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We need more than lip service about language The Orlando Sentinel The
need to know English is a no-brainer, but why do so many Americans continue
to resist the benefits of learning a foreign language? It's
a question that comes up every time I write about the need for programs to
help public-school students whose home language is Spanish, or Haitian-Creole
or something else, become proficient in English. By
the way, most of those making the point are English-only speakers who want
their children to learn a foreign language in elementary school. They want
their kids to be in a better position to compete in a global job market. Focus
on the trade deficit. Sure, there are problems with the current
"free" trade arrangement that can make it tough for working people
to earn a living in this country. That's precisely why we should have
foreign-language instruction for students all the way from elementary school
through high school and beyond. English
is the international language of commerce -- for now. It may not always be.
Ask the French -- theirs was the old language of diplomacy. Surely
it would help seal a deal if Americans trying to do business in, say, China,
know Mandarin Chinese. It shows the kind of effort and knowledge about that
culture that can nab a contract and put more money in American workers'
pockets. Europeans
have long valued knowledge of different languages and have taught them in the
early grades. Pragmatism guided that continent's embrace of foreign languages
-- crossing borders for work made it a necessity. In
our ever-shrinking, technology-driven global economy, why do so many
policymakers in Florida continue to give only lip service to foreign-language
instruction? Even
some of our best universities give foreign languages short shrift. It's
nonsensical that a business major at the University of Central Florida can
graduate without being required to take even a minimum of two semesters in a
foreign language. As long as students have taken two years of a foreign
language in high school, that's all they will need to graduate with a
bachelor's degree. What a waste. At
an advisory-committee meeting of the Global Connections Foundation, a group
of Central Florida business and academic leaders -- including the area's
major universities and community colleges -- the language issue came up once
again Tuesday. It's a reminder of all that remains to be done if the Orlando
area is to become a truly competitive international player. Advisory members
want school boards to get serious about foreign languages. If only. There
are a handful of language academies in elementary schools teaching, say,
Spanish or French, but no Chinese or Japanese or Arabic or Russian -- all
languages that are becoming ever more important. But
even those few lucky students who get to learn Spanish or French in
elementary school will lose much of what they learned during their
middle-school years because there are no dual-language classes at that level.
The
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test excuse rings hollow. "Oh, we
barely have time to teach kids to pass the FCAT," some people will insist.
That's bunk. The younger, the better to learn a second language. This is not
an either-or. Learning a second language at an early age also helps
English-only speakers improve their home language. Let's stop delaying the
inevitable and do what's best for all children.
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