“Learning another language
allows us to see with new eyes.”
– Marcel Proust
Alberta Education commissioned a 2006 study to survey the results of
research on additional language learning. It found that students who become proficient
in a second language benefit in many ways:
1. Personal Benefits
· Travel, cross-cultural relationships
· Access to culture,
literature, film, etc.
2. Intellectual Potential
· Students proficient in two
languages score higher in verbal and non-verbal intelligence.
· Students studying a second
language develop listening, memory, and divergent thinking skills.
3. Effect on First Language
· Second language study significantly strengthens
first language skills in areas of reading, vocabulary, grammar and
communication skills.
· The earlier the start, the greater the
positive effect on the first language.
4. Scholastic Achievement
· Students studying a second
language have higher test scores in reading, language and mathematics.
5. Economic Potential
· Proficiency in another
language enhances prospects for postsecondary study and employment and opens up
international opportunities.
· There is an urgent requirement for
qualified speakers of languages other than English in areas of science,
technology, medicine and global commerce.
6. Citizenship
· Students learning a second language have
superior cross-cultural skills and adapt better to new cultural contexts.
· Students studying a second language display
greater cultural sensitivity.
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