Why is Learning a Second Language Important For Australian Students?
Today, someone bought a jacket from Spain, spoke to a relative in Italy, planned a trip to Greece and sent a message to a friend in France. All from their living room in Australia.
This is the world of today.
Young Australians are growing up in a globalised world full of different cultures and languages where the interconnectedness of people, through economic trade, technological communication, and travel, is more than it has ever been before. Within our own boarders exists a multitude of cultural communities speaking a range of languages. The 2016 Australian census showed more than one-fifth (21%) of all Australians spoke a language other than English at home, with over 300 languages identified (ABS, 2016).
With so many cultures and languages at our fingertips and doorsteps, there is a need to teach young Australians how to navigate their way through it, and become a part of it. Language learning offers a range of benefits to students in this multicultural world.
What Does the Research Say?
Research focused on language learning shows a range of benefits to language learners.
Language Learning Increases Cultural Awareness, Acceptance of Diversity and Teaches Respect for Others.
While learning a new language, students are also learning about another culture that may be different from their own as these two aspects are inextricably linked, with language developed and shaped by a country’s culture and history. By taking an intercultural approach to languages whereby students engage in learning about their own culture through the study of a new culture, they develop a better acceptance of diversity and alternate ways of thinking, and learn to be more respectful and aware of their place within the world. In a multicultural society, having this awareness, respect and acceptance is imperative to being global citizens (Wierzbicka, 1997; Crozet and Liddicoat, 2000; Baker 2006; Coleman, 1997).
Language Learning Decreases Risk of Dementia
According to the Alzheimer’s society (2017), those “people who speak more than one language develop dementia symptoms an average of five years later and are able to cope with a greater level of brain dysfunction than monolinguals living in the same geographic area”. It is for this reason, education scholars are calling for all students to learn a second language at school and throughout university (Knapton 2016).
Language Learning Increases Academic Performance
— Improves Literacy Skills
Learning a second language can help students improve in English as they compare one language system to another, identifying aspects of syntax, grammar and vocabulary that work together to create meaning in sentences. By highlighting language as a structure, students are learning about language, not just through it, and are able to apply these skills in the English classroom. (Liddicoat,2001, Baker, 2006). Students are also improving their reading skills as they learn strategies to understand and decode complex texts with unfamiliar words including reading for meaning by scanning, skimming and making inferences (Baker, 2006). Language learning is also reported to increase student’s results in standardised testing, specifically literacy tests, in comparison to non language learning peers. (Masciantonio, 1977)
— Improves Problem Solving Skills
Studies have shown that learning a foreign language increases student’s focus and ability to problem solve. Bramford and Mizokawa (1991) in their study found that learning a language increased student’s problem solving skills. Similarly, Bialystok (2001) found that students who had studied a second language were better able to focus attention when problem solving because they were better able to ignore irrelevant material. She explained this as the transference of the skill in the student’s ability to switch between the two languages and ignore one to focus on the other when the two languages became “activated”.
Language Learning Increased Employment Opportunities
In the globalised world of today, increases in trade and travel between Australia and other countries has meant there is now an increased demand in bilingual and multilingual employees. Multinational companies often look for employees when dealing with foreign partners, and those in industries whose customer base encompasses a range of cultural backgrounds, including hospitality and tourism often list other language proficiency as a prerequisite of the job. Often, knowing another language can help differentiate you from the other candidates in the pool. (Burgess 2017; New American Economy, 2017)
How do we compare?
According to the NSW Education Standards Authority, formerly the board of studies, there were 77,163 students completing the HSC in 2016. Of those, only 6077 students enrolled in at least one HSC Language course. This means only 7.9% of students completed languages in HSC in 2016. (NSW Education Standards Authority 2016)
According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, in 2014, 51% of high school aged children across all European countries learnt two or more foreign languages at school (Eurostat 2017). Info graph included from Eurostat website.
In the USA in 2009, 52.7% of high school graduates studied a foreign language. (US Department of Education, 2014)
Statistically, Australia is far behind the rest of the world when it comes to language learning. This means our children are missing out on all the benefits. It is our job, as parents and educators, to take the lead in advocating language learning to young students and encourage them to continue to learn throughout their academic career.
Other websites with research on the benefits of language learning.
References:
Alzheimer’s Society, Bilingual brains are more resilient to dementia cause by Alzheimer’s disease (2017, January 30). Retrieved from https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/news/article/164/bilingual_brains_are_more_resilient_to_dementia_cause_by_alzheimer_s_disease
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016, 2071.0 – Census of Population and Housing: Reflecting Australia – Stories from the Census, 2016, viewed 5 October 2017, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/2071.0~2016~Main
%20Features~Cultural%20Diversity%20Article~20.
Baker, C. (2006) Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. (4th Edition) Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Bialystok, E. (2001) Bilingualism in Development: Language, Literacy and Cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Burgess, M. (2017, August 20). How learning a second language gives jobseekers an advantage. News.com.au. Retrieved from http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/careers/how-learning-a-second-language-gives-jobseekers-an-advantage/news-story/e205eb9826677ead7ec7e46883048c24
Coleman, J. (1997) State of the art-residence abroad within language study, Language Teaching, 30, p 1 – 20.
Crozet, C and Liddicoat A., (2000). Teaching culture as an integrated part of language: implications for the aims, approaches and pedagogies of language teaching. In: Teaching Languages, Teaching Cultures. Melbourne: Applied Linguistics Association of Australia, p 1 – 18.
Eurostat: Statistics Explained (2017, September 7)Retrieved fromhttp://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Foreign_language_learning_statistics
Knapton, S (2016, February 15). Students should learn second language to prevent dementia in later life. The Telegraph UK. Retrieved from
Liddicoat, A. (2001) Learning a language, learning about language, learning to be literate. Babel Vol. 35, 3: 12-15.
Marcantonio, R. (1977). Tangible befits of the study of latin: A review of research. Foreign Language Annal, 10. p 375 – 382.
New American Economy (2017, March 1). Demand for Bilingual Workers More than Doubled in 5 years. Retrieved from http://www.newamericaneconomy.org/press-release/demand-for-bilingual-workers-more-than-doubled-in-5-years-new-report-shows/
NSW Education Standards Authority (2016, September 12). Retrieved from http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/bos_stats/media-guide-2016/overview.html
US Department of Education: Digest of Education Statistics (2014). Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2016/2016006.pdf
Wierzbicka, A (1997) Understanding Cultures through Their Key Words. New Yourk: Oxford University Press.
Year 8 (Y) Italian 