Newton North High School

The Future of Language

How Language Immersion Can Improve Secondary Language Acquisition in American

Public Schools

Isabelle Elgart
 Introduction

With secondary language acquisition, people educated in the United states lag

behind people educated in Asia (including the Middle East, Central Asia, South and

East Asia), Europe, and Latin America. In order to approach the monolinguistic

epidemic in the United States, it is important to know what the root causes of the issue

are.

The Societal Status Quo & Stigma

According to Marty Abbott, former executive director of the American Council on

the Teaching of Foreign Languages, “We [Americans] have never had a compelling

reason to interact with the rest of the world, we have been isolated geographically, and

haven’t had that urgency [to learn other languages] that Europeans have had.”

According to the interviews I conducted with the head of the language department at

Newton North, along with faculty from the ​Barbieri Elementary School and the Waltham

Dual Language School​, they all agree that the cultural and social traditions of the United

States discourage multilingualism. In European countries, there is a higher regard, even

a need, for multilingualism, as it is seen as an expectation--and is taken extremely

seriously. This is partly rooted in the fact that most European languages are only

spoken by a small amount of people within said country. Turkish for example, is mostly

spoken in Turkey and Azerbaijan. For a Turk who wishes to branch out to the outside

world, knowing English is a requirement because the vast majority of people in China,

Kenya, and Mexico don’t know Turkish. If a Turkish businessman wants to work with

people in other countries, knowing multiple languages is a necessity. As of now, the

common lingua franca (business or trade language) of the world is English. When a

Businessman in Tokyo communicates with a businessman in Hebron, they will most

likely have communicate in English. Because of this, people from non-English speaking

countries have more of a cultural expectation to be multilingual if they want to branch

out or succeed in life. Native English speakers on the other hand, such as most people

in the United States, often feel no real reason to learn a language, as it is not a

necessity.

Not Starting Early Enough

Because of a lack of emphasis on the

importance of other languages in the United

States, less money and attention is put into

language programs. In most other countries

in the world, secondary language learning

begins at a much younger age than in the

United States, and is often mandatory. Not

only is the policy centered around language

drastically different in countries outside the

United States, but the culture and general

attitude towards multilingualism is also very

different outside of the United States and

English speaking countries. According to

Pew Research Center, only 20% of K-12 students in America study a second language.

New Jersey, America's state with the highest percentage of students studying a second

language, has 51% of its students enrolled in a foreign language class. Compare this to

the fact that Belgium, the European country that at 64% has the lowest percentage of

students enrolled in a secondary language class, is ​still​ 13% higher than New Jersey.

English As The Dominant Lingua Franca

Critics of secondary language programs often argue that it is unnecessary for

Americans to learn any language other than English--the reasoning being that English is

the largest lingua franca (meaning bridge or trade language) in the modern world.

People who argue this stance often state that it is more convenient to know English for

Science, Politics, interacting with peopl​e in other parts of the world, etc. These people

often feel that there isn’t a strong necessity for native English speakers to put in the

effort of learning another language--since they have won the “linguistic lottery” by

growing up in an English speaking country. People who hold this position are not

inherently against multilingualism, but they often see it as an “optional accessory” rather

than a necessity to connect with people they otherwise would he unable to contact with.

The World Is Changing

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in America

(ACTFL) and the Concordia Language Villages are both language learning associations

which argue that since the world is changing, English will not be the lingua franca of the
future (and that perhaps Americans should put an emphasis on learning Spanish,

Russian, and Mandarin, to name a few). With an increase of immigration from Spanish

speaking countries in Latin America (due to political instability and military conflicts

across Central and South American countries such as Venezuela, Hondurus, etc.) there

is more and more of a reason for monolingual Americans to pay attention to

multilingualism. Because of this demographic change, Spanish is likely to integrate itself

into more American systems and into society and culture. Along with immigration

altering language across the planet, many people point to the political and economic

rise of countries across the globe (such as Russia and China) as a reason to emphasize

the importance of being able to interact and economically cooperate with them. Alex

Zietlow from the washington post states that “the wide disparity between the European

or Chinese approach to languages and the U.S. approach suggests that we, as a

nation, are lagging in the development of a critical 21st century skill”; the report also

said “that we risk being left out of any conversation that does not take place in English.”

Whether the linguistic demographics of America change over time, or the global power

shifts away from the United States to a non-English speaking country, it would greatly

behoove the American people to be prepared to interact and navigate throughout a

world that isn’t centered around English or America.

 The Scientific Approach

For people who are less politically inclined, there are still myriad reasons to

advocate for multilingualism. Organizations such as American Councils For International

Education, along with Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Linguistics, and Women's

Studies at University of California, Judith Kroll, emphasize the cognitive benefits of

bilingualism. Studies show that dual language immersion is linked with academic

success. Students enrolled in dual language learning showed to be a year ahead of

monolingual students with reading English. In Kroll’s book ​Human Behavior in Military

Contexts,​ she expands in detail the psychological importance of bilingualism: “Children

have a much easier time learning second languages than adults.”

“...Crucially the cognitive control that is developed in response to bilingualism appears to

confer benefits in the realm of executive function. Young bilingual children are superior to their

monolingual counterparts on non-linguistic tasks that specifically reflect the ability to ignore

irrelevant information. Notably, bilingual children are not Superior to monolingual children on all

tasks only those that appear to require the resolution of conflict across competing

alternatives…”

Research shows that bilingual people are not able to "turn off" or switch into another

language--the two languages which they speak are not independent from one another in

the person's brain. Kroll discusses how learning a new language affects one’s native

language. Bilingual children outperform monolingual children in tasks that involve

ignoring irrelevant information. For example, when students were given word math

problems, bilingual students were better at putting aside unnecessary information than

monolingual students.
 Dual Language Schools

Though many Americans may be unaware of it (such as myself before I started

researching this topic), there are many dual language immersion schools throughout the

United States, including right here in Massachusetts. I had the opportunity to interview

staff affiliated with two different dual language schools nearby. Both of the schools,

Barbieri Elementary School in Framingham, MA and the Waltham Dual Language

School are dual Spanish and English schools. This differs from the more standard

model of public school language education. In most American public schools, students

would spend one hour every school day in a foreign language class, mostly learning

grammar and vocabulary. Dual language schools, on the other hand, are wholly

different enterprises. At both of the dual language schools, students are exposed to a

secondary language at a much younger age than most American public school students

are, and the language is taught differently. Instead of spending one hour a week

learning Spanish vocabulary, students are immersed in the Spanish language whilst

learning History, Math, Science, etc. As Mary Sprogell, a Reading Specialist at the

Waltham Dual Language school, explained to me, “Being exposed to the language

from a much younger age allows the students to have a more authentic accent and

fluidity with the language.” The way the dual language model works is by having 50% of

the day taught in Spanish, and 50% of the day taught in English. For example, Social

Studies may be taught in Spanish, and Math taught in English, and so on. This gives

students multiple hours of immersion to two languages, every day. By being introduced

to the Spanish language, students are also introduced to various different Spanish
cultures through the literature they read and with the diverse background of both

students and teachers.

Portal

​ old ​spaces equipped

Portals, as described by its owner Shared studios, are ​“g

with immersive audiovisual technology. When you enter a Portal, you come face-to-face

with someone in a distant Portal and can converse live and full-body, as if in the same

room.”

The Portal put myself and many classes at Newton North High School in contact

with people in Gaza, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kenya, etc. This was without a doubt the most

exciting part of my CAPS project experience. The Portal is an indispensable resource

for language learning, but it is also great for, well, doing anything. I created my website

capsglobalperspectives.weebly.com​ and spent time researching for this project for the

past two terms not just to discuss language acquisition, but to promote communication

will people all over the world! The Portal is an incredible resource because it allows

people who otherwise would never meet be able the specific opportunity to

communicate. The Portal can be used to practice language learning, but also to discuss

a variety of different topics with people who may have different viewpoints and life

experiences.

For my Capstone project, we brought the portal to Newton North for a few days

so teachers, classes, students, and administrators could have the opportunity to see the

many applications for themselves! The Portal incorporates itself smoothly into my

project because its focus is on communication and globalism. One of the main

guidelines under the The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in

America is ​“​to provide a framework for the curricular integration of collaboration with

communities beyond the classroom in order to encourage students to appropriately and

effectively engage in global communities both during and after their formal language

instruction.” With the Portal, I have been able to succeed in my underlying goal, which

is to have people connect with one another across culture and find common ground.

The reason I am so passionate about language learning is because language serves as

a bridge between people. My passion for linguistics is rooted in my passion for History

and politics. The Portal puts human faces to locations most Americans will never visit.

During a connection to Nairobi, Kenya, both me and the woman I was connected to
were able to practice our French together through a conversation. The Portal has much

more potential than we got to experiment within the three days it was at the school. In

the future, teachers can plan academic lessons and debate topics to do with people

through the Portal. For example, a Spanish teacher could plan a unit focused on

discussion of a Spanish book or any topic, and bring their class down to have a group

discussion in Spanish with native speakers. Through my research I have found that

using language in action (as opposed to memorizing vocab terms during class time) is

far more effective. If worked with correctly, the Portal has potential to be a

game-changing resource and tool for secondary language acquisition and immersion.

Why Multilingualism Is So Crucial

There are very few (if any) downsides to being multilingual. Even if you are not a

linguist or interested in history, there are countless compelling reasons to learn another

language. Whether you’re a scientist, mathematician, musician, teacher, student, or

whether you’re a waiter or social worker or cashier, there are ways in which being

bilingual or multilingual is an advantage to you. The more languages you know, the

more people and cultures you are able to communicate with. Even if English is a

globally pervasive language, it isn’t spoken everywhere. And even if it was, learning

another language gives you insight about the culture and history that ties along with it.

And, as I mentioned before, English won’t be the dominant force forever. With more

social awareness and emphasis on school systems like the Waltham school and Barberi

school, along with tools like the Portal, this monolinguistic epidemic may become a
problem of the past. All of the different interviews, research, and self-reflecting I’ve done

throughout this research process, the clear solution to monolingualism seems to be

immersion. With tools like the portal, dual language schools, concordia language

school, etc. immersion can be more heavily implemented into American schools,

especially Public schools.

 Bibliography

American Councils For International Education, "Dual Language Immersion Will Change

Achievement in American Public Schools" July 12 2017.

Asia Society, "Language Learning in The United States, How We're Doing", May 2009.

Devlin, Kat, "Learning a Foreign Language a Must in Europe not so in

America", Pew Research, July 13, 2015.

Devlin, Kat, "Most European students are learning a foreign language in school while

Americans lag", Pew Research Center, August 6, 2018.

Kroll, Judith, "Human Behavior in Military Contexts" Adult second language acquisition:

A cognitive science perspective .

Zietlow, Alex, "Foreign Language 'Emergency' Hinders U.S. Economy and Foreign

Policy, Report Warns", The Washington Times Thursday, June 15Th, 2017.