Foreign Language Classes Should be Required for Elementary Students

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There is a rising issue in today’s education system to whether or not we need to require and when the education system should start the second language learning in the school system. Some say that education system should wait until the students have reached high school and others say to start it young. Other school officials have said that they should require it in high school because they’ll remember the language better. Experts say that the education system needs to start it young while the child’s brain is like a sponge. The answer to this question is to simply start the foreign language learning young during their childhood which is why all the state education systems should require a foreign language class during the elementary years of schooling.
When a young child begins to learn a second language it can help him or her mentally. The first important benefit of this is the cognitive (thinking) development of the brain. According to The World Book Encyclopedia, little kids have an increase in capacity to learn and talk a different “Language” without much thought (Wearing 62). According to Kovacs, when children start to learn a second language at a young age and they grow up where using a second language is normal, their brain will have to start to decipher which language to use at a certain time (Kovacs 49). Because of this “Bilinguals may have a language ability that enables them to achieve greater mental flexibility” (Weatherford 2). This is why we should start a second language education early because according to Caccavale, the president of NNELL, “it has been shown to enhance cognitive development. Children who learn a foreign language beginning in early childhood demonstrate certain cognitive advantages over children...

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“Bilingualism in Sardinia And Scottland: Exploring The Cognitive Benefits Of –
Speaking A ‘Minority’ Language.” International Journal Of Bilingualism 17
.1 (2013): 43-56. Academic Search Complete. Web.4 March 2014.
Stewart, Janice H. “Foreign Language Study in Elementary Schools:
Benefits and Implications for Achievement in Reading and Math.”
Early Childhood Education Journal 33.1 (2005): 11-16.
EBSCO Host. Web. 4 March 2014.
Wearing, John P., ed. The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, 2013.
Weatherford, Jarold H. “Personal Benefits of Foreign Language Study.” Eric Digest.
October 1968: 1-4. ERIC Digest. Eric-Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics.
Web. 19 Febuary 2014.

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