In an increasingly interconnected world, knowing more than one language is not only useful, but essential to success.
The American education system lacks emphasis on the importance of language education. With budget cuts happening nationwide, educators have been forced to reorient teaching away from foreign language and toward subjects that are more prioritized.
Some insist that funding for the arts should be put on the backburner for more practical subjects like math or science, while others insist what’s holding students back is in fact, the education system’s emphasis on math and science. In the midst of the chaotic disputes over what should and shouldn’t be taught in schools, foreign language learning is often neglected.
Providing citizens with the skills and resources to participate in the international community should be America’s first and foremost priority, as the need for well-educated, effective communicators is more profound than ever.
Every year, the national budget, which previously allocated funds for language learning, continues to face major cuts that are resulting in decreases in Title VI and Foreign Language Assistance Program funding. These budget cuts are faced by higher education institutions across the nation and affect programs like business and international education, language centers and international research. These cuts mean less opportunities for students, intellectuals and citizens to immerse themselves in new cultures, thereby inhibiting the global exchange of information, innovations and ideas.
According to a study conducted by the Modern Language Association the number of language enrollments in higher education in the United States. declined by 111,000 spots between 2009 and 2013. This is the first drop in language enrollment since 1995 and could be the beginning of an even graver national trend.
Adding a language to your skill set can enrich your quality of life by increasing potential job opportunities, advancing your ability to communicate and navigate abroad and heightening your overall brain stimulation.
As economies and social structures become more interconnected, employers are looking to hire individuals with knowledge of a second language. Thousands of companies conduct international business, but that wouldn’t be possible without the help of globally-minded employees. The Economist found that individuals fluent in a second language could expect an additional 2 percent pay bonus over their counterparts. That seems low, but a $45,000 yearly salary, combined with a 1 percent real salary increase per year and a 2 percent average real return over 40 years, turns a 2 percent language bonus into an additional $67,000 (2014 value) in your retirement account. With real money in play, it seems absurd not to hone fluency in another language.
When traveling abroad, being bilingual is extremely advantageous because it allows you opportunities to experience the unique culture of a nation. You’re more likely to venture out of your way to try a new restaurant, interact with locals and immerse yourself into a potentially eye-opening travel experience.
We are products of environment; without a nationwide foreign language mandate, students enrolled in primary and secondary schools often lack the opportunity to learn a second language.
In the Baton Rouge community, primary education schools like Westdale Middle School and Baton Rouge Foreign Language Academic Immersion Magnet have acknowledged the need for well-versed pupils. At Westdale, French and Spanish are targeted in its World Language Immersion Magnet Program. With 100 percent social studies, science and language arts instruction in Spanish or French, students have an invaluable opportunity to become fluent in one or more of these languages before the eighth grade.
It wouldn’t necessarily cost more to apply these programs to schools nationwide, claims officials at the California Department of Education. However, many programs have found that additional funding for faculty development and foreign language materials aid student learning. It seems like a small drop in the bucket to fund immersion programs, especially because there are clear cognitive benefits to doing so.
“Compared to monolinguals, the studied bilingual children, who had five to 10 years of bilingual exposure, averaged higher scores in cognitive performance on tests and had greater attention focus, distraction resistance, decision-making, judgment and responsiveness to feedback,” says board-certified neurologist, Judy Willis, citing a 2009 study by psychologist Ellen Bialystok.
Still, despite communities around the country diversifying culturally, Americans are failing to emphasize the importance of bilingualism. By neglecting learning a second language, Americans are forgoing authentic cultural interaction with the 61.8 million U.S. residents that speak a language other than English at home, not to mention the rest of the world that rightly refuses to accommodate to American monolinguals.
Taking the first step to learning a new language is the scariest part, but once you do, you’ll never look back.
Alaina DiLaura is a 20-year-old international studies and mass communication sophomore from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.