2004-4-21
This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education
Report.
It seems more and more Americans want schools to teach foreign
languages to children younger than five years old. The most popular
way to teach these young children another language is called
immersion.
Children in immersion programs hear only the new language in the
classroom. The children play games, sing songs and talk to one
another in the new language. Some experts say immersion programs are
the most effective way for young children to learn a language.
But there can be a problem when children in the United States
begin to learn another language at such an early age. Not many
elementary schools continue the effort as the children get older.
Only seven of the fifty states require schools to teach a foreign
language to students between the ages of six and twelve. Language
experts say it is easier for younger children to learn a language.
Still, American schools generally do not begin to teach foreign
languages until secondary school. By then, students are about
thirteen years old.
American schools face difficult choices about the cost of
educational programs. The federal government has increased support
for foreign language study in its education law called No Child Left
Behind.
At the college level, the Modern Language Association says more
students than ever are studying foreign languages. The group
recently announced its findings for the period from
nineteen-ninety-eight until two-thousand-two. The number of students
who studied foreign languages in American colleges and universities
increased by seventeen percent.
Spanish is the most widely taught language in American colleges
and universities. Other popular languages include French, German,
Japanese, Chinese and Italian. The Modern Language Association says
more languages are being studied now than in the past. It says the
largest growth since nineteen-ninety-eight has been in the study of
American Sign Language, Arabic and biblical Hebrew.
The association says about nine percent of college students in
the United States study foreign languages. That is the highest level
since nineteen-seventy-two.
This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy
Steinbach. This is Steve Ember.