widespread than that of any other world language except Chinese, and that English is probably the foreign language most taught in schools throughout the world. But retention of national or local languages is a matter of pride, especially in many developing nations where the language serves as one symbol of newly achieved independence. Although through the continued advance of communications the dream of a common worldwide language may one day be realized, we cannot wait for this to happen.

Improvement of Foreign Language Instruction

To initiate a nationwide strengthening of our language capabilities, the National Defense Education Act of 1958 included a Language Development Program in higher education and provisions for improving modern foreign language instruction in the elementary and secondary schools. The modern foreign language instruction program is planned as a continuing undertaking and will operate under the Act, as at present extended, at least until June 30, 1964.

We must now aim to achieve vastly more in foreign languages in the high school than we-ever attempted before. Instead of attracting a small percentage of the students to the study of a foreign language and losing most of them before they have made any substantial progress, we must interest a far larger number in the serious study of a language and encourage them to continue long enough to make proficiency possible. Since these aims reflect the national need, there is much to consider by way of better counseling, better adaptation of instruction to students, and better articulation of elementary-secondary-college language programs.

Who Should Study a Foreign Language?

Elementary School Pupils

In order to be effective, programs of foreign language in the elementary school (FLES) should be an integral part of the school day and of the foreign language sequence of the school system. All children in those grades offering a foreign language should participate. The National Education Association (NEA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA) jointly make this assumption when they recommend that, preferably not later than the 3d grade, all children should have the opportunity to listen to and speak a second language.

Secondary School Students

Foreign language study is generally elective in the secondary school. In the past, students taking a foreign language have come from the college preparatory group, and there has been a tendency to consider foreign language study too difficult for the average child. Objectives and teaching methods, however, are not the same today as they were a few years ago. All students, according to recommendations of the National Association of Secondary-School Principals in 1959, should have the opportunity to elect foreign language study and to continue it as long as their interest and ability permit, whether or not they are planning to go to college. These recommendations take into account curriculum adaptations which seem indispensable in the light of present and future needs, as the following excerpt shows:

At a time when events anywhere in the world can produce immediate and profound repercussions on our everyday life, when decisions in this country involving other world areas are commonplace, and when an individual from any part of our country may find himself dealing with non-English-speaking peoples, some experience with another modern language and some understanding of another modern culture become extremely important.

Because of the number of languages involved and the number of persons with language competence needed, many specific foreign language skills for practical purposes must be acquired outside the classroom. A formal educational experience in learning one language can give a student a sound basis for learning another language on his own. The equipment that comes from having learned a foreign language should be an element in basic education, and like all such elements should be the birthright of every young American.

The Academically Talented

Academically talented youngsters should be studying at least one modern foreign language throughout their high school years. Students having special language aptitude can be encouraged to elect either Latin or a second modern foreign language while continuing the first. A second foreign language should not be added, however, until the sequence of study in the first has been long enough to assure a reasonable control of its structure and sound system. It is better for a student to study one foreign language until he has achieved fair proficiency in it than to study two or more languages for a shorter period of time. A recent report suggests that the learning of a second and third language by Americans of the future will be not so much an academic as an administrative problem.

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It is important to identify as early as possible those students who are especially able in language learning, in order to give them a sound foundation. They may then have the time and interest to become linguists or other language specialists. Early identification of special ability is likely to be made on the basis of student performance in the program, rapidity of advance, and depth and quality of perception.

Potential Leaders

Our national leaders, who assuredly need a high level of foreign language competence, can be expected to emerge from among the students in the top 15 or 20 percent of the graduating classes. Therefore all students in this group, according to recommendations made at the NEA and MLA conference on the academically talented, should be required to study foreign languages in a long sequence.

Bilingual Students

When youngsters who have studied a foreign language in the elementary school enter secondary school, they should be given an opportunity to continue the study of the same language. Similarly, those who come from non-English-speaking homes should be encouraged to study their mother tongue, either in school or outside.

Everyone is aware of the existence in the United States of numerous groups of speakers of other languages than English, for example, the speakers of Spanish in the Southwest, Florida, and New York City; of French in New England; of German in Pennsylvania; and of the Scandinavian languages in Minnesota. The State reports on the 1960 census, which included a question as to the respondent's mother tongue, showed the presence in the country of native speakers of more than 20 additional languages in numbers unsuspected by most people. Since "mother tongue" was defined for the purposes of the census as being the principal language spoken in the person's home before he came to the United States, second or third languages were not tabulated. Spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans who are, of course, not "foreign born" were not counted.

These persons, and particularly their children, represent a language resource, a potential pool of literate bilinguals, which has not been adequately exploited. Social pressures for conformity exerted on minority language groups in the United States have, in the past, resulted in neglect of this resource; but in most parts of the country

the attitude toward those who use a foreign language has now drastically changed.

It must be recognized that classwork should be individualized to meet the bilingual student's special needs. A student who speaks and understands a language does not benefit from the usual introductory course designed for English-speaking beginners. He needs to learn to read and write what he already speaks and to improve his command of the spoken language, in just the same fashion as English is taught to English-speaking youngsters.

American Children Living Abroad

Well over 170,000 American children living abroad are currently enrolled in the U.S. Armed Forces dependents' schools, American overseas schools in Europe and Asia, binational schools in Latin America, or other private schools. The majority of these institutions either require or encourage the study of the language and culture of the host country. In addition to French, German, Italian, and Spanish, less common languages in sequences up to 12 years in length are being offered. Uncommon languages now being taught in host countries include Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Greek, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Tagalog, Turkish, and Urdu.

The number of youngsters who return to the United States with a good foundation in a foreign language will increase with the increasing number of U.S. personnel stationed abroad. An effort should be made to arrange suitable placement of these youngsters in programs in the same language. If the high school does not offer the language, it would be worthwhile to explore ways of providing out-of-school opportunities for the student to maintain and improve his knowledge. In many communities there are persons who have learned one of the more than 50 languages offered in Government training programs, as well as foreign students and visitors, new citizens, and members of professional groups who use a foreign language in their work. It is often possible to locate individuals who would be willing to help a high school student in the language he has begun. Some form of systematic practice may be arranged, either through clubs and community projects or through the use of tapes and records made by native speakers. Such effort is becoming more and more feasible, and ought to be made not only in the interest of the individual student, but also as a means of building up in this country a greater range of language abilities.

When To Begin Modern Foreign Language Study

FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING can begin at any age. The basic problems of pronunciation, structure, and vocabulary are the same whether the beginner is 6 or 60 years old. But there are varying advantages and disadvantages to starting at the varying age levels.

Before Adolescence

The Canadian neurosurgeon Dr. Wilder Penfield, who has conducted extensive research on the human brain, has concluded that the specialized areas of the brain used in speaking are most plastic and receptive to language learning before adolescence. Dr. Paul Glees, professor of histology and experimental neuroanatomy at Göttingen University, West Germany, expressed his views at a UNESCO conference on the teaching of foreign languages to younger children, which was held in Hamburg in April 1962. Dr. Glees is in general agreement with Dr. Penfield, but differs somewhat in that he believes ages 3 and 4 to be most suitable for beginning foreign language instruction. Young children have a greater capacity than older learners for imitating sounds accurately and for assimilating another linguistic structure. They are not handicapped by the self-consciousness and interference arising from fixed speech habits that trouble adolescents and adults. Nor are they plagued by the need to analyze what they hear and say or by dependence on the printed word.

The chief advantages of an early start, therefore, are the greater ease in learning and the chance to develop near-native proficiency in pronunciation and in limited areas of speech. Persons who have acquired a spoken language in childhood feel at home in that language to a degree that is seldom possible otherwise. Studies of bilingualism, often cited to indicate a degree of retardation due to use of two languages, frequently show instead the effects of instruction through a second language rather than through the mother tongue. No adverse effects directly caused by the introduction to a second language have been observed. The participants at the UNESCO conference found no reason why all children, except for the mentally retarded, should not have the opportunity of exposure to a second language.

The number of foreign language programs in the elementary schools continues to increase very rapidly in all parts of the country. By 1963, for example, foreign language instruction will be given as part