![]() Vol. VII No. 3 May 1995
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![]() Why learn another language? In our country and especially in our province this question is not often asked. Most people, whether they have had the opportunity to learn another language or not, would be quickly able to list several reasons. Some may have friends, family or neighbours who speak one of our official languages and others may simply see the career or travel benefits of speaking "the" other official language. While our cultural and political situation may be reason enough to learn the other official language, what about the benefits of language learning in a general sense? The world is no longer a collection of isolated regions and cultures, it is a huge collective of interactive and interdependent communities. The technology of our century has allowed people to explore the world with both personal and business objectives in mind. Learning another language, if not several other languages, has almost become a necessity or at the very least desire, for many people. Canadians tend to think of French and English as their two options when considering language learning. Yes, knowing both of these languages afford Canadians a wealth of cultural and linguistic opportunities. But even within the confines of our own country, where multiculturalism defines our population, a variety of other languages and cultures are at our fingertips. Many Canadian schools now include a variety of heritage languages in their curriculum. Instead of taking the answer to the question- "why learn another language" for granted as we sometimes do in our bilingual environment, I would like to take this opportunity to explore other responses to this query. By addressing this question in a more general sense, we may gain renewed appreciation for efforts made in language education. Helena Curtain (1990) discusses the benefits of learning foreign languages in elementary school. She states that learning another language helps children to develop a "global attitude" and enhances their general cognitive and communicative skills. Anthony Mollica (1993), in a Mosaic article entitled "Language Learning: The key to understanding and harmony," also looks at the value of language learning. His list includes not only to personal and career oriented benefits, but also advantages such as improved reading and research skills, increased insight not only into the target language culture but of a student's own culture. These comments are echoed in another article which describes the understanding, awareness and empathy toward another culture that is fostered in a language learning environment (Weatherford, 1986). The Georgia State Dept. of Education (1992) in Atlanta prepared a foreign language curriculum guide for grades K to 12. In this package, one chapter is devoted to describing the potential positive effects of exposing learners to languages. "Heightened cultural sensitivity..., improved auditory discrimination..., improved understanding of the English language..., increased self-confidence, expanded appreciation of music, art, history..." are among both the short-term and long-term benefits cited in this document. Marcel Danesi extols the advantages of heritage language education and states that "the research on the minority child who is actively learning the mother tongue in school reveals that, far from damaging acceptable levels of proficiency and literacy in the school language, these skills actually help to increase the child's abilities in the school language." Agnès P. Morgan (1990), in an article describing her experiences as a French immersion, also refutes this idea that children's English ability will suffer if they learn another language. In fact, she observed a range of benefits gained from language learning including the development of creativity, cognitive flexibility and an inquisitive attitude towards language as well as positive effects on self-esteem of her students. Language learning can open doors and minds. All of our language education from French immersion to ESL to heritage language programs can provide learners with a wide variety of experiences and knowledge. Some researchers expend a great deal of effort finding flaws in or problems with one program or another. While it is important to use our critical minds for the purpose of improvement, as second language educators we should strive to support, encourage all efforts at directed at learning language. |