Should Students Be Required to Take a Second Language Course

Learning a foreign language can be beneficial in future settings and handy when it comes to global presence when well educated, but very difficult processing and learning especially at an older age. Foreign language classes should not be mandatory while in college because there is lack of time, it should depend on individual interest, and because many believe it is a waste of time.

The United States is becoming more and more bilingual every day. It is important for students of the United States of America to keep up with the advancing world. The easiest way to learn a second language is when a person is young. This is why it would be beneficial for schools to start teaching a foreign language in kindergarten and continuing it through twelfth grade. Students are more likely to learn and remember a foreign language if they are introduced to it at a young age. A majority of other countries teach foreign languages to their students throughout their school lives. Most students coming out of high school in other countries are totally

What is your first language? Do you remember your first words? How about learning to pronounce or spell words of your first language? Would you ever learn a foreign language because it sounds like a lot of work. Today some students are required to learn another language. However all students in the US shouldn't have to be required. Some reasons may include students never using the language, not learning another language would free up time, and students may not learn as much as people think. This is why students in the US shouldn't have to be required to learn another language.

Everyone in America has had to learn a second language in order to obtain a high school diploma, however this ‘learning’ of a language is merely a short class that does little to tie one down to a second language. There are few students who continue to seek more and more knowledge about their intended language. Some lose interest, while others make excuses by saying that it is too hard. However, learning more than one language has so many benefits that it is mind boggling to me that more people like to remain monolingual. Obviously time and resources are a concern, but there are so many ways to learn a language that can be catered to one’s individual needs. Think about all of the people in our nation whose first language is not English.

When an educator walks into her classroom for the first time, she needs to be prepared to encounter students that come from a variety of backgrounds. The children will be in different stages of language development, and the educator must accommodate for each of these students. Magruder, Hayslip, Espinosa, and Matera (2013) state, “The US Census Bureau projects that by the 2030s, children whose home language is other than English will increase from roughly 22 percent to 40 percent of the school-age population” (p. 9). This increase in second language learners will cause the educator to accommodate for those needs. Second language learners “need teachers who welcome them and recognize their unique abilities, what they know, and what they need to learn” (Magruder, Hayslip, Espinosa, and Matera, 2013, p. 10).

“Language is power. If you cannot understand or be understood you have no power. You are at the mercy of everyone.” – (Rudat, 1994, Stow, Dodd 356) Should Americans be required to learn Spanish as a second language? The construction of our nation stands on documents written in English, however English is not our official language nor has it ever been. America is a “melting pot” in which English is the most prominent language, followed closely by Spanish. Requiring Americans to learn Spanish is a great controversy; I strongly believe that it should be a requirement, because it improves academic achievements, career success, and cultural and social understanding. The controversy has great counter arguments such as the double standard Americans are held to, and further division of the country. Regarding the counterarguments, I still firmly believe that it should be a requirement because the integration of a second language in our schools is more beneficial to our country’s success as a whole.

In “language study as a National Imperative, “Colleen Flaherty writes about the language education of the in the U.S. She explains the report, which was written by the American Academy of Arts and sciences (AAAS). The Article was published in Inside Higher Education on February. The Reports explain that foreign language must be required in the school system starting in kindergarten. The Academy of Arts and Sciences or the AAAS believes that Second languages should be required it opens up more opportunities for getting a better job in the future. And also understand the other better like none English Speakers. AAAS also believes it could help economic growth and competitiveness. Flaherty also says the language learner will build a good Skill and improvement with other people around them. According to AAAS Report strongly emphasizes work with schools to promote language classes. Also In the report it says that the government should help teacher’s education and increase the more opportunities.

Spanish shouldn't be required in school. Being forced to learn a foreign language is a disgrace to being an American. Most high school graduates enter careers that don't require the ability to speak anything more than English. Spanish is irrelevant. High School students should be able to take Spanish as an high school elective class, not being forced into taking it.

Learning a foreign language is tough, but unbelievably rewarding such as better job opportunities. With the way the united states is developing as a country, a

I expect to find those university students that are raised bilingual as children to have slightly higher standardized test scores and college GPAs in comparison to university students that were raised only speaking English at home. Specifically, I expect there to be a correlation between people who were raised to be bilingual in early childhood from ages 0-5 and higher academic performance at the university level, specifically on subjects relating to the humanities. For example, I would presume that these bilingual students would have higher GPAs in college if they were an English, Language or History major, as well as a higher score on the Reading and Writing sections of the standardized college placement exams like the SAT and the ACT.

In this world, all languages and dialects will be taken and woven together to produce a picture that's beauty is on a scale never before seen. It is my firm belief that to achieve this world of beauty, people in every corner of the Earth should push for the study of foreign language to be set in the mandatory curriculum for all students.

With society becoming more and more global, it will become a necessity to know a foreign language. Export business 's are growing in double digits every year and foreign business 's are expanding at a rapid rate (Porter). Obviously there is a growing need for bilinguals(Porter). At this point, there are more internet users in Asia than in North America ("Foreign Language a Must for High School Graduation"). The global economy is diversifying and if the U.S. expects to dominate the market we must follow the trend of our competition. In countries like Japan knowing two languages is the standard("Make Foreign Language a High School Requirement"). How can we expect to compete with Japan if their workers have a big advantage over U.S. workers in knowing multiple languages. In terms of foreign language, the U.S. is lagging behind its competition and to keep up we need to follow the trend of requiring a foreign language.

Language is a key part of any family, community, culture and the human race. Without language the world today would be much different. From cavemen, to the Egyptian use of hieroglyphics, to Old English, to more than 6,500 languages spoken around the world today, the advances that humans have made in language is remarkable and inspiring. The ability to speak, read, write and understand more than one language is also remarkable and expands the liberties in life, especially for young people. High school students should be required to take at least two years of a foreign language class in order to graduate, as many recent studies support the benefits of doing so. Students who have learned a foreign language in high school have proven to have a

Globalization has been a hot topic for a while now, and its effects are real. According to Joseph Lo Bianco, a graduate from the School of Education, “foreign language education is deeply affected by globalization” (312). Globalization is increasing at a rapid pace, and more people are now enrolling in foreign language classes. Why does this pattern exist? Job security. In relation to

Globalization has also contributed to an increasing interest in English-language education worldwide. In response to the emergence of English as a world-linking, global language, an increasing number of schools have stepped up English–language requirements, even at undergraduate levels. The argument is that a universal teaching language is necessary as a natural consequence of globalization.