Schools and school systems looking to beef up foreign language learning may want to take a fresh look at their current curricula. According to Myriam Met, senior research associate at the University of Maryland's National Foreign Language Center, the best foreign language programs grab kids early and provide a rich and intense learning experience that draws on what's been learned from language immersion programs.
In her presentation, Best Practices in Pre-Collegiate Language Education: Models for Pipelines, at the National Language Conference last year, Met said six factors influence the effectiveness of a K–12 foreign language curriculum. How do your courses stack up against these criteria?
- Time. Programs must provide students with sufficient time on task. The average high school student who takes a foreign language will get perhaps 300 contact hours over the course of the two years. Met believes that's too little.
- Intensity. The extent of learner engagement and motivation affects language mastery. Students who learn to communicate about subject matter and topics that interest them are going to learn more effectively.
- Comprehensible input. Before students can speak and write, they must first "internalize" language by listening and reading. They need lots of exposure, too—see the two factors above.
- Meaningful, purposeful, communicative interaction. Students also need the chance to use their new language to interact with and understand others and make themselves understood.
- Authentic tasks and purposes. Rote scripts, grammar drills, and practice sessions aren't particularly effective. Language is best acquired when it is used to exchange information and opinions, which is the real-life purpose of language in the first place. Lessons that involve real meaning promote language development.
- Cross-cultural understanding and cross-cultural communication skills. Language learning isn't just about vocabulary and conjugations. Students need to understand the cultural context on which a language is based—native speakers' ways of thinking and the assumptions and beliefs that inform their daily lives.