When my husband and I joined the Iowa City community in 2009, we
brought a 3-year-old and a 4-month-old baby with us. Because we had come
to the city because I was hired at the University of Iowa as an
assistant professor of foreign language and ESL education, I naturally
was interested in finding out quickly about the opportunities for young
children to learn foreign (also called world) languages.
I am
writing to give English-speaking parents like us hope that great
opportunities abound in our community for young children to learn
non-English languages. I’m happy to report that, this very morning, my
husband dropped off our daughter at her before-school Spanish lesson at
Longfellow Elementary in Iowa City. On car rides around the city, I get
to be quizzed (a nice turn of the tables) on the new words that she has
learned.
As a part of my job, I have worked with a team to
research early foreign language programs in the area (you can see the
results of our efforts at
www.education.uiowa.edu/teach/flesled/early-fl/).
It is amazing how many extracurricular programs are available to teach
young children language in Iowa City and surrounding areas. From
parent-initiated programs like the one at Longfellow to the University
of Iowa Confucius Institute’s Sunday Chinese classes for families,
parents who wish to have their children learn a foreign language have
many choices.
Schools also are beginning to establish (or to
re-establish) early foreign language programs as a part of the daily
curriculum, including a successful Spanish program at Willowwind School
in Iowa City, a new (as of 2011-2012) elementary Spanish program in the
Cedar Rapids Public Schools, and Chinese and Spanish instruction in the
Mid-Prairie School District.
Iowa City public schools begin
students’ exposure to foreign languages as a part of the curriculum at
the junior high level. Though I certainly wish it began as a part of the
formal curriculum much earlier, I have nothing but praise for the
hardworking and innovative French, German and Spanish instructors who
teach in the junior highs and high schools in the district. I hope that
the district will continue to support their programs and allow them to
grow in the future.
Starting to study a foreign language at an
early age in a strong program designed to develop bilingualism has been
shown to enhance basic skills in reading and math, as measured on
standardized tests. Notably, this enhancement occurs for all students
who take foreign language classes, regardless of their backgrounds.
Research also shows that students who learn foreign languages at a
younger age improve in their communication skills, creativity and
self-concept.
As a language educator, however, I have to emphasize
that the best outcome of learning a foreign language at an early age is
the greater likelihood of actually becoming able to produce and
understand the language later in life. This leads to societal and career
benefits, to an opening up of doors that can simply not be opened
without knowledge of the language. International connections and
relationships can flourish, and more challenging and rewarding jobs can
be obtained.
My personal belief is that many people in American
communities are both too hard and too easy on themselves about learning
foreign languages. We’re too hard on ourselves because we think that we
should be fluent from our two years of high school and two years of
college study. We are too easy on ourselves because, since that hasn’t
happened, we have decided that it is clearly OK to give up and maybe
even to claim that languages can’t be learned in the classroom.
The
fact is, learning a language requires a continuous and sustained
devotion of time, effort and energy. Why not give our youngest children a
chance to start this process of learning a foreign language as early as
possible? In Iowa City, there are lots of ways to do this — and for
that, I am grateful.
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