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 couniries 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 of the regular curriculum in all Seattle, Washington, public elementary schools, beginning with grade 3. The National Association of Secondary-School Principals has called attention to the growing number of pupils whose modern foreign language study begins in the elementary school and has recommended that secondary schools attempt to arrange suitable class placement for learners so that they may continue their modern language study without a break. After Adolescence The junior high school still constitutes the major gap in foreign language programs, but many schools are initiating modern foreign language study in grades 7 or 8. The California Legislature, in its 1961 session, made mandatory, starting July 1, 1965, the teaching of a foreign language to all pupils in grades 6, 7, and 8 in all the public schools in that State. At the same time, the many California schools offering foreign languages earlier than grade 6 are being encouraged to continue their programs, provided that the same language can be offered in an unbroken sequence through grade 12. The general or exploratory language course in the junior high schools of the Nation is generally being abandoned in favor of an earlier beginning in one language. For many students the first opportunity to start a foreign language comes at grade 9 or 10, permitting only 3 or 4 years of study in high school. If opportunity or motivation has been absent before adolescence, the study can still be successful, although the older the learner is, the more difficult he usually finds it to achieve good pronunciation and ease and accuracy of expression. Organized memory, reasoned association and synthesis of ideas, and increased capacity for concentrated attention and abstraction are assets of the older beginner. Foreign language study can make a nonvocational cultural contribution to a secondary or college education, and the experience gained in learning one foreign language should make each additional foreign language easier to acquire. Most persons who undertake to learn their first foreign language as adults have the advantage of possessing a specific purpose and high motivation. Such students lack the child's natural capacity for imitative learning, but this handicap can be greaty reduced through the use of audiovisual materials, and methods which stress listening comprehension and mimicrymemorization. How Long To Study a Modern Foreign Language HOW MUCH TIME IS ADEQUATE for achieving something approaching mastery of a foreign language? The average amount of instruction in a 2-year high school program has been estimated at about 200 to 250 class hours. Contrast this with the following program developed by the Arabian American Oil Company for its employees in the field, all of whom live in the language environment, with native teachers available as models and with electronic aids for practice: Courtesy Arabic 50 hours of classroom instruction supplemented by intensive oral drill. This equips the student to meet people socially, ask directions in the street, and make simple purchases. Work Arabic 200 additional hours of classroom instruction, supplemented by on-thejob practice. This enables the student to acquire sufficient fluency to give necessary instructions to native workers on the job and to explain routine operations. Comprehension Arabic 1,000 additional hours of instruction, including reading, composition, grammar, and conversation, supplemented by audio materials and selfstudy aids. The course is completed by 6 weeks' residence in a native village where the student hears no English and is on his own in Arabic. Not every employee's instruction in Arabic ends at this point, however, for some are expected to continue study for an additional year or two at an Arab university in order to acquire facility approaching mastery of the language. Foreign Language Sequence Needed for Mastery In terms of the school program here at home, the student would require 8 to 10 years of foreign language study to reach a level comparable to the "comprehension" stage of the program in Arabic described above. Students, as well as parents and teachers, should' realize that language facility is a progressive acquisition of skills which is never completed. Expectations of results should be realistically based on the amount of time and effort devoted to language practice. We need only compare the time allotted to foreign language study in our schools with that allotted to the study of English even though the child already speaks English when he enters the 1st grade. Present Foreign Language Sequence in the High School A 3-year high school sequence can hardly be expected to produce a high level of proficiency, but if this is the most that can be offered now, the foreign language should be available in grades 10, 11, and 12 so that an unbroken continuation at the college level can be assured. The National Association of Secondary-School Principals recommends that a minimum of 4 years' sequential study be available to students who can profit from it. As the grammar-translationreading approach to teaching is abandoned in favor of an audiolingual approach, more students will continue through the 3d and 4th years of study. Until enrollments in advanced classes increase sufficiently to warrant having separate classes at each level, it may be necessary to group advanced students together in a single class and arrange for individual study and practice. No student should be deprived of the opportunity to continue his study. In very small schools, advanced students might continue through correspondence courses with recordings or through the use of programed materials with audio aids. Future Foreign Language Sequence From the Elementary School Through College The ideal language program is senior high school and college experience based on foreign language study in the elementary and junior high school. Such a program will probably be normal in the future. Many school systems are now working toward a sequence of this length in one or more foreign languages. As an interim plan, until a program of 5, 6, or more years can be offered, the schedule may provide for 4 years of language work spread over a 6-year period. There are certain advantages to experimenting with such plans. They allow an earlier start in language study and at the same time permit better articulation with language programs at the college level. Thus instruction begun in the 7th grade may continue through the 12th grade, although the language would not be studied on a full-time basis every year. In schools where some pupils begin a language in the 7th or 8th grade, separate programs should be maintained for pupils who have started a language in the early elementary grades. Pupils who have done well in their first foreign language should be encouraged to add a second at grade 7 or 9 while continuing to study their first. |