Why Study a Second Language?

Research shows that language learning:

· correlates to higher academic achievement, as measured by standardized tests,

in math, language, science and analytical thinking skills.

· enhances students’ reading abilities, vocabulary development and linguistic awareness.

· gives students an advantage with English grammar and word recognition.

· allows transfer from one language to another.

· correlates to higher scores on the SAT and ACT tests.

· has a positive impact on higher academic performance at the college level.

· can benefit all students.

See: http://actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4524 for primary sources/research abstracts

Additional Resources:

Knowing Other Languages Brings Opportunities (brochure)

http://www.adfl.org/resources/lang_brochure.pdf

The Importance of Early Language Study (article)

http://nclrc.org/about_teaching/topics/feature.html

National Network for Language Learning (resource for K-8)

http://nnell.org/

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (K-16)

http://actfl.org

Foreign Language Resource Centers (15 key websites for language research and resources)

http://nflrc.msu.edu/index-1.php (**two key sites shown below)

**National Capital Language Resource Center (joint project of

Center for Applied Linguistics and Georgetown University)

http://nclrc.org/index.html

**Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition

http://carla.umn.edu/