By Thomas Joyce
The concept of foreign language instruction in the United States has been a long debated issue. Some believe that proficiency in a foreign language should be a high school graduation requirement; others believe that required language classes hinder the exploration of other subjects by students not interested in languages; and finally some believe that foreign language instruction is not being done early enough in schools. Over the years, the presence of foreign language education in schools nationwide has been declining, and recent reports show that only roughly 20% of students across the country study foreign languages at some point in their K-12 years, and only 7.5% of college students study foreign languages. The result of this has been a population less equipped for this constantly globalizing world in which only 20% of the population speaks English, and the importance of cross-cultural communication continues to grow.
Having studied a second language for the past seven years, I have always been puzzled by the lack of attention given to foreign language learning, and felt that foreign language classes were not being offered to students early enough. Upon conversing with my language partner, who attended an English Institute High School in Ecuador, he told me about learning English in school from a very young age, taking English classes outside of school, and having to pass an English proficiency test in order to graduate high school. Although these are not the typical requirements of schools in Ecuador, I was amazed by what he was describing. This sparked my interest, and led to my investigation of foreign language teaching in the United States, as well as in Ecuador, and although the prevalence of bilingual individuals in these countries is not starkly different right now, the futures of these countries may look very different based on actions currently being taken.
In the United States, foreign language requirements depend on the state, and right now only four locations have foreign language study as a graduation requirement. In New Jersey and New York, one year of foreign language study is required to graduate high school, while in Michigan and Washington, DC, two years are required. Aside from these locations, no other states have mandatory requirements, and in fact, only 1 in 5 public school students take a foreign language class prior to entering the college/university level. This lack of educational presence has resulted in the US lagging behind in the world in regards to cross-cultural communication. In fact, only roughly 20% of Americans are bilingual according to the US Census Bureau. For comparison, in Europe, roughly 56% of people are bilingual. In regards to Ecuador, traditionally the percentage of Ecuadorians that speak a foreign language has not been very high, but since the implementation of the US dollar as the official currency in 2000, the conversation surrounding the importance of English fluency has become much more relevant.
In 2015, The Ministry of Education in Ecuador enacted a bill that required English instruction in public primary schools starting at the age of six, with the goal of proficiency by age eleven. This made it the third country, behind Costa Rica and Colombia, to require English language instruction at such a young age. Ecuador has also implemented a program known as GoTeacher, which is a study abroad program for Ecuadorian teachers which allows them to learn more about the English language and the proper way to instruct it. The current administration cites this bill as one of its main successes, as the importance of languages in our quickly globalizing world has become more clear than ever.
In the United States, language instruction typically begins in children’s middle school years, which is part of the issue. Studies have shown that the best age for children to begin learning a second language that will maximize chances of achieving fluency, is prior to the age of 10. This means that American schools are beginning foreign language education too late, and when paired with the fact that in the majority of places it is an elective rather than a requirement, it is clear why the United States is behind so many countries in terms of bilingual individuals. Throughout the country, the focus of schools is directed solely toward English, Mathematics, History and Science courses, with language courses wrongly characterized as accessory to this core, rather than a part of it.
Despite English being the most widely spoken language worldwide, with the world becoming more and more interconnected every day, and with its population growing every year, it is clear that Americans should begin to look at this issue more seriously. With bilingual skills becoming more valuable in the job market and cross-cultural communication becoming more prevalent in day to day life with technological advances, it will be interesting to see if the United States takes steps to combat this largely nationwide tendency toward complacency regarding foreign languages. Ecuador recently took its first steps, and only time will tell if the US will follow its lead.