Ever thought about enrolling your child in a dual language program? Maybe you should…
Studies have shown that children enrolled in foreign language studies in elementary school show an improved overall school performance, tend to be more creative, and are better at solving complex problems.
Additionally, they achieve the lifelong ability to communicate with many more people and have a competitive advantage in the workplace.
Did you know that students in foreign language programs statistically score higher on standardized tests… even when they’re in English? Additionally, the students who had 4 or more years of foreign language scored higher on the verbal section of the SATs.
Learning a foreign language actually enhances a student’s ability in English, even when it’s total emersion. In fact, one study showed after 5 years of an immersion program, dual language students outperformed all comparison groups and were high academic achievers throughout their schooling.
Why is it important to start so young? There are special areas in the brain for understanding and speaking language. After the age of 10, brain plasticity decreases and the neural representations of second language learning are then placed in different areas. During that window of opportunity (before the age of 10), a child can acquire native language proficiency for accent, grammar and comprehension. Learning a second language after this time period… well, anyone that ever took a second language for the first time in high school could tell you about that one…
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The two most common models for dual language programs
are the 90/10, where you start in kindergarten with 90% foreign language
instruction and decrease by 10% until 50% is reached in the 4th grade
and the 50/50 model, where half the time is spent in both languages.
(Studies have shown that bilingual proficiency is more likely to occur
with the 90/10 program.)
Students can become orally proficient in about two years, but need five to seven years to achieve full academic language proficiency (Lindholm-Leary, 2001). |
If a child has behavior problems, a short attention span, or difficulties listening to instructions, then enrolling them in a program where a new language is spoken 90% of the time could be overwhelming. If a child does not have these difficulties, it’s usually just a couple of weeks of adjustment while they adapt to the new language.
In fact, as the mother of a dual language student, I can tell you that I found it absolutely amazing to watch how quickly those little kindergarteners absorbed their new language. Not only did they all comprehend the new language at warp speed, but they all spoke with no accent whatsoever. Let’s hear it for brain plasticity!
Now, for a funny story… since my child was learning Spanish in her dual language program and I spoke no Spanish at all, I volunteered a lot, so I could listen in and learn as much of the basics as I could.
Later on in the year, I attempted to read my child a story in Spanish and she asked me, “ Mommy, why do you talk like big bird?” “Big bird?” I thought to myself… then I got it… It was a kindergartener’s way of telling me I had a bad accent!
Guess I missed my synaptic prime... Speaking Spanish like big bird will have to do.
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