Foreign language requirements are seen in schools everywhere. Many high schools require students to complete at least two years of a foreign language, and college admission teams look for this when deciding who to send acceptance letters to. Then, when students start college, they tend to be informed of college level foreign language class requirements.
Numerous colleges require some or all students to take at least two to three semesters worth of foreign language classes. Those schools that do not have this graduation requirement still, on average, encourage their students to gain credit hours through the completion of foreign language classes.
Berry, according to the school’s website, requires all students who are pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree to demonstrate intermediate proficiency in a modern foreign language. This means that students must complete a 200-level foreign language course, a task that takes most students three semesters to do.
The reason students of all ages are often required to complete foreign language classes is that learning a foreign language provides a copious amount of advantages. It provides more job opportunities, increases knowledge of different cultures, improves decision-making abilities, strengthens memory, boosts multi-tasking skills and more. It is a scientific fact that learning multiple languages sharpens the mind.
However, there are some disadvantages to learning a new language in a classroom environment, including one very important one for students intending to use the language among native speakers. Some of these include learning it passively, learning it in an environment that is competitive, learning it using resources that may not be the most engaging, and not having opportunities to practice it outside of the classroom. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of the classroom, though, is the fact that students tend to learn only the formal language rules.
Among native speakers of a language, whether it be English, Spanish, French, German or another language, there are regional dialects and slang. Unfortunately, educational institutes habitually exclude these from their foreign language curriculums. Instead, they focus on formal grammar, syntax, pronunciation and writing among other formal language aspects. In fact, students tend to be discouraged from learning ‘non-standard’ language such as slang and are sometimes even punished for using it by getting points taken off their grade.
This should not be the case. Students should learn all parts of a language, even the informal parts. If students were to talk with people who grew up using the language, they would be exposed to slang. Just like how native English-speakers do not use formal English at all times, native speakers of foreign languages have their own slang that they use in day-to-day life.
If the student has never been exposed to this, they will be confused and there is greater potential for misunderstandings. If they have been taught ‘non-standard’ language, conversations with native speakers will flow more naturally.
Learning the informal aspects of a language can also inform students even more about the culture behind the language. Slang is often created with each new generation and during times of cultural change. It is important to learn about these changes, and learning a language’s slang will help with this.
Meeting and talking to native speakers of the language a student is learning in school is easier than ever. People meet online for the first time everyday. The chances of a student using their foreign language education in a real world setting is very likely. This makes it even more important to have a full comprehension of the language and culture surrounding it. Unless curriculums change to allow students to learn both the formal and informal parts of foreign languages, students are not getting a proper foreign language education that will help them more among native speakers.