FOREIGN LANGUAGE

RESEARCH FINDING:

The  best way to learn a foreign language in school is  to  start 
early and to study it intensively over many years.

COMMENT:

The  percentage of high school students studying foreign language 
declined  from 73 percent in 1915 to 15 percent  in  1979.   Some 
States  and  schools are beginning to emphasize foreign  language 
study.   However,  even with this new emphasis, most students who 
take  a  foreign language study it for 2 years or  less  in  high 
school and do not learn to communicate with it effectively.

Students  are most likely to become fluent in a foreign  language 
if  they  begin  studying it in elementary  school  and  continue 
studying it for 6 to 8 years.   Although older students may learn 
foreign  languages faster than younger ones,  students who  start 
early  are likely to become more proficient and to speak  with  a 
near-native accent.

"Total  immersion"  language study programs in the United  States 
and  Canada that begin instruction in the early grades and  teach 
all subjects in the foreign language have been highly  successful 
in  teaching all students both the language and regular  academic 
subjects.

If  new foreign language requirements are really to improve  stu-
dents'  language  competence,  experience has shown that  schools 
will need to:

   .  find qualified teachers,
   .  set consistent goals,
   .  select appropriate materials, and
   .  continue a coherent program of instruction from
      elementary to junior to senior high school.


Eddy,  P.  A.  (l98l).   "The Effect of Foreign Language Study in 
High  School  on  Verbal Ability as Measured  by  the  Scholastic 
Aptitude Test-Verbal."  Washington,  D.C.:   Final Report of  the 
Center for Applied Linguistics. ERIC Document No. ED l963l2.

Grittner,  F.  M.  (l98l).   "Teaching Issues in Foreign Language 
Education:   Current Status and Future Directions for  Research."  
Madison,  WI:   Department of Public Instruction.   ERIC Document 
No. ED 2037ll.

Hortas,  C.  R. (l984).  "Foreign Languages and Humane Learning."  
In C.  E.  Finn,  D.  Ravitch, and R. T. Fancher, (Eds.), Against 
Mediocrity:   The  Humanities  in America's High  Schools."   New 
York:  Holmes and Meier.


Krashen, S. D., Long, M. A., and Scarella, R. C. (December l979).  
"Age,  Rate,  and Eventual Attainment in Second Language Acquisi-
tion."  TESOL Quarterly, Vol. l3, No. 4, pp. 573-582.

Stern, H. H., and Cummins, J. (l98l).  "Language/Teaching/
Learning  Research:   A Canadian Perspective on Status and Direc-
tions."  In J.  K. Phillips (Ed.), Action for the '80's:  A Poli-
tical,  Professional,  and  Public Program for  Foreign  Language 
Education.  Skokie, IL:  National Textbook Co.