Foreign Language Teaching
FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING What the United States Can Learn From Other Countries
Ingrid Pufahl, Nancy C. Rhodes, and Donna Christian Center for Applied Linguistics
Prepared for the U.S. Department of Education's Comparative Information on Improving Education Practice Working Group 4
Policy Priority: Foreign Language Learning
December 2000
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In an effort to inform foreign language teaching efforts in elementary and secondary schools in the United States, a small-scale, 3-month exploratory study was designed to collect information that would highlight what was most interesting and illuminating about foreign language education in various countries.
Twenty-two educators from 19 countries responded to a series of questions about methodologies, strategies, and policies in their countries that could help improve language teaching in the United States. From their responses to questions such as, "What do you think are three of the most successful aspects of foreign language education in your country?", specific policies and practices were identified that could inform U.S. language education. These characteristics are described in this report, organized by topic: An Early Start; A Well-Articulated Framework; Rigorous Teacher Education; Comprehensive Use of Technology; Effective Strategies; Strong Policy; Assessment; and Maintenance of Heritage, Regional, and Indigenous Languages.
Participants in the study were language educators from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Israel, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Spain, and Thailand. Information on China, England, and Hong Kong was gathered from published comparative education reports.
The following implications for U.S. schools were drawn from the study results:
Start language education early. Most of the countries surveyed begin language instruction for the majority of students in the elementary grades, while most schools in the United States do not offer foreign language classes until middle school or high school.
Learn from others. We have much to learn from the failures and successes of other countries.
Conduct long-term research. Longitudinal research is needed on the effectiveness of specific policies and practices, such as early language instruction.
Provide stronger leadership. Strong leadership is needed at the federal level to create a forum for discussion and improvement of instruction.
Identify how technology can improve language instruction. Research is needed on how best technology can improve language instruction.
Improve teacher education. The United States needs to study how other countries offer high-quality in-service and pre-service education for foreign language teachers.
Develop appropriate language assessment instruments. U.S. educators need to focus additional attention on the development and use of appropriate assessment instruments.
Designate foreign language as a core subject. Designating foreign languages as a core subject area is essential for a successful program. In almost all the countries with successful language education programs, foreign language has the same status as other core subjects such as mathematics and reading.
Take advantage of the sociolinguistic context. American educators need to take advantage of the context in which we live by promoting the learning of languages spoken by the many immigrants and refugees in our country.
It is apparent from this preliminary study that Americans have a lot to learn from the way other countries offer language education in their schools. The entire language education profession could benefit greatly from systematic international collaboration in our language teaching efforts.
This project was carried out by the Center for Applied Linguistics with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. ED-00-PO-4609. CAL worked collaboratively in these efforts with the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, an internationally known center for graduate studies, research, and teacher education.
* For the entire report, please visit us at: http://www.cal.org/resources/countries.html
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