Over the last half-century, the pace of change in the life of human beings has increased dramatically beyond our wildest expectations. This change has been driven by the booming breakthrough in science and technology. This makes the world seem like a small village and necessitates learning a foreign language. The latter facilities communication between people and eases the exchange of knowledge and experience. However, when to start learning a foreign language has been thought to be a contentious issue. Although, there are some commentators who advocate that learning a foreign language should start at high school. I am strongly inclined towards the view that children should be taught foreign language in the elementary schools.
Firstly, the intellectual abilities of children make it easy for them to acquire more than one language. For example, a recent study conducted in London has shown that children below 7 years could learn a second language four times faster than those above 15 years. Furthermore, starting to learn a foreign language at a young age allows the student to achieve a higher level of fluency when they become youngster. Consequently, this gives them better opportunities to study overseas or find good careers in the international organizations.
On the other hand, a strong argument can be made on the opposite side. Opponents believe that introduction of a foreign language could negatively influence their identity and their speaking of their mother tongue. For instance, a recent study published in Egypt has revealed that pupils who studied in international schools that taught English from grade one got lower marks in Arabic compared to their peers who were taught English later.
To sum up, it can be clearly seen that the pros of learning a foreign language in young age outweigh the cons. I do recommend that the ministry of education involves foreign language as an integral part of all the elementary schools.
Over the last half-century, the pace of
change
in the life of human beings has increased
dramatically
beyond our wildest expectations. This
change
has
been driven
by the booming breakthrough in science and technology. This
makes
the world seem like a
small
village and necessitates
learning
a
foreign
language
. The latter
facilities
communication between
people
and
eases
the exchange of knowledge and experience.
However
, when to
start
learning
a
foreign
language
has been
thought
to be a contentious issue.
Although
, there are
some
commentators who advocate that
learning
a
foreign
language
should
start
at high school. I am
strongly
inclined towards the view that children should
be taught
foreign
language
in the elementary schools.
Firstly
, the intellectual abilities of children
make
it easy for them to acquire more than one
language
.
For example
, a recent study conducted in London has shown that children below 7 years could learn a second
language
four times faster than those above 15 years.
Furthermore
, starting to learn a
foreign
language
at a young age
allows
the student to achieve a higher level of fluency when they become youngster.
Consequently
, this gives them better opportunities to study overseas or find
good
careers in the international organizations.
On the other hand
, a strong argument can
be made
on the opposite side. Opponents believe that introduction of a
foreign
language
could
negatively
influence their identity and their speaking of their mother tongue.
For instance
, a recent study published in Egypt has revealed that pupils who studied in international schools that taught English from grade one
got
lower marks in Arabic compared to their peers who
were taught
English later.
To sum up, it can be
clearly
seen
that the pros of
learning
a
foreign
language
in young age outweigh the cons. I do recommend that the ministry of education involves
foreign
language
as an integral part of all the elementary schools.