language until middle school or high school. This lack of proper teaching results in only 25% of Americans being proficient at a language other than the one they grew up with. Not only is that less than half, but only 7% of these people learned their language through school (Delvin). According to the North Kingstown High School Student Handbook, taking a World Language course is optional. This removes the motivation to learn a new language, even if it is an important life skill to possess. If American education systems resembled those of Europe’s, then it is likely that bilingual rates will

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In her article, “Teach Them Spanish Early, Too,” Carlene Carmichael questions why young Californians are not being taught a basic understanding of both the English and the Spanish language. Carmichael contends that more job opportunities are available to bilingual applicants. She suggest that children could be taught both languages together from a young age. Carmichael pities the many Americans who are barred from employment at bilingual businesses because of this disadvantage and she wonders if anyone else feels the same. Carmichael’s suggestion to offer Spanish curriculum to young children and teach both English and Spanish at the same time makes a lot of sense; After all, California does recognize both English and Spanish as official

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But even when they didn’t learn English themselves, their children grew up speaking it. Thousands of first-generation Americans still strive to learn English, but others face reduced educational and career opportunities because they have not mastered this basic skill they need to get ahead. According to the 1990 census, 40 percent of the Hispanics born in the United States do not graduate from high school, and the Department of Education says that a lack of proficiency in English is an important factor in the drop-out rate. People and agencies that favor providing services only in foreign languages want to help people who do not speak English, but they may be doing these people a disservice by condemning them to a linguistic ghetto from which they cannot easily escape.

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