World Language Task Force Sub-Committee # 3 Choice of Languages

Present at the meeting were Dr. Bucci , CC Kelly, Kristen Zappa, Joe Hudock, Donna Stephenson, Alex Batouyios and Julie Maley. The meeting commenced at 7:15 and adjourned at 9:16.

Joe Hudock began by describing the large population of Spanish speaking people in the US. He broke the statistics down by telling which states had the most speakers of Spanish. He went on to say that Spanish is the 4 th most spoken language in the world and that there has been a large increase of Spanish media in the US in the last ten years. The conclusion was made that in choosing Spanish as the language to begin in the early elementary years because there are many resources for that level. The point was also well made that as far as certified teachers; there would be a much larger selection of teachers who have experience at the elementary levels.

Mrs. Zappa and Mrs. Maley researched local elementary language programs. The detailed results will be found in our main report. Mars has no program in elementary. They did not have any plans for future programs. North Allegheny offers an intro to Spanish, French German and Italian beginning in 6 th grade. Seneca Valley begins language in 7 th grade with a PTO only after-school program for elementary school kids. Quaker Valley has an elementary Spanish program. Students begin Spanish in 4 th grade. Classes are 3 days per week on a six day rotation. Fox Chapel offers language beginning in Kindergarten but classes were sporadic. Mount Lebanon students begin Spanish in the Elementary and then at 5 th they take exploratory Spanish, French and German. They had Japanese but recently lost their teacher. Upper St. Clair has Spanish beginning in grades 1 and 2 for two days per week then three days per week in grades 4 and 5.

Ms. Batouyios researched schools in the US from Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin and Connecticut. Most of the schools had Spanish in the elementary levels. The exposure to the language was similar to the local programs researched by Mrs. Maley and Mrs. Zappa. Parents were very supportive of languages in the elementary grades. Parental support is the main reason schools have the programs at all in many cases. The problems encountered were articulation and level appropriate materials. Parents wanted more rigorous exposure than just cultural projects. Ms. Batouyios made some excellent contacts from across the country one of whom is a past president of ACFTL. He is still very dedicated to the study of languages and wished to help our group in any way.

Mrs. Stephenson looked at the business and financial aspects of why it is so important to begin elementary languages. She cited an article which read that it is now a matter of US security to have our children become bilingual. Of 1/3 of middle school students who take language only 3% continue with a language in college. We discussed the seriousness of the security statement and we validated it. We felt that as a country, we have ignored the fact the other countries are rising up as super powers because they promote the early study of languages and cultural awareness. We concluded that if our students could be immersed in even one language, perhaps Spanish, from as early as possible, it would facilitate the addition of other languages such as Chinese as they progressed in school. Many of our task force members are living proof of the fact that when we acquire a second language from an early age, the third and fourth languages are much easier to acquire. The more fluent a student is in a second or third language, the more marketable he or she will be in our global economy. The more marketable young adults we have can definitely translate into a much more secure country and economy.