How many Americans struggled in middle and high school trying to learn a foreign language? Learning verb conjugation charts and tricky grammatical rules only to remember the most basic phrases years later. The cycle of American teens struggling to learn a foreign language just to forget what they learned once they graduate high school hurts not only the students but also all of America. However, many Americans aren’t even introduced to foreign language learning at all. As of 2017, only 20% of American students studied a foreign language in K-12 schools, yet in 2016, Europe’s median percentage of students studying a foreign language was 92%. America’s K-12 foreign language programs straggle behind the rest of the world, and America’s students deserve better.
The benefits of foreign language education are vast: higher test scores across all subjects, the ability to think more creatively, increased job opportunities, and greater cultural understanding. However, these benefits aren’t available to American students until the United States starts implementing foreign language programs earlier. A study by MIT found that students need to start studying a foreign language by the age of ten to reach a native speaker’s proficiency level, but more secondary schools than elementary schools in America offer foreign language courses. If the United States wants to rectify the discrepancy in its foreign language proficiency and improve foreign language education, American schools need to create dual language learning programs starting at elementary school level.
Works Used
https://www.amacad.org/news/foreign-language-classes-becoming-more-scarce
Most European students are learning a foreign language in school while Americans lag
https://news.mit.edu/2018/cognitive-scientists-define-critical-period-learning-language-0501
1). Comment on the title. How does it offer a way forward on the issue? Does it hint at or echo the paper’s thesis? Make suggestions.
– No title. I would suggest a title that mentions both the discrepancies in foreign language classes and the benefits of them.
2). Does this piece’s title and introduction respond to an exigence?-Does it make the issue pressing or connect to other pressing needs and issues? Make suggestions.
– I think it’s an interesting topic that is not talked about enough. I hadn’t really heard of any issues before I started reading your civic issues blogs, so I definitely think it does respond to an exigence. You did well of establishing why this is an issue.
3). Comment on the thesis. Does it set up a clear argumentative claim? Is it advancing a specific policy or practice? Can you imagine how the rest of the argument will unfold?
– Yes, the thesis set up a clear argumentative claim that argues in favor of foreign languages in schools.