Background Information and Survey Results for the World Language Question

by Lynn K. McMullin

As many of you know, we are facing a significant crossroads in World Language.  Of major concern is this question: What World Language offering, in addition to Spanish, is of most interest to the community? 

In Canton, French has seen a significant decline similar to the nation's.  Next year at the high school, the senior class will have 12 French students and the junior class will have 10.  The students in these two classes began French in 7th grade with 37 and 34 students respectively.  This year's 7th grade enrollment for French was only 17 students, half the number that enrolled four years ago.  At out current attrition rate in French (based on 6 years of data), we could expect those 17 students to decrease to 5 or 6 students by their junior and senior year.   That is why, for 2010 - 2011, we did not offer French in grade 7.   By the way, attrition in Spanish parallels the attrrition in French, but the Spanish program begins with a significantly larger population of students.

Thus, two questions arise: First, what can we do to improve attrition rates?  Second, are we offering the right program?  It is my responsibility to be aware of trends and provide the Board and the school community with the facts.  I have been wrestling with this issue for several years now, and recently I presented the Board of Education with the following:

"The recommendation below is made after three years of various data collections, many conversations with the Middle and High School administrators, in-house and state and national research, and meetings with parents and world language teachers. The key factors considered when making this proposal are:
1. Budget implications for the future
2. Attrition rates in French
3. Educational trends for a 21st century education

RECOMMENDATION:
1. Phase out French beginning in 2010 – 2011, but continuing the program for all current students
2. Teach only Spanish in the Middle School
3. Reintroduce a second language study in Grade 9; possibly Chinese, but also consider French, Latin, Russian, and others
4. Develop a plan to introduce Spanish in Grade 4 enabling students to study Spanish grades 4 - 8.

RATIONALE:
First, research shows that the acquisition of a second language:
a. Enhances higher order, abstract and creative thinking
b. Fosters a thinking process that benefits academic progress in other content areas
c. Develops basic skills, such as listening, speaking, etc.
d. Promotes cultural awareness and competency
e. Improves college acceptance, college achievement, and attainment of future jobs
f. Benefits understanding of and a sense of security in own and other communities

However, while the research supports the benefits of second language study, it does not support the acquisition of one World Language over another, i.e. there are no research reports which distinguish the acquisition of French is more beneficial than the acquisition of Spanish, Italian, German, and vice versa.

Second, current World Language trends show that Spanish study has increased steadily since 1991; 68% of all World Language students take Spanish.  At the same time, French has decreased, but not at a rate as high as Canton's, and it still remains the second most commonly taught language.  Nationally, 16% of WL students take French.  In Canton, 21% of WL students take French.

Third, Chinese language study is very different from the study of French and Spanish, which in terms of skills development are more similar than they are dissimilar.  Chinese has no verb conjugations, no gender, no noun-adjective agreement, no articles (the, a, an), no number agreement (i.e. one book / three books), and has 1000 commonly used characters which make up 90% of the characters in a Chinese newspaper.  Chinese offers a different skill set and the study of an Asian culture.  But, it is difficult.

Additional Factors:
1.  Currently there is no WL in grades 4 - 6.
2.  Currently, students have one opportunity to choose a WL, at the end of grade 6.  They choose between two similar romance languages as has been done for at least the past 25 years. 
3.  No other WL choice is offered, except to begin Spanish I in Grade 9.  Past attempts to offer French I in Grade 9 attracted fewer than 5 students.
4.  If Canton offered Spanish grades 4 - 8, students who wanted to change from Spanish another WL could do so in 9th grade.
5.  An increased level of fluency in Spanish is possible with a stronger foundation which could begin in Intermediate School.
6.   A stronger foundation in one language [grades 4 – 8], makes the possibility of students successfully taking two languages much greater.

CLICK HERE to view the WL survey results. 
There were 244 respondents to our survey between May 18th and June 2nd.  The survey was publicized through AlertNow's email server, backpack notices, and on our webpages.  Thank you very much if you participated.

Since the comments are not included with the survey summary linked above, and since they total 10 pages of text, I collated and shortened the comments that were offered by 4 or more respondents below:

2. If no program change is made, which WL would your children be more likely to take?
(62 comments)
Don’t limit our choices - 4
Teach WL earlier - 4
Depends on the teacher - 7
Want to continue with French - 6
Spanish is more useful today - 11
Make Spanish mandatory - 5

3.  When you think about a 21st Century education, which is 1st (most important) to 5th (least important)?
Arabic - 7
Japanese - 6
Chinese – 4 (wrote a comment supporting Chinese as a choice within the question)

4.  Thinking of the future which of the following is important to you?
French should not be eliminated – 7
Start both French and Spanish earlier - 7
Offer Spanish earlier - 30
Offer Spanish from CBPS on - 10
Offer both Spanish and Chinese earlier - 9
Offer Latin in HS - 4

We also took a survey in the high school in which students included their names (i.e. not a count of hands) with these results:
Would you take Chinese if it was offered next year?
Yes  -- 39
Maybe  -- 65
No  -- 186
If you answered yes to taking Chinese, would you continue in your current WL in addition to Chinese?
Yes  -- 15
No  -- 21

Among the Middle Schoolers
7th grade   -- 40 would like to take Chinese; 108 would not
8th grade -- 45 would like to take Chinese; 96 would not