Starting Foreign Language Young

Since I was interested in Pratt’s “speech community” that she described as being an essential part of the contact zone, I decided to use language as a basis of my final paper. Since I am an elementary education major, the issue of foreign languages in the elementary schools seemed to jump out at me. Foreign language has been an increasing and prominent element of schooling for students of all ages.

There is an elementary school in Washington D.C. called the J.F. Oyster Bilingual Elementary School. At this school, both the English and Spanish speaking children within the next few years will become bilingual. Parents have camped out in Washington D.C. to reserve a spot for their child in this prestigious school. They claim it to be culturally, economically, and racially diverse. This school has become very popular, influencing many public schools to take part in foreign language immersion programs.

Although, the idea of foreign language being pushed into the elementary schedules is a positive long-range goal, it also is very tough to follow through with. With the amount of time given in the school day and all of the requirements that school districts and teachers have within their curriculum, it is hard for me to see how foreign language can be brought into the public school so forcefully at this point.

Throughout this paper, I will be supporting the importance of foreign language in a child’s education and how some elementary schools go through this of including foreign language. However, I will also be questioning the possibility of it while still being able to further the children’s education with the necessary curriculum already set up.