This is extremely rough! Still finding research and working on the bibliography but here is a little something to start!
Lily Pershica
Speaking Beyond America:
IMPLEMENTING A NATIONAL WORLD LANGUAGE EDUCATION POLICY AND ELIMINATING ENGLISH-ONLY POLICIES
Introduction
Unlike many countries, the United States does not have a national foreign language education policy in place. The lack of policy is largely due to the fact that not everyone holds the belief that learning a second language is necessary especially with the rise of political conflict with immigration and the idea of patriotism. 1 However, it has been proven that learning a second language is beneficial in many different aspects. Cognitively, being bilingual creates positive changes in neurological processes and structures. Being able to speak more than one language activates different parts of the brain and increases functionality of those areas. Knowing a second language also improves one’s ability to learn as they are able to process information the quicker and easier rate. Lastly, knowing a second language can protect someone from age related disease, keeping their brain functioning at a high-level longer than someone who is monolingual. 2 In addition to the cognitive benefits, there are also the obvious social benefits of knowing more than one language: being able to communicate with more people, experience more cultures, and more job and travel opportunities. 3
The traditional discourse on the United States language policy has been framed in a way to give a either-or-choice to schools between English and world languages. With this way of framing the education, students and schools with a high minority population suffered. This way of teaching language in the United States goes back to the native American boarding schools where English was the forced language of education. Throughout World War I and the early 1920s, English-only policies were implemented for German students. During the 60s and 70s, there was support for the implementation of world languages in schools; but since the 90s English-only policies reversed the progress made and now 28 states have an English-only policy. Only teaching English, not only ignores linguistic resources in minority communities, but also negatively affects the education students receive and their sense of identity. 4
Learning a second language has many benefits and opens up many potential future opportunities for students. The decline in language education and lack of a national policy in the United States will only harm students and the education they will receive. The United States needs to create a national world language policy for K-12, promoting the idea of being bilingual, because world languages are just as important as other key curricular that already have national policies implemented.
Current World Language Education in the United States
Currently in the United States there is a divide in World Language Education. Roughly half of the states welcome the education of world languages, but the other half run on a strict English-only policy. 5 The United States is an outlier when it comes to language education in the world. About 142 countries have a language learning policy, where students start learning a second language as early as grade school. The United States falls in the 41 states that do not have a mandatory policy. 6 A national Education policy does not exist in the United States, it is up to states and schools on how they want to address World language education. Since the 1990s, the number of schools that have been implementing language policies have only decreased. 7 The two United States policies that allow schools to place language requirements are the “Every Student Succeeds Act” and the “Higher Education Act”. These acts, although not directed toward language education, give schools the option to use money to improve language education and give schools the power to create language education requirements. However, why use that money for language learning when the school could also use the money for sports programs or new technology. This is a dilemma that is causing lower language learning opportunities in the United States. Schools are using the funding, the only funding the state gives for language education, for new technology. 8
Concerns for Future
The Prescence of world language education in schools has been disappearing over the years. This is supported by the fact that roughly 20% of students across the United States at some point in their K-12 education have studied a world language. Only about 7.5% of college students study a second language. 9 This is very concerning because that percentage is the equivalence to the future American global minds; the people who can communicate and understand outside of the United States. What does that say about the future of United States’ political relationships with other countries and corporation growth. Although that is a big concern, another concern is the amount of world language teachers. There is currently a shortage of qualified world language teachers. The Department of Education has come out and said that the student loans of teachers who can teach a world language will be paid off as well as a high salary; that is how desperate the United States is when it comes to world language education. 10
The Challenges of Implementation
Still looking for good research for this, but the bullets below are what seem to be main themes and what I will probably talk about.
- Views on immigration and patriotism
- Teacher shortage
- Is it unconstitutional to force students to learn another language?
- Split between liberal and conservative views
What Students Want
Found a really interesting book at the local library (virtually) about this, picking it up later today!
Moving Forward
Taking Steps Towards a Policy
According to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences “state and federal policy-makers could develop more informed educational and curricular goals for language learning” if they simply collected data. If “data were collected at scheduled intervals, allowing for closer monitoring of total enrollment and the distribution of enrollment among languages and grade levels; and/or collection were standardized across states to provide a greater understanding of the state of language learning across the nation”. Simple data collection could give the government an idea of how many students would be learning what language and how many teachers are qualified to teach those languages. Data would also uncover how much money is needed for the government to provide assistance to language education. If creating a language education policy is as simply as collecting data, why have we not implemented one yet? That is the question that has long been asked and why so many people, students, and educators are frustrated with the United States government.
The Future with a Policy
If a policy were to be implemented, the future would be a lot brighter. Students would be more globally aware and knowledgeable and the United States’ international relations would only be strengthened because of it. (Still finding research)
Conclusion
Students deserve the best education possible and when it comes to world languages, the only way to make sure it is the best is a national policy. As rates related to world language education continue to decrease, the need for a policy increase. There are so many benefits for learning another language and having national support of those benefits would greatly increase the value of education students receive. It is time that America steps into a global mindset and starts speaking beyond America.
Lily, I just want to say that I’m so excited by how this issue brief has turned out so far!
2). Comment on scope of the thesis and whether or not it was convincingly argued. What improvements are needed to make it more convincing?
I like how your thesis is specific enough that it seems really focused while still giving you so much to talk about in your paper. I also really liked how your thesis focused on long-term policies that need to be implemented to address this issue.
3). Comment on the evidence for the policy or its implementation. Does the draft need stronger sources to support the arguments? What kinds?
I think the evidence you have so far is really strong and relevant to your topic. The only other evidence I would suggest is for the areas you already indicated that you’re still researching, especially for the future policy section.
4). Did the piece handle questions of feasibility or objections to the policy?
I think you could touch on the “cons” of this policy a little more that way you can explain how you plan to counter them or why they aren’t as important as the “pros”.
5). Comment on any improvements to arrangement that could be considered.
I think your arrangement is really strong. The only thing I would suggest is possibly moving the “What Students Want” section so that it flows better. Maybe you can put it below the “current world language education” section.
6). Comment on the structure of the issue brief, including subtitles.
I think your subtitles and categories are really deescirptive and specific enough that the piece is well organized and flow in a really natural way.
7). Make one recommendation for something that could be moved, changed, added, or deleted.
I would maybe combining the information from the “what students want section” with another section (like as a concerns for the future and how the policy doesn’t line up with the wants of students) or just move it around so it flows better.
2). Comment on scope of the thesis and whether or not it was convincingly argued. What improvements are needed to make it more convincing?
I think that the scope of your thesis is depicted perfectly throughout your piece. I think that even with the information you have now it is convincingly argued and made to seem urgent. I think that you are definitely getting the point across that the hope for a new language policy being implemented in the US is only dwindling, but I think you could make it even more urgent by maybe finding like a statistic or infograph from this or last year that shows in chart how the need for a policy has to happen now or there is no hope.
3). Comment on the evidence for the policy or its implementation. Does the draft need stronger sources to support the arguments? What kinds?
I think that your sources all seem really strong and reliable. You seem to have done a great bit of research regarding this issue as a whole, and that can be felt when reading your brief. The evidence you have this far for implementing a new policy is great and I think that with more of your research, it will only get better.
4). Did the piece handle questions of feasibility or objections to the policy?
I think that you did a pretty good job at handling questions of feasibility. I think an overarching question some people would have would simply be why does there need to be a language policy in the US that makes students take a second language. With that in mind, I think you do a great job of shutting that question down in your opening statements about all of the benefits that come with being bilingual or even just knowing more information about a second language. You also say, “However, why use that money for language learning when the school could also use the money for sports programs or new technology”, which I think was a valid question to bring up because there would be people who would ask this. Your remarks following this question were great and show that the little money schools have for this department is going to technology which nowadays most schools already have.
5). Comment on any improvements to arrangement that could be considered.
I think that your arrangement looks really great. The whole draft was super easy to read and follow along with. I never once had to go bak and reread something because it was out of place or did not make sense. I think that there is a great flow from the history portion in the beginning of the piece, to how this department is currently suffering, and then you are going to move into “What Students Want” and “Moving Forward”. I think your arrangement is great and there needs to be no changes.
6). Comment on the structure of the issue brief, including subtitles.
As mentioned in the above question, the structure is great. It has a great overall flow and makes logical sense. You are able to speak about the history, then move towards present day, and are going to finish with a moving forward attitude which is great. Again, like I mentioned in the above question, the subtitles really speak for themselves and allow the reader to see this sorta of movement that will bring them to your proposed policy at the end of the piece. Overall, the structure looks really good!
7). Make one recommendation for something that could be moved, changed, added, or deleted.
I know that this is a draft and you may already have an infograph in mind, but the one section that is all in blue, under Concerns for the Future, would look great with an infograph. I think that if you were to put a visual that highlights the key numbers you mention in the beginning of the section will show the readers just how small of a percentage of students are really learning another language.
I think that this draft looks really really good Lily! I think you are heading down a great path and seem to know exactly what you want to do with this piece! Keep up the great work and I cannot wait to read your brief once it is completed!!