Language Education in U.S. Schools

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Language Education in U.S.
Schools

Language Education in U.S. Schools
© Globalization Partners International. All rights reserved.http://blog.globalizationpartners.com/ 2
One of the things I admire about countries
outside of the United States is the emphasis on
language education. I have always envied
people who were taught multiple languages at
an early age and are multilingual.

I grew up in rural Montana, and the local
Hutterites were fluent in German and taught their
children German as a first language. This
fascinated me. I loved hearing their
accents. Trips to the Hutterite colony for fresh
produce coupled with a friend's exchange student
from Germany are where my interest in
languages began.

U.S. Schools
The elementary and high school I attended
offered some Spanish and French. My fourth
grade teacher taught us phrases in French and
my elementary Spanish teacher taught us
introductory Spanish. But, it was nothing like my
English classes where we were deconstructing
sentences and learning about active verbs, direct
objects and prepositional phrases.

In high school, I took additional Spanish classes and was able
to expand my Spanish ability a little. We were only required to
take one semester of a foreign language. There was one
Spanish teacher in the high school and other languages were
taught on a computer based program, there were no options
for non-European languages.
This isn't necessarily the same curriculum in all U.S. schools,
but I know many students around the country have far less
opportunities for language education than their peers
worldwide.

Global Language Education Statistics
I studied in Germany and Italy for a summer in
college and I remember being so frustrated that
there wasn't the same push for foreign language
education in the United States like there was in
Europe. All the students in Europe I interacted with
spoke two languages, at minimum.

•Many EU Member States have nearly 100% of their students learning
English in primary schools
•In Belgium, 94% of students learn English, 23% learn French and
21% learn German
•In the Netherlands, 68% of students learn at least two languages
•21 of the top 25 industrialized countries begin the study of world
languages in grades K-5, while the majority of U.S. students begin
studying a second language at age 14
•Singapore's Mother Tongue Language (MTL) policy requires all
students who are Singaporeans or Singapore Permanent Residents to
study their respective official MTL: Chinese, Malay and Tamil
•50% of U.S. students study a world language, compared to 90% of
European students who study at least one foreign language

Language Advocacy Day
May 8th was Language
Advocacy day, an annual
event on Capitol Hill to
gain more federal support
for language
education. Educators
from around the United
States lobbied for
language programs in
U.S. schools.
Image Credit: AuPair4U

According to a Modern Language Association report,
enrollment in higher education language courses dropped
111,000 spots between 2009 and 2011, the first drop
since 1995. Amelia Friedman, founder of the Student
Language Exchange, states that only 7% of college
students in the U.S. are enrolled in a language course.
Language learning faces multiple challenges from teacher
shortages to student interest and need. The prevalence of
English being used globally, has resulted in a lower
priority for language education.

In a recent article by Friedman, another challenge she mentions
regarding language education, is the languages being
taught. Spanish and French instruction is commonly found, but
languages offered beyond that varies greatly. She states that
world emergencies have an impact on what languages are taught
in U.S. schools. For example, Slavic languages during the Cold
War and Middle Eastern languages during the War on Terror. This
can become an issue as it takes years to become proficient and
constantly changing what languages are being taught is not an
effective way to teach or learn languages.

There are many benefits of language learning, including
cognitive and academic benefits. One possible solution to
the lack of education in the U.S. is to conduct dual-
language courses in schools. This would eliminate the
need to hire separate language instructors. According to
Friedman's article, Bill Rivers, a prominent language
lobbyist, cites strong evidence that shows students in
dual-language programs outperform their peers in
reading and math by fourth grade, regardless of race or
socio-economic status.

Conclusion
In this current age of globalization, language skills are vital. The world is
becoming smaller and smaller and the need to communicate across
borders has become necessary and expected. Companies are now
competing in a global marketplace and translation and localization
services are a common piece of business strategies. Rivers claims
languages are not a "nice-to-have," they are a "need-to-have."
Language proficiency is a life-long task. Language skills are like muscles
that need to be exercised to avoid atrophy. If you don't use it, you will lose
it. And it will take much less time to lose than it took to gain. I hope that
U.S. schools will gain more support for language education programs and
incorporate more of them into their curriculums. Studies show students
will perform better academically and it will put them in a better position
to compete with peers worldwide as they begin their careers.

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The Localization Challenges of Self-Paced eLearning
Localization challenges in translating eLearning content
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Language Education in U.S. Schools

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