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Essay / Foreign Language Teaching in American Elementary Schools
The promotion of foreign language teaching in American elementary schools is essential to the learning process, cultural awareness and the future of the child on the labor market. Although they are rare, some elementary schools in the United States incorporate foreign language classes into their curriculum. This is more common in border regions of other countries and in relation to the spoken language, as French is taught most often along the Canadian border and Spanish along the Mexican border. The process of learning another language is beneficial to the learning process of all subjects because the methods used combine the teaching procedures present in each class. The broad learning ability gained from learning a foreign language and the ability to converse with other people also helps people in their careers, making them suitable for any profession. Special schools were created to promote a multicultural learning environment, such as charter schools and bilingual schools. Students who attend these specialized schools are exposed to different lifestyles from a young age, best for absorbing new information and living successfully in two opposing cultures. Teaching foreign languages in primary school is necessary because the years a child spends in primary school are the periods when children are most likely to assimilate new information. The benefits of learning a second language are vast and measurable in many ways. As Lynn Redmond, executive secretary of the National Network for Early Language Learning and director of foreign languages and associate professor of education at Wake Forest University, says: “Children should begin learning a foreign language in kindergarten and continue to high school... .... middle of paper ......l. Np, and Web. November 18, 2011. .Boren. Np, and Web. November 18, 2011. “Teaching foreign languages. » Encyclopedia of Education. Ed. James W. Guthrie. 2nd ed. Flight. 3. Np: MacMillan Reference USA, 2003. 893-899. Print.Jackson, Whitney. “No language: Americans lack multilingual advantage.” » Medill Reports. Np, December 9, 2008. Web. December 15, 2011. .Piper, Karin. "Education 101: What is a charter school?" » Editorial. Examiner.com. Np, and Web. July 15, 2009. Walker, Cheryl. “Study of foreign languages in primary school.” Wake Forest University Press Releases. Wake Forest University, June 26, 2004. Web. November 18. 2011. .