Importance of Teaching Foreign Language

Several specific instructional team teaching approaches are described and delineated. Further, the paper addresses some of the requirements and needs associated with the use of team teaching for foreign language learning at the elementary and middle school level.

Foreign Language Learning at the Elementary and Middle School

There are several reasons to offer foreign language learning to elementary and middle level students; this because foreign language learning offers middle and elementary school level students not only the opportunity to learn another language but several additional benefits. One such benefit, according to Stones (1991) is that, if offered in a proper instructional format, foreign language learning can help students understand others' culture. What makes this benefit especially important is the fact that learning about another culture is an especially important goal of multicultural instruction which is one of the primary philosophical and curricular foundations of the contemporary American educational system.

Regarding the proper instructional format, Stones (1991) states that a particularly effective instructional method for teaching a foreign language to elementary level

. . .
ive program for foreign language learning is the Foreign Language Arts in the Grades or FLAG program. This program was designed with concept development as a primary goal. According to Benya and Myer (1983) concept development can be roughly defined as the process of generalizing or creating abstract categories. In the foreign language learning context, the teacher helps this generalization process through carefully constructed questions in the native language, leading the children through a discovery process. This inquiry/discovery process relates both to the language structures being learned by the students and to other concepts being developed in other subject areas. Curriculum planning in FLAG involves decisions in seven areas. These areas include: selection of concepts, long-term goals for concepts and language proficiency, relationships of concepts to children's world, development of minimal objectives for language proficiency and concept development, utilization of resources and materials, evaluation techniques, and sequencing and articulation. Further, it is noted by Benya and Myer (1983) that maximal program success has been associated with the team teaching approach. Specifically, the authors report that a team ef
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2414
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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