FRAMEWORK FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE CURRICULUM
Theories abound on what course of study a Foreign Language program should
adopt. The question becomes more pertinent when the requirements are not for
a specific language but for exposure to foreign languages in general. How
can this broad view of the subject to be taught be reconciled with some specific
demands of the educational process? What are the rationales for teaching foreign
languages within such a broad spectrum?
I will attempt to provide answers by determining what are some specific duties
and responsibilities of the educational process. I will then examine the objective
of a broad, unspecialized exposure to several foreign languages in the course
of elementary schooling. Finally, I will determine how they share a common
ground?
Being the social creatures that we are, one of our most basic need i s to communicate. Communication happens i n many forms and one of the goals of education should be to allow the students to learn to express themselves i n a variety of ways (H. Gardner, 1983 and E. Eisner, 1992).
Intellectual competence in individuals is enhanced by the encoding of many visual, auditory, olfactory, kinesthetic, gustatory and tactile experiences. Our senses cue into and are linked to different aspects of the world. Combined with our individual history and general schemata, our senses allow us to construct meaning. I t is therefore that which is meaningful which is best learned and remembered.
What is meaningful to the student in the learning process is a matter of range of abilities, interests, and needs. Piaget's stages of development provide a general guide to the range of abilities at various stages. The most important aspect of the learning process within this framework is "not how fast we can help intelligence grow, but how far we can help it grow" (Duckworth 1987, 38).
The educational activities must be worthwhile and the curriculum, serving as a guide, must represent a variety of ways of knowing. In this case, topics and themes must be approached from various viewpoints, no single one being superior or inferior to other perspectives. A "multicultural" and "multiethnic" approach allows the students to participate in various cultures and to see themselves from other viewpoints. It provides the opportunity for greater self-understanding.
The objectives in regards to this somewhat linear progression of stages of development are to provide worthwhile conditions for students to undergo educational experiences. Positive exposure to foreign languages and cultures opens the life of imagination, sustains a sense of wonder and curiosity, corrects racist and bigoted views of the larger community, creates a deep respect for others, raises the students' self-esteem and allows students to feel good about their own ethnic identity. In a word, Foreign Language education combats cultural parochialism and insensitivity.
In a broad view of a FL program, the focus is on the need to communicate linguistic functions and the success is based on getting things done with the language. The linguistic form develops out of the communicative needs set up in the objectives of the program. Rules and generalizations are not taught unless specifically requested by the students. Lessons are therefore organized around their needs, their desires, and their interests. Furthermore, the lessons are characterized by low student anxiety as production and eventual mastery are allowed to occur on the student's own schedule after sufficient input.
Scientific research on second language acquisition shows that low-level anxiety programs and approaches that promote acquisition versus learning are most successful with young learners. Krashen's (1982) theory suggests that a second language is most successfully acquired when the focus of instruction is on meaning rather than on form. Using topics and themes that the students can relate to creates a meaningful use of the language.
To create a relatively anxiety-free environment, specific stages in the acquisition process must be considered. The program must take into consideration that a silent period precedes early production. During this period, the students will attempt to decipher the sound system and make sense of what they hear. The early production and the speech emergence stage are characterized by social language which becomes more and more complex. This social language can be acquired in one to two years according to the degree of context available to the learner. Cummins (1981) calls this type of language proficiency the basic interpersonal language skills (BICS).
When the needs and interests of the students are taken into account, it becomes clear that exposure to different cultures and languages entices and motivates the young learners.