1. Why offer Foreign Language in the Elementary School? Foreign Language…

2. Benefits Basic Skills Development  A study of 13,200 third and fifth graders in Louisiana public schools revealed that, regardless of race, gender or academic level, children taking foreign language classes did better on the English section of the Louisiana Basic Skills Test than those who did not. (Dumas 1999)  There’s a high positive correlation between foreign language study and improved reading scores for children of average and below average intelligence. (Garfinkel & Tabor 1991)  Foreign language learners have better listening skills and sharper memories than their monolingual peers. (Lapkin, et al 1990, Ratte 1968)

3. Creates Greater Mental Flexibility  During the early 1900s, theorists proposed that bilingualism produced cognitive deficits because the brain must store two linguistic systems (Erwin-Tripp, 2011; DeGroot, 2011).  In the 1960s, researchers controlled for factors such as age and social class. They discovered that bilingual children actually scored higher than monolinguals on a variety of tasks. In one of the best-known studies, it was found that bilingual children were more advanced in school. They also scored better on tests of first-language skills, and they showed greater mental flexibility (Lambert, 1990; Peal & Lambert, 1962).

4. Creates Higher Tolerance for Ambiguity and Relativity  Bilinguals are more aware that the names assigned to concepts are arbitrary (Cromdal, 1999; De Groot, 2011; Hakuta, 1986). For example, many monolingual children cannot imagine that a cow could just as easily have been assigned the name dog. A number of studies have examined metalinguistics, or knowledge about the form and structure of language.  On many measures of metalinguistic skill—but not all of them—bilinguals out perform monolinguals(Bialystok,1988,1992,2001;Campbell & Sais, 1995; De Groot, 2011; Galambos & Goldin- Meadow, 1990).

5. Creates Higher Cognitive Abilities  Bilinguals excel at paying selective attention to relatively subtle aspects of a language task, while ignoring more obvious linguistic characteristics (Bialystok, 2001,2005,2010;Bialystok&Feng,2009;Bialystok&Viswanathan,2009;DeGroot,2011).  Bialystok and Majumder(1998)gave third-grade children some sentences that were grammatically correct but semantically incorrect (for example, ‘‘Apples grow on noses’’). The bilingual children were more likely than the monolingual children to recognize that the sentence was grammatically correct.  Bialystok (2009) also reported that bilingual individuals perform better on the Stroop Test, a task that requires people to emphasize an item’s color and ignore its meaning.

6. Creates Higher Cognitive Abilities (continued)  Bilingual children are better at following complicated instructions and per-forming tasks where the instructions change from one trial to the next (Bialystok, 2005, 2009; Bialystok & Martin, 2004).  Bialystok and Martin (2004) asked preschoolers to sort some cards that featured either a blue circle, a red circle, a blue square, or a red square. The researchers first instructed them to sort the cards on one dimension (e.g., shape). Later, the researchers instructed them to sort the cards on the other dimension (e.g., color). Bilingual children were much faster than monolingual children in switching to the new dimension.

7. Creates Better problem solving skills  Bilinguals perform better on concept-formation tasks and on tests of non-verbal intelligence that require reorganization of visual patterns (Peal & Lambert,1962).  Bilinguals also score higher on problem-solving tasks that require them to ignore irrelevant information (Bialystok, 2001; Bialystok & Codd, 1997; Bialystok & Majumder, 1998).  Bilingual children are more sensitive to some pragmatic aspects of language (Comeau&Genesee,2001).For example, English-speaking children whose classes are taught in French are more aware than monolinguals that—when you speak to a blind-folded child—you may need to supply additional information (Genesee et al., 1975). Think of Context Clues. SLAers do this on a regular basis.

8. Enhances a Student’s Sense of Achievement  Foreign language study is area where children not accustomed to achievement in school are able to excel. The resulting benefit to self- image, self-esteem and satisfaction with school experience are enormous. Evidence from several studies study show language students to have a significantly higher self-concept than do non-language students. (Masciantonio 1977, Saunders 1998, Andrade, et al. 1989)  Language study is an area in which ELL students can be successful in front of their peers, since bilingual children learn additional languages more quickly and efficiently than monolingual children. (Cummins 1990)

9. Enhances a Student’s Sense of Achievement  Offering foreign language study demonstrates to ELL students and their families that languages other than English - and by extension cultures other than the mainstream - are valued. Research suggests that foreign language study “enhances children’s understanding of how language itself works. It also increases their ability to manipulate language in the service of thinking and problem solving.” (Cummins 1981)

10. Plus a health benefit: Could delay dementia  Bilingual adults who have dementia typically develop signs of dementia later than monolingual adults with dementia (Bialystok, 2009; Bialystok et al., 2007).  As you may know, dementia is an acquired, persistent syndrome of cognitive deficits (Kolb & Whishaw, 2011).  Bialystok and her coauthors (2007) examined the medical history of 184 people at a memory clinic. All of them had a medical diagnosis of dementia. However, the bilinguals had received this diagnosis at the average age of 75.5, in contrast to an average age of 71.4 for the monolinguals. This difference is especially important because the monolingual individuals actually had an average of 1.6 more years of formal education than did the bilingual individuals.

11. Two ways to look at it The Utilitarian View 2030 (17 years from now) Spanish speakers will outnumber English Speakers in the United States? The United States is already the 5th largest Spanish speaking country in the world. Given the birth rate among Latinos and immigration we know that not only is the Spanish language not going to go away but it is also going to grow in its usage. The chip in a world of growing population / technology Can our young people who will go on to be the future business people of this country afford to not cater to this growing group of consumers? The Liberal Arts Perspective A well-rounded education includes Foreign Language. A listing of common liberal arts classes literatureliterature, languages, philosophy, history, mathematics, psychology, and science.languagesphilosophyhistory mathematicspsychologyscience NCLB listed foreign language as a core subject area.

12. What former students have to say about Spanish…

13. Elizabeth Clark There are so many reasons I value foreign language. It's not just about learning a language, it's also about the culture. I've been exposed to foreign language for 7 years now. Not only am I able to communicate with a wider variety of people, I have expanded my horizons beyond my backyard. There is so much more out there that'd foreign languages expose us to. I'm actually planning on spending a month in Guatemala in May. I have always believed that exposing children in elementary school to foreign language would enrich their lives. Not to mention that every other country learns at least two other languages. (Maybe that's why we are so far behind?) I wish I would have been exposed to a foreign language much earlier than 8th grade. It has changed my life for the better.

14. Dannika Nash  I was talking to my mom about this yesterday. Even though Spanish has daily benefits with my understanding of English, I think the most important impact it has had on me is my forever changed perspective of Hispanic culture as dynamic and important and interesting. It has made me some of the best friends I've ever had (Joanna ) and forced me to think about different histories and political systems that I never would have tried to obtain otherwise. Knowing Spanish helped open doors in my mind to giving everyone a chance. In the small picture though, there's really nothing better than intervening in a struggling communication in Hy Vee to see the relief on a woman's face knowing she has been understood. That's what humans want anyway, right? To be understood, to be known? Spanish helps me know.

15. Hannah Houts  Since beginning my study of the Spanish language in the Eighth grade, I have become increasingly aware of the benefits of being fluent in, or having knowledge of a second language. As a college student I am constantly told how great Spanish will look on my resume, but to me Spanish is more than a future job. Spanish is something that I encounter daily. I hear it spoken everywhere on my schools’ campuses and in the St. Joseph/St. Cloud community (and yes, that includes outside of my Spanish classes). I’ve used it regularly in the various jobs I have had and in everyday encounters. For me, Spanish is not an ‘exotic’ language; it is not only encountered on vacations to Mexico or Spain but in our daily lives. It IS a part of our communities and IT is here to stay. It has become absolutely essential to understand not only the Spanish language, but the culture and history of the people who speak it. If we do not begin to learn to understand these things, we risk losing an important sense of community. I know that as I leave college and find a job in ‘the real world’ I will continue to encounter Spanish more and more. Not only in my future career, but in my everyday interactions. Spanish is an inescapable element of my future and the future of my generation.

16. Susan Phan  While it can be argued that teaching students a foreign language early in their academic careers could prove beneficial to the economy, it could also be argued that there would only be a marginal effect, so why else should we support foreign language to be taught in elementary schools? Foreign language introduces a new form of thinking--different from math, science, social studies, and reading. When children are still at the elementary-school age, they are at the peak of their learning capacity, and exposing children to as many different forms of thinking as possible would optimally exercise the elasticity of their brains. Through such exposure, children will develop their learning and thinking processes much more than children without this additional form of exposure would. This would then produce a future generation of strong critical, innovative thinkers and leaders. Research has demonstrated quite clearly that as children are still mentally and physically developing, their brain elasticity is at the peak of its performance, allowing optimal learning to occur at such a young age.

17. Our “Big Picture”

18. Kindergarten Curriculum (the first year this would be used for every grade)  Greetings and Introductions  Numbers 0-31  Following Basic Commands  Colors and Shapes  Positional Words  Feelings  Body Parts and Senses  Family Members and Traditions  Leisure Activities  The Calendar  Clothing  Weather Times of Day Computation Money Shopping at the market Comparisons Restaurants and Foods Community Helpers Farm Animals Spanish Speaking Countries and People

19. First Grade Curriculum (starting in 2015- 2016)  Review of Kindergarten concepts  Plants and Animals  Habitat  Clothes  Positional Words  Weather and Seasons  Expansion of Calendar and Numbers  Telling Time  Daily Routines  Expansion of food, shopping, money and comparisons  Maps and Globes, Countries and Flags  Holidays and Celebrations

20. High School Beginner’s / Intermediate courses for people new to the district. College Credit/AP Spanish Career pathway Spanish Advanced Literature Spanish Mandarin Chinese Arabic 9-12

21. Materials Barb Houske— “Wow, you’re still using those books?!” There are customized electronic / hard copy materials that we could access that correspond to our learning targets materials

22. Hiring Job interviews should be conducted at least partially in the target language and some form of written test should be given to show mastery of the target language. jobs

23. We had 16-17 FL teachers just ten years ago …now we have 12