Why Learn Another Language?

1. Why Learn Another Language? Mr. Raymond Schweitzer World Languages Teacher French, Spanish, German Valley View School

2. Language:The Key to Understanding other Countries A lead report on the front page of the Wall Street Journal stated that “Americans’ ignorance of foreign languages is a major cause of such problems as the deteriorating American economic position in the world, persistent trade deficits, foreign policy failures and public misunderstanding of international issues.”

3. In contrast to most Europeans, Asians, Middle Easterners, and Latin Americans, the majority of Americans does not understand or appreciate the importance of learning another language in today’s global market. • Many Americans believe that learning a foreign language consists primarily of learning grammar, vocabulary, and expressions. • However, the study of world languages consists of much more than learning grammatical elements. • There are numerous advantages to learning another language, but probably the most important one is that you learn new ways of thinking, listening, and perceiving that are different from your native tongue and add new dimensions to learning. • When you learn another language, you learn about the people who speak the language and the influence they have had on out lives. • You learn about the culture of other countries; and culture includes everything about a particular people that makes them unique and different from others.

4. The Benefits of Foreign Language Proficiency Extend Well Beyond Linguistics Children who study foreign languages statistically outperform non-language students in language arts, math, science, and social studies. U.S. Department of Education

5. Advantages of Learning Another Language • One of the most important advantages of learning another language is that you learn different ways of thinking, perspectives and approaches to viewing the world. • You become moreanalytical, observant, detail-oriented and aware of what is going on around you and in the world, and how international developments have a direct impact on your own life. • You become more preciseand better able to express yourselfin your own language. • It’s like opening the door to a new world – like a discovery adventure. • You develop a better understanding of your own language and cultureand they influence your thought patterns and daily actions, and outlook on life

6. It “concentrates the mind”and “improves critical thinking skills.” • It forces a “discipline of thought.” It compels you to think and express yourself more clearly and precisely in your own language. • You increase your knowledge in many other areas and disciplines, especially when you become more advanced in the language or study languages not related to your own language (such as Chinese for European language speakers). • You become more knowledgeable of the world, international affairs, and the interdependence of political, economic, cultural, and religious factors on our country and everyday lives in today’s global economy. • You develop a better appreciation of your own country and culture as you expand your worldview and you can view our country from the outside as foreigners see us. • You develop an international basis of comparison that lets us compare our progress and development to other countries in many crucial areas, and you become aware of how much you can learn from other countries and cultures. • You can learn a lot from peoples of other cultures about approaches to problem solving, brain-storming, work ethics and different and more disciplined approaches to learning and education. • Learning higher order language skills in other languages, especially through poetry, music and art expression, can heighten our sensitivity, perception, powers of description, and expressiveness in our own language.

7. Language, Thought, and Culture • Language is a critical window to understanding other cultures. • The conciseness and clearness of thought of a people depend to a great extent upon their language. • “The extent to which language, culture, and thought have influenced one another, and which is the dominant aspect of communication, have been matters of controversy for over a century. The current consensus is that all three aspects are three parts of the whole, and cannot operate independently, regardless of which one most influences the other two” at a particular time or in a particular situation. Culture Bound – Cambridge University Press

8. -Philosophies, beliefs, and shared values -Ways of thinking, analyzing, and approaches to problem solving -Social behavior patterns -Socialization norms and concepts of achievement -Customs and traditions -Language and means of expression -Music and Arts -Educational systems, practices and approaches to teaching and learning -History -Literature and language patterns -Music & Art -Heightened sensitivity and perceptivity -Work ethic -Religion and rites -Humor -Business practices -Political systems and practices -Geography -Food and eating customs -Economics -Technological advances -Sports and leisure activities -Fashion and design -Family values • Culture is really an integral part of the interaction between language and thought. Cultural patterns, customs, and ways of life are expressed in language and culture-specific world views are reflected in language. • Culture includes everything about a country, people or ethnic group that makes them different from others:

9. Cross-Cultural Differences in Academic Achievement Among The Top-Achieving OECD Countries • A major study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development on education standards worldwide disclosed that the performance of U.S. 15-year-olds in math, science, problem-solving, and reading has fallen below the average of the top 41 developed countries. • A generation ago, U.S. high school students ranked No. 1 in these areas. • Five major studies conducted by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation comparing teachers, parents, students, school and educational practices in countries excelling in academic performance found similar results and clear evidence that American education is losing ground to other countries. • The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) showed that 20 of 41 nations scored significantly higher than the U.S. • Only seven countries scored significantly lower than the U.S.

10. The significantly higher scoring nations were Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Canada, France, Australia, Finland, Hungry, and Ireland. • Something has changed dramatically over the past generation. • What can we learn from these countries that can enhance education in the U.S. and reverse this negative trend? • Meaning often emerges with contrast. We do not understand what children can accomplish until we have seen what other children the same age do. • Cross-cultural comparisons can help us discover characteristics of our own culture that we fail to notice because we are so familiar with them. • The problem is complex but appears to lie, to a great extent, in cultural factors.

11. Cultural factors do not always lend themselves readily to statistical comparisons, however, they are even more important than economic factors in determining academic excellence. • An examination of cultural factors recognizes the need to tackle questions of motivations, beliefs, attitudes and practices underlying education in these countries. • Based on extensive current research in comparative international education, three main cultural themes appear to have the most impact on academic performance: • The relationship of socialization to achievement • Different cultural models of learning • The effects of cultural beliefs of standards, expectations, and attitudes toward learning

12. The Importance of World Languages in our Global Economy • If you travel, become an exchange student overseas, or meet someone from another country, imagine how much more meaningful your experience will be if you can talk to people in their own language. • Being able to communicate in another language can be an advantage when you’re looking for employment in any field. • Today, we have a global economy. International trade, economic interdependence, and instant communications have greatly increased the amount of contact, communication, travel and trade among countries and cultures of the world. • Learning another language in today’s global marketplace is not only important and interesting, it is essential if we are to keep our competitive edge and learn from other countries of the world. • Perhaps the best reason for studying another language is the fun of it. Studying another language is a challenge to your mind. You’ll get a great feeling of accomplishment the first time you have a conversation in another language.

13. Economic Advantages to Knowing Another Language • A large percentage of Japanese businessmen speak English and have lived, worked and studied in the United States. They know our culture, customs, mentality and consumer buying habits well. • There are over 100,000 English-speaking Japanese business people in the U.S. but few Japanese-speaking American business people in Japan. • This has greatly helped the Japanese to achieve a great competitive success in the U.S., gain a large market share, and to enjoy a huge trade surplus with the U.S. • In 2006, the U.S, balance of trade deficit with Japan was over $88 billion. We imported $148 billion from Japan and only exported $60 billion. • The same is true of many other countries such as Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and India. • The total U.S. trade deficit will reach over $800 billion in 2007. • Our trade gap with China alone now stands at over $233 billion. This is more than the total U.S. trade deficit was with the entire world ten years ago.

14. Our Competitive Disadvantage versus Japan • Far less than 1/10 of 1% of U.S. businessmen can speak Japanese fluently or have lived in Japan. This is one of the main reasons why we have not been able to seriously penetrate the Japanese market. • What do you imagine would happen if the situation were reversed? Suppose that a large percentage of American businessmen spoke Japanese fluently and had lived, studied and worked in Japan – and less than 1/10 of 1% of Japanese businessmen knew English. • Do you think that we would have been much more successful in penetrating the Japanese market? What about other markets?

15. We Can Learn A Lot from Other Peoples of the World • People from all over the world come to the U.S. to learn about our business practices, customs, and psychology. • They learn our production techniques, new product innovations, technological advances, management practices, marketing strategies and financial practices. • They learn about our consumer buying habits so they can market their products more effectively and sell more of their products. • They learn a lot about our ways of thinking and our habits from our movies. This gives them a strong competitive advantage.

16. This is one factor that has helped the Japanese to capture almost 40% of the U.S. car market while the U.S. has less than 1% of the Japanese car market. • In 2007, foreign car sales accounted for 50% of new car sales in the U.S. for the first time in history. • Why shouldn’t we learn from other countries? We could be much more effective and competitive. • The key to learning about other countries and cultures is through the language. • You cannot really learn about another culture filtered down through translations. We need to understand how other cultures think.