One of the highly controversial issues today relates to whether or not the teaching of a foreign language in primary schools and kindergarten should be obligatory. I strongly agree with this view due to several reasons that I will discuss in greater detail in my essay.
On one side of the debate, there are people who argue that the benefits of learning a second language at primary schools considerably outweigh its disadvantages. The main reason for believing that is that being bilingual is seen as crucial to triumph in the contemporary era. It is also possible to say that, in comparison with adults, the offspring is more flexible in acquiring new skills, such as those related to speaking another language. One good illustration of this is the fact that, overall, a person who started studying English right from the beginning of his schooling has higher chances of showing fluency in that language during adulthood than someone who began his/her English studies in secondary school.
On the other hand, it is also possible to make the opposing case. It is often argued that in fact, learning another language at a young age is actually a threat to the mother tongue, as it may be harder for bilingual children to identify themselves with a specific culture. A particularly good example here is a child who learns English and Japanese at the same time: during the first years she may get confused with how to express her thoughts and emotions in both languages. Not only that, after growing up, she may lose the feeling of belonging to her native community.
Having considered a range of arguments, I have drawn the conclusion that I am mostly inclined to the opinion that it should be mandatory for children to study a foreign language at primary schools.
One of the
highly
controversial issues
today
relates to whether or not the teaching of a foreign
language
in primary schools and kindergarten should be obligatory. I
strongly
agree
with this view due to several reasons that I will discuss in greater detail in my essay.
On one side of the debate, there are
people
who
argue that the benefits of learning a second
language
at primary schools
considerably
outweigh its disadvantages. The main reason for believing
that is
that being bilingual is
seen
as crucial to triumph in the contemporary era. It is
also
possible to say that,
in comparison
with adults, the offspring is more flexible in acquiring new
skills
, such as those related to speaking another
language
. One
good
illustration of this is the fact that,
overall
, a person
who
started
studying English right from the beginning of his schooling has higher chances of showing fluency in that
language
during adulthood than someone
who
began his/her English studies in secondary school.
On the other hand
, it is
also
possible to
make
the opposing case. It is
often
argued that in fact, learning another
language
at a young age is actually a threat to the mother tongue, as it may be harder for bilingual children to identify themselves with a specific culture. A
particularly
good
example here is a child
who
learns English and Japanese at the same time: during the
first
years she may
get
confused with how to express her thoughts and emotions in both
languages
. Not
only
that, after growing up, she may lose the feeling of belonging to her native community.
Having considered a range of arguments, I have drawn the conclusion that I am
mostly
inclined to the opinion that it should be mandatory for children to study a foreign
language
at primary schools.