|
|
|
Foreign
Language Facts:
Why Learn a Foreign Language?
Foreign Language
Education
|
A National
Imperative
|
*
|
| "Language and
communication are at the heart of the
human experience. The United States must educate students who are
equipped linguistically and culturally to communicate successfully in a
pluralistic society and abroad." (National
Standards in Foreign
Language Education Project, 1999, p. 7.) |
*
|
Foreign Language
Learning
|
Benefits
|
*
|
| "Students with four
or
more years
of foreign language study scored higher on the verbal section of the
SAT." (College
Bound Seniors: The 1992 Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers
-- The College Board) |
*
|
| "Research has shown
that math and verbal SAT scores
climb
higher
with each additional year of foreign language study, which means that
the
longer you study a foreign language, the stronger your skills become to
succeed in school. Studying a foreign language can improve your
analytic
and interpretive capacities. And three years of language study on your
record will catch the eye of anyone reading your job or college
application." (Association
of Departments of Foreign Language [ADFL]) |
*
|
| "Students of foreign
languages may have better career opportunities [...]." ("Why,
How, and When Should Children Learn a Second Language," ERIC/CLL News Bulletin 27
[Fall/Winter 2003], p. 1) |
*
|
Researchers at York
University, the Rotman Research Institute, and Dalhousie University
have found that bilinguals show better control at multitasking, storing
and processing information, and offsetting age-related declines in
mental performance. (Washington Post,
June 12, 2004, Page A07)
|
*
|
A study conducted by
neuroscientist Andrea Mechelli at University College, London, claims
that learning a foreign language may develop and improve the ability of
the brain. The study discovered that the grey matter in the left
inferior parietal cortex was larger in bilinguals than in monolinguals.
The study was published in the journal Science (Reuters, October 13, 2004)
|
*
|
|
|
