Why Study Languages? Many people say that they don't plan to work or live abroad, so what good will it be to study something that they won't use?
One of the goals of a liberal arts education is to expand a student's knowledge base, and many students have benefited from language abilities in unexpected ways. Much research has pointed to the academic advantages of sustained study of another language, and recent articles have underscored the reasons it is in our national interest to learn languages other than English. Even though people might not later remember how to conjugate or use the subjunctive, they often remember the cultural aspects of the language or have more empathy for people struggling to learn English.
Below are some excerpts and links for those who are interested in the value of language study.
From the ACTFL Website: Why study a foreign language?
"There is a correlation between high school foreign language study and higher academic performance at the college level."
"Research suggests that language learners develop a more positive attitude toward the target language and/or the speakers of that language."
To read about these and other findings:
http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4524
The following is an excerpt from an editorial reprinted in the Chicago Tribune on July 21, 2008.
To read the entire article go to: www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/dp-op_oppenheimer_0721jul21,0,5814617.story
...Whether it's Spanish or other languages, Americans are way behind the rest of the industrialized world when it comes to mastering other languages. (T)he fact is the percentage of American college students who become proficient in a foreign language is pathetic, compared with that of other countries. According to the U.S. Department of Education, out of every 100 college credits taken by U.S. students in a given semester, only 8.6 are for studying a foreign language. "In sheer numbers, more American college students than ever are studying foreign languages," said Rosemary Feal, executive director of the Modern Language Association, in a phone interview from France. The MLA is a New York-based group of more than 30,000 academics that promotes the study of foreign languages. "But as a percentage of total college enrollments, the number of American students who take foreign languages has decreased since the 1970s." By comparison, a recent survey by Eurobarometer in the 27-country European Union found that 56 percent of Europeans speak at least one language in addition to their mother tongues, up from 53 percent five years ago. In Luxembourg, one of the world's richest countries, 99 percent of the population speaks a second language, while 97 percent of Slovaks and 95 percent of Latvians are proficient in a second tongue. About 28 percent of Europeans speak two foreign languages, up from 26 percent five years ago, the survey found. Feal, of the language association, is optimistic that Americans will reverse the downward trend in foreign-language studies. "Sept. 11, 2001, has created an awareness of the need to know more about the rest of the world, and the best way to know is learning the languages of the world," she said. "And parents are recognizing the cognitive advantages of learning a foreign language early in life. It makes kids literally smarter: Studies show that the bilingual brain learns everything better."... This isn't a question of whether Americans, and especially immigrants, should improve their English-language skills. Of course they should. But, as the Europeans and, increasingly, Asians are showing, there's nothing in the human brain that prevents children from learning a foreign language without being able to excel in their mother tongue.
Oppenheimer is a Latin America correspondent for the Miami Herald. Send e-mail to aoppenheimer@herald.com.
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