Thinking Beyond English in the Classroom
Fairfax Commits to Study Of Foreign Languages

Sunday, November 26, 2006

"Doesn't everyone everywhere speak English?"

"I took four years of high school French and couldn't understand anything when I got to Paris."

"How can we teach a foreign language to young kids when they are just learning their own language?"

For years, many Americans have dismissed foreign language study as useless, futile or even harmful.

Why, then, has the Fairfax County School Board decided that one of its major goals is that eventually every graduate will be competent in a foreign language?

First, board members looked around America and the rest of the world. They saw that many, if not most, developed countries required students to learn at least one foreign language. They saw that when these countries' diplomats, journalists, salespeople and soldiers are in a country that speaks a different language, they are much more likely to know something about that language than are Americans. This is particularly apparent in the Washington area, where so many diplomats, journalists, salespeople and soldiers are based. Washington, with its inherent resources, is able to support almost any language.

Second, the board saw that other countries were ensuring second-language competence by teaching languages to very young children and continuing foreign-language instruction throughout the students' schooling. The best

language-learning period is before puberty.

So, the board decided to move toward foreign-language competence for all students and to start instruction in early elementary school.

What language? Knowing any foreign language is better than not learning one, but individual schools and students have particular reasons for choosing one language over another. Each elementary school will work with its community to determine what language(s) to offer, and middle and high schools will continue to offer choices. We are already offering nationally critical languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean and Russian. With the help of federal grants, we are expanding offerings and creating closed-circuit

remote-learning opportunities in Chinese and Arabic.

One of the challenges is to find qualified teachers in these languages and to enroll enough students to fill classrooms in some schools. So we can no longer rely on traditional methods of delivering instruction. Remote learning appears to offer an efficient, cost-effective alternative.

This change will not be instantaneous.

Fairfax County has for years had partial-immersion programs for foreign languages in several elementary schools, but the model that eventually will be in every one of our elementary schools features language teachers who work with regular teachers to integrate foreign-language instruction into lessons in other subjects. Students will not suffer in reading, math, science or social studies. Instead they will learn to talk about these subjects in the foreign language they are studying. In any case, research indicates that students who learn a foreign language develop all academic skills better and perform better on standardized tests.

It is time to view language as a necessary tool in today's job market -- not simply a check-off requirement for college admissions.

And it's not just about jobs. Really understanding a nation's culture means learning its language. Being able to think in another language helps a person understand that a translation is not the same as the original. Respect for and knowledge of diverse cultures around the globe are essential life skills.

Increased language proficiency will make us safer as a nation. We put our country at risk when we depend solely on the services of interpreters and translators. We need to teach a broad range of languages that will make this generation of students full participants in the global society and give them the skills necessary to communicate and protect our national interests.

-- Jack D. Dale

Fairfax

The writer is Fairfax County Public Schools superintendent. His e-mail addr ess isjack.dale@fcps.edu.