MOUNT VERNON — The Ohio Legislature recently received a report from the Foreign Language Advisory Council concerning world language education in Ohio. Part of the discussion dealt with the way foreign languages are taught in most Ohio high schools, and the advisory council suggested some changes.
One common problem with foreign language instruction, the council determined, is the frequent repetition and review of previously learned material rather than advancing the students to more challenging material. Another drawback, in the council’s view, is the emphasis on memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary lists rather than on learning to truly communicate in the language. Learning a language should not be about what one knows about the language, the report stated, but should be about what one can do with the language.
World language education in Ohio was the focus of a recent study mandated by the Ohio Legislature, and conducted by the Foreign Language Advisory Council. As part of its charge to propose a statewide foreign language implementation plan, the council made six major recommendations:
•Provide access to a sequence of world language instruction across grades PreK-16, so that instruction at each level builds upon the proficiency students have attained at an earlier level.
•Retain capacity in commonly taught languages such as French, Spanish, German, Latin and American Sign Language, while building capacity in languages critical for economic and strategic importance, such as Arabic, Japanese and Chinese.
•Use proven programs with the goal of developing long sequences of PreK-16 language learning and advanced levels of proficiency.
•Use multiple means to deliver language instruction.
•Grant world language credit based on demonstration of proficiency rather than number of units taken.
•Increase the number and build the capacity of qualified world language instructors in the state of Ohio.
The report, complete with strategies to meet the recommendations, can be accessed through the Ohio Department of Education Web site by clicking on Passport to the Future: Ohio’s Plan for World Languages.
Also available on the ODE Web site are the five Ohio Foreign Language Academic standards and benchmarks for each grade level kindergarten through 12.
•Communication: Communicate in languages other than English.
•Cultures: Gain knowledge and understanding of other cultures.
•Connections: Connect with other disciplines and acquire information.
•Comparisons: Develop insight into the nature of language and culture.
•Communities: Participate in multilingual communities and cultures at home and around the world.
Jianhua Bai, professor of Chinese at Kenyon College, agrees with the council’s assessment.
“[College professors] would like to see that the emphasis is on developing communicative competence — both written and oral — not just cracking the grammar codes or working on word lists without meaningful contexts,” she said.
The Ohio State University’s chairwoman of the French and Italian department, Diane Birckbichler, also believes the focus should be on the development of communicative skills. Classroom practice should be directed toward real-life language, she said, and that means students will be able to use the language.
The FLAC document also recommends that all students, not just the best or college-bound, be required to demonstrate proficiency in a world language as part of the Ohio Core graduation requisites, and that communication skills and real-life learning experiences should be integrated with educational content such as mathematics, science and social studies.
Research shows that literacy skills transfer across languages and anecdotal evidence also suggests that is true. Foreign language students frequently report they understand English better as a result of taking a foreign language and concurrently develop or improve their public speaking skills.
Crystal Tuel, Spanish instructor at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, said a foreign language, depending on how it is taught, may also help with history, art, music, world literature and government.
“The same kinds of activities that are done in a foreign language classroom,” Tuel said,” are also the same kind of activities done to help students prepare for the Ohio Graduation Tests and other standardized testing. For example, reading comprehension, summarizing, sequencing and identifying the main idea. Thus, foreign language or world language study should not be viewed as an additional requirement, but rather an additional means of reinforcing the skills needed for such tests as well as learning another language.”
One of the strategies suggested by the council is that world language specialists be a part of grade-level planning teams to plan content-related programs and reinforce concepts from across disciplines. For example, the report reads, “students can identify locations using map skills, investigate and share findings on how geography and climate influence the lives of people in the countries that speak the language they are studying, or convert currency and units of measurement. This leads to proficiency in another language and equal or higher test scores on standardized tests of achievement.”
The FLAC report acknowledged that school districts may experience difficulty in finding the resources to provide a quality foreign language studies from kindergarten to graduation, and suggested the increased use of nontraditional learning methods such as downloadable lessons, multimedia presentations, video hook ups and other distance learning options.
The report also recommends that school districts create consortia to share resources, perhaps to employ one language instructor to teach kindergarten language classes in multiple districts or to jointly offer upper-level, advanced placement classes or less commonly taught languages: During the 2006-07 school year, 93 percent of the students enrolled in a language program studied Western languages such as Spanish, French and German.
“Ohio’s students need opportunities to learn a broader range of languages,” the council wrote, “in order to prepare them for future economic, diplomatic, educational and personal endeavors.”
Because she believes that quality face-to-face instruction is the best way to teach a language, Tuel said she would choose the consortium option over a distance-learning option.
“I do think the United States needs to pay attention to some of the critical languages that are less commonly taught, like Chinese and Arabic,” Tuel said. “I would strongly prefer there be consortia to hire additional teachers, especially to offer less common languages, in those districts where they cannot afford entire positions. ... I could see a collaboration between a couple of adjacent school districts, or through the county educational service center. I think this would be good for elementary and middle school programs as well as for less commonly taught languages.”
Arabic, one of those less common languages, is offered at Mount Vernon High School on an independent-study basis, conducted by instructor Robin Hren outside of regular school hours.
In addition to after-school programs and consortiums between schools, the FLAC said partnerships between districts, business, government and community organizations could expand language learning projects, as well as associated service learning opportunities and internships. Such partnerships could also lead to language learning experiences tied to careers, such as Spanish for health care.
The Ohio Department of Education has developed sequential foreign language academic content standards for kindergarten through grade 12 to “ensure that all students develop linguistic and cultural proficiency to function in a multilingual, multicultural world.”