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***Research has shown that it typically takes 720 hours of
intensive study at the Foreign Service Institute for an adult with high
aptitude to become proficient in a foreign language (Omaggio-Hadley, 1993).
According to Brown (1997), it takes thousands of contact hours in Spanish for
a person to achieve the ability to function beyond the tourist level in a
foreign language. If students only study for two years of high school, they
will have about 200-300 contact hours provided the instruction and practice
is in the target language.
***"Foreign language is crucial to our nation’s economic competitiveness and
national security. Multilingualism enhances cognitive and social growth,
competitiveness in the global marketplace (four out of five new jobs in the
United States are created from foreign trade), national security, and
understanding of diverse people and cultures. As we approach a new century
where global communication will be essential for survival, we cannot afford
the luxury of international ignorance...”
The United States Congress
***The National Commission on Excellence in Education published a report A
Nation at Risk (1983) which ranked foreign language education at the same
level as the “basic academic fields - English, mathematics, computer science,
social studies, and the natural science” (pp. 25-26).
***On September 15, 1999, Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley delivered
his Annual Back-to-School Address, entitled, “Changing the American High
School to Fit Modern Times.” Included in his remarks, Riley states, “Let me
suggest one other way to raise standards. I believe that in this new economy
every high school student should be close to fluent in a foreign language
when he or she graduates. We should begin teaching foreign languages in our
elementary schools, and then in middle schools and high schools. English is
a beautiful language and every American student must be a master of it.
English is surely a world language. But learning a foreign language exposes
young people to new cultures and new horizons and helps them understand
English better.”
Research has shown that connections are easily made in the brain regarding
second language acquisition at an early age – the window of opportunity for
early language learning is between birth and 10 years of age (Chuganí,
1996). A person can learn another language at any age, but it is easier to
do so as a child.
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