Foreign and Fluent: Why We Need Foreign Language Education
“The World Language program rests on the belief that learning another language and another culture is an important skill in today’s economy.” That’s a line from THS’s course scheduling guide for the 2014-2015 school year, which goes on to describe the school’s course offerings in French and Spanish. It’s not just Talawanda, either. All over the country, the variety and comprehensiveness of foreign language education in schools has vastly increased over the past several decades. So why exactly is it so important? What about those to whom extensive foreign travel does not appeal, to those who don’t aspire to write to a pen-pal living in Ecuador or Monaco?
To demonstrate this, let’s create an imaginary character. We will call him Tom. He is an American high school student who plans to stay in the U.S. in the future. If Tom studies a foreign language, odds are good that his critical thinking skills, creativity, and memory will improve. His standardized test scores, math and verbal, will improve. According to the American Psychiatric Association, there is a good chance Tom will acquire an enhanced ability to process sounds and therefore will be more likely to pay attention in a learning situation. His emotional side will not suffer either – a study from Northwestern University showed that foreign language study reduced levels of anxiety, loneliness and poor self-esteem in kids.
Not only will Tom reap psychological benefits from his study of foreign language, he will become more globally aware. This is important even if Tom never ventures past the U.S. border, because the United States is filled with immigrants and the descendants of immigrants. In 2012, there were 25 million U.S. residents who reported having limited English proficiency, causing the number of U.S. jobs requiring foreign language to rise steeply in recent years. On average, foreign language speakers earn about $7,000 more per year than strictly native language speakers. The economic benefit of bilingualism, even in a country and world where English often dominates, is undeniable.
Finally, Tom’s sense of globalization will improve. Language will provide him a gateway to understanding another culture, enriching his life and expanding his worldview. This is essential, given that our country is a patchwork of cultures brought by immigrants and the descendants of immigrants – there is a reason why the U.S.’s nickname is the Great Melting Pot.
Thus, foreign language education is absolutely essential to the expansion of our cognitive abilities, the strengthening of our sense of compassion and understanding of other cultures, and the increase of economic opportunities, among many other facets of human experience. So when it comes time to fulfill a foreign language requirement in school, go ahead and groan. I understand, genders of verbs and the finicky differences between verb conjugations suck. But understand why the requirement is there, and appreciate the opportunity. It’s a great one.
