IMPACT OF HIGH SCHOOL PREPARATION
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our children the message that it's not essential to learn the language, that
they will be able to read that subway sign in Tokyo. But is that all we want
them to do? Don't they need to acquire real skills and be able to do busi–
ness in Japan? You can't do that with a few words in Japanese. Part of the
problem of course lies in the media but my dean also says that they can
learn French or German or English later on.
Edith Kurzweil:
One last comment and then it's time for lunch.
Sandra Sto tsky:
I'm a research associate at the Harvard Graduate School
of Education. I've also been involved with the English Language
Arts
standards
in the state of Massachusetts. New Jersey and Massachusetts, to my knowl–
edge, are the only two states in the country that have mandated bilingual
education from K on. This was not an academic decision, but a political
one. No money was allocated by the legislature for this K-12 second lan–
guage, this "world language," which is a misnomer to begin with.
Everyone knows that the world language is English, and yet in both the
Massachusetts and I think the New Jersey document everything but
English is a world language.
Also, we do not have the courses worked out in twelve-year sequences.
We did have a program called "FLES," Foreign Language in the
Elementary School, many years ago, which went to pieces after about six
to ten years because in the first six years, in elementary school, you had
only games, songs, and greetings, and other artificial stuff. And in the typ–
ical secondary school, there was no academic sequence. The real issue is
that the politicians have not made the public aware of the related issues,
the problem of resources in getting any language sequence established. For
instance, what will happen to Latin, French, or the other languages, if
Spanish will be taught in the American public school system, beginning in
kindergarten? That is the fear among many assistant superintendents.
Edith Kurzweil:
Thank you very much. We'll continue after lunch.
