Morin 1 Lucien Morin Professor Megan Keeton English 112-12 3April 2013

Dillon, Sam. Foreign Languages Fade in Class Except Chinese. The New York Times. January 20th, 2010. 19 March 2013. Web. The article talks about how foreign language is fading in schools but recently the Chinese government has been sending teachers from China to schools all over the world. Dillon says that by rough calculations based on the governments survey suggest that perhaps 1,600 American public and private schools are teaching Chinese, up from 300 or so a decade ago, and the numbers are growing. He later says though that other languages, according to a survey, are dropping and the thousands of schools that offered French, German or Russian have stopped teaching those languages too. The survey also confirmed that Spanish was taught almost universally. He goes on to say that the survey, 88 percent of elementary schools and 93 percent of middle and high schools with language programs offered Spanish in 2008. Sam Dillon makes an interesting point in his article. It is no surprise to people that the United States has stopped teaching foreign languages but as of 2010 the Chinese Government has been sending teachers over all around the world. This shows that the Chinese want its partner country to know its language to help better trade and later business transactions. For the schools here in the United States, it shows that they can rekindle the dying flame of foreign language education and the Chinese programs are helping it kick start the rekindling. Though Dillon does not directly state it in his article, one can imagine that this will interest other countries and perhaps they will start

Morin 1 doing the same thing as the Chinese government and soon foreign language could be taught to its fullest in all schools once again. Dillon defiantly makes a few good points that help support the topic off foreign language but he does not bring up a rebuttal against points that could be used to argue against his topic. Also it feels as though he isnt exactly reporting the information correctly. He says that teachers have been sent to schools all over the world to teach Chinese but I never heard anything about that. Maybe it was meant as only like a select few schools were selected to participate in that program. I found this article worthy of helping support foreign language education but it defiantly lacks information to be used as rebuttals and does not seem to be reported correctly as it was being written. Never the less I will be able to use the helpful information in the article. At a time of tight budgets, many American schools are finding that offer too good to refuse. Thousands of public schools stopped teaching foreign languages in the last decade, according to a government-financed survey-dismal news for a nation that needs more linguists to conduct its global business and diplomacy. The overall decline in language instruction was mostly due to its abrupt decline in public elementary and middle schools; the number of private schools and public high schools offering at least one language remained stable from 1997 to 2008.

Schneider, Elke and Ganschow, Leonore. Assisting Students with Foreign Language Learning Difficulties in School. ldonline.org. 2006. March 21st, 2013. Web.

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Schneider and Ganschow start out the article by saying that most schools today often require students to study a foreign language for graduation. But they say that students with moderate to severe difficulties with English may find the completion of a foreign language requirement seemingly impossible. According to Schneider and Ganschow, students who appear to have the most difficulty are those who have experienced moderate to severe reading and spelling difficulties in their native language in their early schooling and now are required to study another language in school. The whole article goes on the list the various problems that occur with these students, such as dyslexia, and how foreign language learning can be made easier for them, such as needing more intensive instruction than that is provided in the general foreign language classroom. The article provides very clear understanding of a problem that most people would be unaware of. Schneider and Ganschow make numerous points in their article about these problems students face when learning a foreign language and they even go into how to assist these students so they arent left there to struggle. It is an interesting article but it seems a bit lacking. Though they identify the kinds of students who would have difficulties and how to treat their problems, they do not make a clear connection to what the other side has to argue against it. Also schools in general that arent colleges dont offer any foreign languages other than Spanish. This article is helpful with understanding why some students struggle with learning a new language but the writers do not make it clear what side of the topic they are on. The information doesnt point in either direction so it may be a safe assumption that perhaps they are neutral on the subject. The information though can be used as a sort of support beam for both sides to level them equally but defiantly not helpful for a tie breaker,

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Prior to the 1970s, primarily college-bound students studied foreign languages in our schools in most states. Today, however, the study of another language in school is often a requirement for high school graduation, and an increasing number of colleges and universities require a minimum of two years of a foreign language prior to graduation.

Students who appear to have the most difficulty are those who have experienced moderate to severe reading and spelling difficulties in their native language in their early schooling and now are required to study another language in school.

Students who had problems with the syntactic component of the native language may have experienced problems with subject-verb agreement and use of plurals, possessives, and parts of speech in the native language.

Hogue, Adam. Why Cutting Foreign Language Classes in Schools Would Hurt Future Generations of Americans. Policymic.com. September 2013. March, 27th, 2013. Web. Hogue starts out his article by saying that while living in a foreign country while teaching a foreign language has put some thing in perspective him. He continues on this by saying it does not feel right for him to teach a foreign language without trying to learn the native language. While in the beginning he seems to focus on himself, he goes into say that cutting foreign language opportunities in school and downplaying the importance of proficiency in a foreign language greatly diminishes Americas ability to operate in the modern, fast-paced, globalized world. At the end Hogue says that it is up to the millennial generation to place foreign language as the centerpiece of American education in the 21st century.

Morin 1 Though short Hogues article may be, he brings many points about why keeping foreign language in schools is important and not just for the students sake. He makes a major point at the end of the article by saying that if schools were to make the change and bring back foreign language education, then it will change other countries perception of America and make America a better place to conduct business and study. It makes one wonder if in fact this is true and it is a very good and plausible idea and should be agreed on. Its no lie that there are some countries that refuse to do business with the United States because they find Americans not worth their time. If schools were to reopen foreign language education then Hogues statement about other countries taking interest in us will be true. But Hogue says that by keeping foreign language in schools, those countries that refuse to do business with the United States will be interested and more willing to conduct business with them. According to Hogue, foreign language learning is vital for being a part of global community. Learning a second language is said to help to increase cognitive skills and ultimately test scores; characteristics that are needed to be boosted in the United States. I found Hogues article strong for being supportive but like Dillons article, he failed to mention any statements or points the other side has said or could say. He had enough material for rebuttals but no information for the other side. His article will also be able to provide enough to help with the supporting side.

Cutting foreign language opportunities in school and downplaying the importance of proficiency in a foreign language greatly diminishes Americas ability to operate in the modern, fast-paced, globalized world.

Morin 1 It is up to the millennial generation to place foreign language as the centerpiece of American education in the 21st century. Making that change will change other countries perception of America and make America a better place to conduct business and study.

Pullum, Geoffrey. How to Argue got Foreign Langue Instruction The Chronicle of Higher Education. February 22nd, 2012. April 2nd, 2013. Web. In Pullums article, he talks about how former Harvard president, Larry Summers, questioned the economic and political arguments for teaching foreign languages in universities. Pullum agrees with Summers by saying that you cant prepare yourself for a future career in diplomacy or marketing by equipping yourself in advance with a random language, because you have no idea where youll be sent. Pullum states that he hates to argue against this but he brings up another point by saying he spent years studying French in high school and subsequently, he knows thousands of French words, but he couldnt cite a single one that has given him any particular insight into French culture or brought him a new idea. Pullum visits both sides of the argument in a way. He brings up points on about why foreign language isnt worth being taught in schools but he also points out that the side that is for it lacks convincing and if they hope to win, they need to improve their arguments. Though he doesnt bring up very much on what the other side has argued and that costs him a bit of influence people would have by reading his article. I felt this article provided a good amount of information that could be used to argue against the sources that are for foreign language in schools. He also criticizes how the supporting

Morin 1 side rebuttals and argues against his side but the article will help argue against the other sources at the same time allow the other side to have a strong rebuttal. You cant prepare yourself for a future career in diplomacy or marketing by equipping yourself in advance with a random language, because you have no idea where youll be sent. And as a general linguist, I am of course aware of the intellect value of the insights into language structure you get from attempting to acquire another tongue. All Im saying is that to defend foreign-language classes against budget-cutting, well need more serious arguments than vague gesturing toward globalization and wispy talk about the wonder of words.

Brisk, Mara Estela & Harrington, Margaret M. Literacy and Bilingualism: A Handbook for ALL Teachers Mahwah, New Jersey. Lawrence Erlbaum Associate, Inc., Publishers. 2000. Print. Brisk and Harringtons handbook helps enable teachers to understand the linguistic, cultural, and social issues facing language minority students. They say that bilinguals need three types of knowledge to become literate in a particular language. They need the language, especially the written form of the language, literacy and have prior knowledge of the topic. In their preface, Brisk and Harrington say that the rise of immigrant students in the United States and, indeed, in most countries, along with the concern for foreign language education throughout the world, requires appropriate tools for teaching literacy. Through out the handbook are

Morin 1 numerous teaching methods to help with students learning another language so they dont feel stressed out. With Brisk and Harringtons backgrounds, its obvious that they are both for foreign language in schools and while they may have mentioned what the other side has argued in other works of theirs, they failed to at least mention it in the handbook. Yes the handbook is teaching methods but they do say in the beginning pages about why people need to know a new language but there werent any signs of what someone might say to argue against it. I really found this handbook helpful because both authors support my topic but they dont do a very good job of mentioning anything that could be used to argue against them and that hurts their creditability in my viewpoint. Sure Ill be able to use it to help with the supporting side but it would have been nice to have at least mentioned counter agreements theyve gotten from it. Teaching literacy to bilingual students requires an understanding of such individuals and the many variables that will affect their performance. Pg. 1 There are many reasons why students become bilingual. Immigrant children need to learn the new countrys language. Deaf children learn English as a second language when they start to read and write. English-speakers learn other languages in school or as sojourners in foreign countries. Some children are raised speaking more than one language. Pg. 3 Knowing a language means mastering the structure of the text given the genre; using words and idiomatic words correctly; applying the rules of grammar to long text, sentences, and words; and using appropriate sound-letter correspondence and orthography. Pg. 7

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