Foreign Language Bill in US Congress

Just a quick heads-up about this bill. From the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL):

Congressmen Holt and Tonko have sponsored HR 6036 which will provide significant levels of funding at the national, state, and local levels for language education. Please help get co-sponsors for this bill so that Congress will realize how important this legislation is for students in the US and for building our nation's language capacity!

Where to go:
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (includes useful links to get started)
Article from Asia Society: New Language Bill Introduced in Congress

Video: Why it pays to be multilingual

From the video page:

Professors from the foreign language and literatures department [California State University] explain the benefits of knowing more than one language, including understanding your own language better, being better off in the job market and just having fun.

My favorite quote: “When I travel in countries where I can speak the language, I have a key to the heart of other people.”

Thanks to Mandy Lindgren for tweeting about this video.
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Foreign language advocacy

 
In many schools across the United States, foreign languages are still not even offered until high school – yes, high school. As you have also most likely read, this isn’t the ideal time to introduce a new language. Okay, so what do you do if you would like to see foreign languages introduced earlier? Advocate.

First, you’ll need the reasons why foreign languages should be introduced at an earlier age. For a sampling of research, I would recommend the American Council on Teaching Foreign Language’s web site Discover Languages, Discover the World! Here you will find a good amount of information. On their What the Research Shows page, three major areas are listed:

How does language learning support academic achievement?

How does language learning provide cognitive benefits to students?

How does language learning affect attitudes and beliefs about language learning and about other cultures?

For annotated bibliographies of the research in support of elementary school foreign language learning visit this page.

Once you’ve gathered the research from here and other resources such as CAL (Center for Applied Linguistics), then you need a plan. Again, the ACTFL site has information on their Foreign Language Advocacy page.

More resources:

CALPER: Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research – Language Advocacy

FLAG: Foreign Language Association of Georgia – Advocacy

Sarah Shackelford (French Teacher): Advocacy Links

Glastonbury Foreign Language - Foreign Language Advocacy: A Case for Foreign Languages (The students in this community have studied at least one foreign language beginning in elementary school since the 1950s.)

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