The Importance Of Foreign Language

Language is an object that is central to human lives as it is perhaps the most significant cultural tool that separates humans from any other species (Evans, 2014). As language is multimodal, it is often described as a combination of words, sounds, gestures and images created by the mind, used in context with the assistance of objects, actions and interactions (Gee & Hayes, p. 7, 2011). The topics discussed in this essay will demonstrate the importance of language as both an object and as a social process, as a teacher’s approach to diversity in the classroom can be either damaging to a student’s educational experience or uplifting and positive.

In “Why Foreign Language Education Matters” Representative Rush Holt expresses the idea that the average American is generally deprived of what is known as cultural enrichment in their day-to-day lives, even though others believe that English should be the primary and only language Americans should speak. Holt conveys the overall concept that being bilingual, trilingual, or multilingual is a benefit not just for oneself but for our society. Rush Holt presents the argument with extreme concern for our upcoming generations and the consequences it may cause our nation’s economy to decrease in federal funding’s for education programs, as well as our global marketplace and national security who is highly dependent of translators, specialist, and

Nowadays, with such diversity in languages spoken throughout America, it is not uncommon for students to be unable to communicate with fellow classmates. A foreign language should be taught to all students beginning in elementary school throughout the United States. The implementation of foreign language classes in early education is more beneficial than learning a second language as an adult and increases the understanding of nearby culture. In addition, learning a foreign language as a young child produce higher test scores years later, increases cognitive mental development, and creates a marketable, knowledgeable individual in the workforce. Foreign language instruction should begin in elementary school and continue through high school.

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

Why even study a different language than English when there are so many opportunities in the US? Why learn a language that a fraction of Americans know? (RQ) It would be easy to justify taking the easy road when it comes to learning a new language or not. However, there are countless reasons why someone should study a foreign language. As I look around this room, all of us value our academics and future careers. All of us have a drive to be the best person we possibly can be. (Ethos and Repetition) Studying a foreign language brings many benefits that cannot go unnoticed as a catalyst to career opportunities and enhancing academic achievement.

From the years 2009 to 2013, the United States’ number of foreign language enrollment diminished significantly. Voulez-vous apprendre une langue étrangère? In the post 2013 findings, we saw that the U.S. dropped 111,000 spots meaning that only 7 percent of college students are enrolled in a foreign language. Since this is the first drop since 1995, people are in a flurry to find out who is to blame. Being the Head of the student committee charged with recommending how to best update and adapt the University of Oregon’s foreign language departments and courses, it is my job to resolve this problem. With my set of skills I bring to the table there is no doubt we will resolve these problems. After doing some light research about foreign language in the United States I saw some information that states, “the vast majority—95 percent—of all language enrollments were in a European language. This is just one indicator demonstrating the shortcomings and inequalities in language education today.” This data illustrates the need for foreign language in our world more than ever before and is showing us what has happened so far and a peek into the future if we do not stop now. This ultimately leaves me with one question, Should the University of Oregon require all students, regardless of degree to take a foreign language?

Language is the method of combining words to create meaning; it is the discourse between people and communities. Language exists so that one can communicate with another. Just as David Crystal states in his talk on Englishes, “You want to have a language that reflects your local interests, history and things that happen around you. All the things that happen in your language.” (2013) How one communicates with an individual will depend on the circumstance, for example a conversation between colleagues versus a stranger on the street will differ in terms of topic of discussion, body language and tone of voice. How an educator communicates with a student will shape the relationship between the two, as language determines authority or equality. The language and social experiences between a child and their peers or adult figures in their life will also determine how they communicate to another individual. Language and communication skills are imperative for a child’s education as it is the platform for other forms of development. There are many ways language can be taught; it is essential that educators understand these processes, as there are different ways of teaching language. (Grellier, 2014) The first way to look at language is as an object where language illustrates the meaning of subjects with a material form. In relation to the classroom, language in object form is structured and allows children’s language development to be studied further. The second term is language as

Learning a foreign language is becoming more and more popular everywhere in our day and time, and Mexico is not the exception. Many Mexican students, young and old, are motivated to learn English for education, work, travel, or even just for the love of learning a new language. Alejandro Estrada is an English student from Guadalajara, Jalisco. His goal in learning English is to further his education, and thus his quality of life. In this essay, I will create explain Alejandro’s concerns with studying English, and what I can do to help him achieve his language goals.

“The land flourished because it was fed from so many sources-because it was nourished by so many cultures and traditions and peoples” (Johnson). In today’s society, immigration is a controversial topic. Regardless of current views towards immigration, the nation is experiencing a daily influx of immigrants, particularly those with Hispanic heritage. To address this dramatic increase, a new program, The Influential, is effectively working to educate both U.S. citizens and immigrants. Instead of students taking two years of Spanish in high school, students will be mandated to take Spanish in the fifth grade and above. The Influential program focuses primarily on school aged children, affecting change in the mindsets of the nation’s youth that will carry the country into a more culturally aware future.

Language is the means upon which human express themselves. Many linguistic anthropologists and philosophers refer to language as the culmination of the expressive activities of humans such as verbal, physical and paralinguistic actions. It is the common aspect that humans share. Social scientists even refer to language as what makes us “human”. However, the main aspect of language which deems it vital to human being is what Ahearn says as the Socially-charged Life of Language. This means that language lives with it a particular context of a certain culture that is perpetuated by the means of social actions and activities such speaking and using that particular language. Language is a repository of culture and historical richness of its speakers. It, per se, highlights and showcases cultural variety which accents the uniqueness of that particular culture.

The importance of language crucial to every facet and interaction of our daily lives. People use language to learn about the world around us and to inform people how we feel and what we desire. When we learn new languages, our communication skills broaden even more, and we are presented with many new opportunities and experiences. It builds stronger relationships internationally and allows us to better understand other cultures, history, and foreign ideas. Anyone can learn a new language regardless of how old or young you are. On the contrary, losing the fluency you once had in a language has no benefits and can result in losing the ability to have a different perspective and context.

Foreign languages are a must in today's world. There are many needs for a second language to be learned by everyone. The growing need to learn more languages is becoming more apparent in the public world today. In order to fix this problem, the school system needs to teach multiple foreign languages in order to grow as a nation both mentally and culturally.

It was during the 1800s that a decision was taken which had ended up being the turning point for the language in education scenario in India and changed the orientation of language priority in Indian education. The decision was taken to ignore the vernacular medium education and concentrate entirely on English as the single language for instruction (Paranjpe & Prasad, 2010)(Sridhar, 1989). It was made clear that those who had attained education in English would be preferred over the vernacular educated class. English had become the language of higher education and with the establishment of the prestigious universities in the major cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Lahore, Allahabad and Punjab, English had achieved its supremacy (Sridhar, 1989) (Krishnaswamy & Krishnaswamy, 2006). From this point onwards education came to be equated with English education and those who studied in vernacular medium were put permanently in the background (Sridhar, 1989), a mindset prevalent in the mind of Indians even today. Despite the changes which were made in the language policies in the 1900s to make space for vernacular languages in the educational setting did not meet with the expected success (Krishnaswamy & Krishnaswamy, 2006) (Sridhar, 1989). By 1970s and 1980s about one-third of the India had its schools using English as their medium of instruction (Paranjpe & Prasad, 2010). Hence the language in education policy during the colonial era had created two different media of

In the affective filter hypothesis, Krashen (1985) suggests that not only understanding the information being put forth is important, but places significance on the environment in which the information is being received. Krashen saw the student emotional state as an “adjustable filter that freely passes, impedes, or blocks input necessary for acquisition (1985, pg 130). The affective filter controls the amount of input that is received by the learner; the lower the affective filter, the more input and therefore meaningful learning can take place (Liu, 2015).

Your mind is reading this sentence in English because it has been taught how to. As children, we learned the alphabet and the sounds each letter made. Then we learned how to put the sounds together to make words. The words we learned are the language we speak today, which is English. We are taught how to speak, read, and write in English. However, where did the English language come from? Despite the fact that English has become our primary language, Latin was the language English derived from.