The world is shrinking. Each country is part of an increasingly important global economy, and communicating with people on the other side of the world is becoming incredibly easy with the invention of email, video calls and other technological advances. In order to keep up in this rapidly connected world, The Kirkwood Call staff voted 42:4 in favor of foreign language being offered at the elementary level.
Young children have been watching Dora the Explorer since its debut in 2000. Dora’s cousin Diego took over in 2005 with the spin-off Go, Diego, Go! More recently, Ni Hao, Kai-Lan has appeared on the scene of TV shows aiming to teach children other languages. Since these shows are so popular, elementary aged children obviously have an interest in foreign languages. All cartoon kidding aside, the Kirkwood School District (KSD) does not offer the study of a second language until sixth grade in spite of this.
Mike Gavin, principal, confirmed that adding a second language to the curriculum at the elementary level would be beneficial to students, but KSD uses the resources needed in other areas of academics. Although this would put financial strain on the district, teachers from the middle and high schools could contribute at the elementary level, lessening the need for new teachers. Since foreign language is so important, it should be offered to elementary school kids no matter the cost.
In a survey, 75.7 percent (134/177) of students believe that foreign language is not as essential as core classes. However, learning a language as late as middle school puts Kirkwood students at a disadvantage compared to other parts of the world and even other parts of the St. Louis area. For example, in the Ladue School District’s elementary schools, Spanish is part of the curriculum starting in kindergarten.
In order to be able to keep up, Kirkwood’s elementary school students need to be offered a foreign language. According to the U.S. Department of Education, more than 200 million Chinese students study English at the primary school level while only about 24,000 elementary school students in the U.S. study Chinese. With a better knowledge of a foreign language coming from 13 years of study instead of (maybe) seven, Kirkwood’s students will be eligible for more jobs, even in other countries.
Not only will a longer study of a language benefit students, but by starting a language early, children have very close to native knowledge and pronunciation of the language, according to Cornell University. While it is not impossible for older students or even adults to learn a second language, it is easier for young children because their minds pick up vocabulary more quickly. By sixth grade when students are eligible for a foreign language in KSD’s current system, they have missed out on six years of opportunity to study a second language.
In addition to being easier for younger children, learning a second language allows students to focus with distractions better than monolinguistic children, also according to Cornell University.
According to the Department of Education, a language program at the elementary level should include instruction for the equivalent of 45 minutes a day four days out of every week. Therefore, KSD should implement a program for a foreign language at the elementary level, cutting a few minutes from every subject to add 36 minutes of instruction in a foreign language every day that would be comparable.
Elementary aged kids have the increased ability to learn a second language and an interest in foreign cultures being nurtured only by the cartoon characters of Dora, Diego and Kai-Lan, so KSD should give elementary school kids the opportunity to compete with the rest of the world.
