Second Language Instruction
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A survey of current educational literature provides a sound rationale for second language instruction, particularly if such learning begins early enough. Most students in the United States study a second language in secondary school; therefore, the issue is really the age at which a student begins foreign language study to best advantage. For the past four decades, educational researchers have stressed the value of teaching a second language in elementary school. Because results were mixed, elementary language programs gradually began to disappear in the same amount of time. Although the FLES, or Foreign Language in the Elementary School, movement of the fifties and sixties has had varying degrees of success in the United States, it remains more of a goal than a reality. Before schools are willing to commit time and resources to second language study at the elementary level, it will be necessary to update the benefits of early language instruction. It will also be necessary to look at some theoretical methods of instruction from a current perspective. As Curtain and Pesola (1988) state in the introduction to their Languages and Children: Making the Match, "the emerging body of information about research and classroom practice encourages a reexamination of the assumption and rationale associated with foreign languages in the elementary and middle school" (p. xiii). Current literature on elementary second language programs tends to focus on the "how" we should teach a
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four to six years of language study will be fulfilled. The earlier (after the ages of eight to ten) that a student completes the four to six years of study, the better, since competitive interests outside the classroom will increasingly become a factor.
There are benefits to second language study that become more evident after public education. Curtain and Pesola (1988) use a College Board study (1983) to credit foreign language study with helping to prepare students for careers in commerce, international relations, law, science, and the arts. The report called the development and maintenance of foreign language skills a national resource (p. 6).
How can we explain the fact that FLES goals have not been attained? Since the heyday of FLES efforts in the 1960s, there has not been steady support for elementary second language programs. The disillusionment in elementary foreign language instruction over the years was not because of a misapplication of educational theory, but rather to a misapplication of teaching. In the 1960s, it was not uncommon for teachers to spend as few as twenty minutes a day on second language instruction. Even this time was spent sporadically. More time would be spent on "more important" subjects tau
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Approximate Word count = 2022
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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