Taking a foreign language should be require in high school and college, if not even middle or elementary school. If the students are not forced to learn a language, most will not. This may be my cynicism, or my humanism, or basic psychology, but in my experience people will not do things above and beyond what is necessary. The majority of people do the bare minimum so succeed. So if students are not required to take a foreign language, most would not voluntarily do so.
I talked to a few friends about this topic over the week. Everyone had a different opinion and reasoning for why they believed if it should be required. One of my friends said it should be required because America is a melting pot and learning the culture and language of our ancestors would be beneficial for a stronger sturdier America. Another friend disagreed saying it is a pointless requirement because the students would not reach a level of fluency where they would easily be able to use the language. Both these opinions are valid and very compelling, looking at the cultural benefits and the utility of the languages. I had not considered anything along those lines when I read the prompt; immediately my brain when straight to the "humans suck" reasoning.
I agree that most student won't take a foreign language if it isn't required of them, especially at the university level. However, some students do go above and beyond the necessary and will take extra language courses or even minor in a language. Those who are interested in learning a foreign language will figure out ways to work it in to their time here at UNH. Perhaps if foreign language learning was required at an earlier level, like elementary school, and became a normal accepted part of education, more students would be interested in continuing their studies at the collegiate level.
ReplyDeleteI agree that language should be required during elementary school and even high school. But a question for Sean: You say that college students should be forced to learn a language, but to what extent? Should they only have to take one year of it? Two? Would testing out of the requirement be an option too?
ReplyDeleteI also went straight to the "humans suck" response. It's hard not to, because nine times out of then it is true, at least in certain mindsets. But if we were not required to take a foreign language, why should we be required to take math? Or biology? I know I personally do not care about how cells divide or how to do a geometric proof. Like all other requirements, I think a foreign language requirement can appear useless to whoever is not interested in it, and there will never be a definite reason either to keep or to get rid of it. Those who like it think that those who don't are ignorant, and vice versa. It's just human nature.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Language should at least be introduced in elementary school due to their ability to adapt and learn a new language. When a child is so young a new language would absorb into his/her head. It is so much easier to teach them the grammar, vocab, and parts of culture as a child. When I was in elementary school I remember one day a week we would have a 30 min french class. I ca still remember some of what I learned now after speaking spanish for 9 years.
ReplyDeleteHaving a second language taught at a young age not only allows children to have the accesible goal of native fluency, but bilingualism has been shown to be extremely helpful for both mental development and native language development. I think it is relevant for students to have some level of a foreign language, however, you do not seem to tell us how many classes students should take. Are we aiming for university students to be bilingual or to only have some basic knowledge of language?
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