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How to Bolster Budding Language Skills

Writing letters and learning phonics makes Claudia cranky. She recently grumbled, "I hope I won't have to read too many books once I get to first grade."

When handwriting, phonics drills, and endless workbook pages yield little more than aggravation for kindergarten kids like Claudia who are learning to read, try something foreign. A foreign language, that is, to bolster her budding language skills in English. You can do it even if you don't habla español.

Learning a second language in kindergarten or first grade isn't a foreign thing. As a matter of fact, in terms of brain growth, it's prime time. Pediatric neurologist Harry Chugani, Director of the Children's PET Center at the Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, believes that the time to learn foreign languages is in preschool and elementary school when the chemistry of the brain is charged for it. Using PET (positron emission tomography) scans to measure brain activity, Chugani found an increase in glucose in the brains of kids between the ages of four and ten. This "brain spurt" signals high activity and receptivity. "When we postpone learning foreign language until high school, we aren't paying attention to biological phenomenon," he says.

When kids compare a foreign language to their own, they begin to understand the nature of language itself. As far back as 1961, studies found that English-speaking students who received instruction in a foreign language showed gains in tests of English grammar, reading, and even math.

More recently, a 1994 study of 100 third-grade students in the Pittsburg, Kansas, public schools, showed significant gains in students' language and math on the Metropolitan Achievement Test after receiving only half-hour Spanish lessons three times weekly during the course of one semester.

"Learning a foreign language increases creativity and cognitive skills. Benefits from early language instruction include improved overall school performance and superior problem-solving skills. The more children learn about a foreign language, the more they understand about their own language," says Nancy Rhodes, Director of Foreign Language Education at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC. Most importantly, "foreign language is for all children of any ability," she says. Even kids who get cranky over phonics.

Learning a foreign language early also builds a bridge between cultures. "At an early age, cultural differences are viewed as different and interesting, not right or wrong," says Harriet Barnett, an educational consultant for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. "This early exposure to other ways of speaking and doing things is most effective when children are young and their minds are open," she says.

Several major types of elementary school foreign language programs, summarized below, have emerged in public and private schools. They vary widely, however, from school to school. If none exists in your school, use the resources that follow for help in establishing a program.

Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) Programs
This is the type of language program most frequently offered at the elementary level. Taught as an individual subject like math or science, classes are typically held three to five times weekly for 20-30 minutes. FLES programs focus on listening, speaking, reading, and writing as well as the culture of the country. As noted above, students who participated in this type of program for two years showed gains in English language skills.

Foreign Language Exploratory Programs (FLEX)
Taught in a shorter time frame than FLES programs, this type of program provides an introduction to one or more foreign languages but doesn't teach for fluency. FLEX programs give kids exposure to and experiences related to another culture and provide a good basis for learning a foreign language in a long-term program. Kids will not attain fluency in this type of program.

Immersion Programs
English-speaking kids spend all or part of the school day learning their basic subjects in a foreign language. In these programs, the language is the medium for instruction rather than a subject itself.

In "partial immersion" programs, time spent in a foreign language is 50 percent of the day throughout the elementary grades. In the partial-immersion program in Fairfax County Schools in northern Virginia – one of the largest in the United States with three thousand students in thirteen schools – kindergarten through sixth grade students spend half of their school day learning math, science, and health in Japanese, French, German, or Spanish. The rest of the curriculum is taught in English. Students with six years in the program have the fluency of a five- or six-year-old in that foreign language. Studies reveal that students perform equally well in testing with the bonus of learning another language.

In "full immersion" programs, time spent in a foreign language is 100 percent a day in the early grades with English phased in anywhere from second grade to fifth grade. However, optimum fluency results when use of English doesn't exceed 20 percent a day.

Rather than a school-based program, you can introduce Claudia to a foreign language at home. It might be easier than you think, particularly if you pick a language that holds special meaning for your family. If, however, she shows an interest in learning a totally new foreign language, that's prime time for learning a new language together. And for finding a book she won't mind reading once she gets to first grade!

Start by taking yourself to the library or your neighborhood bookstore to look for books, cassettes, videos, or CDs, or on the Internet to help you teach a foreign language to kids like Claudia, aged 4-8. The following are excellent examples of many on the market:

1. Learn Italian Together: An Activity Kit for Kids and Grown-Ups, Ages 4-8 by Marie-Claire Antoine, published by Living Language. Package containing an activity book, cassette, and learning stickers. A teacher's guide is also available.

2. Berlitz for Travelers. Cassette series recommended by FLEX teachers for helping teachers and parents learn proper pronunciation. Berlitz Multimedia Publishing.

3. Picture Word Book. Versions in English, French, Hebrew, German, Italian, and Spanish. Dover Publications, Inc.

4. All-in-One Language Fun! CD-ROM for ages 3-12 which uses native speakers and colorful graphics but no reading, writing, or spelling. Syracuse Language Systems at 800-797-5264.

5. Romance Language Resource Page. University of Chicago program using native speakers to teach samplings of French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish at www.humanities.uchicago.edu/humanities.

When you work on a foreign language with kindergarten students like Claudia, use a popular foreign language instructional method called Total Physical Response (TPR). Its multisensory approach responds well to the needs of a broad range of learning styles and differences.

In the TPR method, listening is what promotes language acquisition, and it must precede speaking. In other words, you do the speaking and she does the listening, at first. But don't let the phonics of a new language make you cranky either. Show Claudia that listening, mimicking, and practicing soothes even the wildest and strangest new letter combinations. Let her respond at her own pace.

Rely on familiar objects and experiences in your work together. Incorporate short lessons (10-20 minutes) into her normal routine several times a week. For example, play language games when you're driving together to the supermarket or at bedtime.

To prepare for the activities below, find and use examples from your selected books, cassettes, videos, CDs and Internet resources.

• Listen to a song sung in another language. The cadence and rhythm of music are echoed in language, and native singers melodiously model proper pronunciation. Play a song several times as she helps you make lunch or feed the dog. After several days you will probably be singing the chorus together. Find an excellent selection of Arabic songs in the music CD entitled, Cairo to Casablanca: An Arabic Musical Odyssey, published by Putumayo World Music in 1998.

• Count aloud the proper amount of string beans for dinner, in Swahili. The Swahili numbers and pronunciations from zero to ten are sifuri (see-foo-ree), moja (mo-jah), mbili (m-bee-lee), tatu (tah-too), nne (nay), tano (tah-no), sita (see-tah), saba (sah-bah), nane (nah-nay), tisa (tee-sah), and kumi (koo-mee). When she's comfortable, she might join you in counting how many mateless socks there are in the laundry basket.

• Play pick-up-sticks in Spanish. This game not only introduces a foreign language but helps Claudia strengthen fine motor coordination for handwriting, using scissors, and pinching her little brother. As she jiggles a stick or retrieves it successfully, say the color aloud, in Spanish. Some Spanish color names and pronunciations are red: rojo (ro-ho); blue: azul (ah-sool); green: verde (vair-day); white: blanco (blahn-koh); black: negro (neg-roh); yellow: amarillo (ah-ma-ree-yo); orange: naranja (na-ran-ha); purple: morado (moh-ra-doh); and pink: rosado (ro-sah-dough).

• To aid her memory of new vocabulary words, get her physically involved in the new language. Point to the pizza in front of her and say, "Pizza," and then point to her mouth and make chewing motions and say, "Mangia! " As she chews on a big, gooey piece, say "mangia pizza!" meaning "You eat pizza!" in Italian. At the grocery store, put an apple in her hands and say in Italian, "Mela" (maylah). Then, print a label that says, "I sit" in Italian: siedo (see-yay-dough). Holding the "siedo" sign against your chest, sit in a chair and slowly say, "Siedo in la sedia." Make a label that says, "I jump" in Italian: salto(saal-toe). Then jump up and down. Make one for run, catch, and pinch, and do the actions as you say the words. Getting her body involved increases retention by helping her associate the muscle movements with the words.

• Use a recent close-up photo of her or a family member to show Claudia the parts of her face in a foreign language. In Italian, some facial features are eye: occhio (okk-yo); nose: nasso (nah-so); mouth: bocca (boh-ka); and chin: mento (men-toe).

• Eat lunch in a Japanese restaurant and order some foods in Japanese. Be sure to let your server in on your language lesson. Many are only too happy to become teachers, too. Many common food words were adapted from English. Soup: supu; chop: choppu; sauce: sosa; salad: sarada; lemon: remon; and dessert; dezato.

• Shop at a Chinese grocery store. The sights, conversation, and colorful letters on the signage will give Claudia a sensory introduction to a delicious part of Chinese culture: the food. Discover new vegetables together like a long, brown root we call burdock but the Chinese call "gobo (go-bo)." A trip down the dessert aisle will show her that Chinese kids love sweets, too, especially fat steamed buns called "mántóu (man toh)."

• If possible, take Claudia on a trip to a non-English-speaking country. Let her see that another language isn't a foreign thing at all, merely the unique sounds people use to communicate to each other their feelings, needs, and desires. Teach her a few words she can use to greet hotel or restaurant staff.

If your school does not offer foreign language programs in the early grades, take heart and take the lead!

Parent groups who can garner community interest and support for starting elementary language programs in their schools can get guidance and start-up details from the following resources:

1. Resources on Foreign Language Learning in Grades K-8. The Nanduti website sponsored by the Center for Applied Linguistics and the Brown University Regional Educational Lab at www.cal.org/earlylang

2. The National Network for Early Language Learning at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC. E mail nnell@cal.org, or phone 202-362-0700.

3. The FLES Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, by fax at 301-230-2652.

4. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages at www.actfl.org

Learning a foreign language is an age-appropriate, sensory-rich endeavor that paves the way to stronger language skills even for preschoolers. There is also no better time than right now to engage Claudia in lessons that will deepen her understanding and respect for other cultures. And keep her happily working on phonics and reading far beyond first grade. Andiamo!

When poor attitude or reluctance to read threatens to nip your kindergarten or first-grade student's reading skills in the bud, consider a reading-trained, senior-aged tutor. Senior tutoring is tutoring with a golden edge because:

1. Most tutors are retired and have available time.

2. They provide the nurturing grandparent factor.

3. They have stricter standards of behavior and expect the child to act accordingly.

4. They are motivated by the experience of working one-on-one with young students.

5. They become an advocate for the child.

6. Many senior-tutoring programs are free of charge.

It works! An annual survey by the Older Adult Service and Information System (OASIS) of their twenty-one city, nationwide tutoring program as well as a three-year study of senior-tutored first graders in Cambridge, Massachusetts, found that students in such programs gained in the following ways:

1. Improved attitudes toward reading and language arts

2. Increased class participation

3. Greater willingness to read aloud

4. Heightened self-esteem

5. Longer attention span

6. Better verbal skills

7. More completed homework assignments

8. Higher test scores

9. Improved attendance

10. Kids learned to like books

Many senior-tutoring programs are not only free of charge, but they are also personal and convenient. OASIS tutors provide one-to-one, forty-five minute sessions once weekly in the student's school. Investigate intergenerational tutoring programs at your local school, faith-based organization.