When the COVID-19 pandemic sent Brunswick teachers, parents and students scrambling to navigate a new world of virtual learning, many school district plans were understandably put on hold. One of these initiatives is the implementation of a dual-language program at Kate Furbish Elementary School. Now more than ever, we must come together as a community to support second language instruction in Brunswick.
The program would allow students to learn academic content in French or Spanish starting in kindergarten, as described by Kate Furbish teacher and dual-language committee chair Alexandra Fish to the Portland Press Herald in 2018: “Students would begin instruction taught 90%in the second language and 10 percent in English. Each year until fifth grade, the second language component would decrease by 10% until there was a 60/40 split, Fish said. By the time the students are entering junior high, they could take classes in their second language or begin to learn a third. Upon graduation, students could have a foreign language studies diploma and a seal of bi-literacy.”
This plan is a necessary step in the right direction, as Brunswick students do not start second language instruction until middle or high school. All schools receive federal funding that is meant to cover instruction in all eight content areas, including World Languages, as part of the funding for essential programs and services for K-12, and the state has set standards for languages and cultures beginning in early elementary. These standards are routinely not met due to budget and staff shortages.
Why do languages matter especially now? One reason is that world language instruction supports intercultural competence, the ability to collaborate and empathize across cultural difference. The urgency of taking active measures towards teaching this skill to young children, and supporting the district’s commitment to the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion, is becoming increasingly clear as current events continue to highlight longstanding systemic inequities in our country.
Through second language instruction, students engage with other cultures while fostering openness to new experiences. They practice critical self-reflection by considering their own cultural perspectives in relation to others. In this way, dual-language immersion is an ideal environment to not only normalize difference and diversity for young children, but also to help them develop the necessary skills to engage in anti-bias action in the classroom and beyond.
Beginning second language education in the elementary years is often key to achieving proficiency later in life, as it allows students to capitalize on childhood language learning capabilities. Rather than memorizing lists of vocabulary or participating in formulaic conversations, students in dual-language immersion programs develop a second language organically by learning academic material and socializing with friends at school.
This allows them to develop high levels of second language proficiency and reap the many benefits of bilingualism throughout their lives. These benefits include improved cognitive flexibility, attention, multitasking, and creative thinking skills, and even the possibility of resisting the onset of dementia later in life. Bilingualism also has economic benefits, such as better educational and job outcomes. In more concrete terms, one estimate from the Economist suggests that knowing a second language translates to an earnings boost of $128,000 over 40 years.
But will immersing students in a second language at such a young age jeopardize the development of their English? Will students be overwhelmed in two languages? Questions like these are valid. Yet, more than half a century of research shows that dual-language immersion programs most often result in on-level or even improved overall performance in various academic subjects, including reading, math, and science.
Implementing a dual-language program in Brunswick will not be easy, but we can look to Lyseth Elementary School in Portland as an example. Their Spanish immersion program, which follows a model similar to that proposed for Kate Furbish, was recently named the 2020 Elementary School of the Year by the Embassy of Spain’s Ministry of Education.
Lyseth’s dual-language students gain exposure to music, art, and literature from Spanish-speaking countries, rapidly develop literacy in both Spanish and English, and outperform students in traditional classrooms in state and district standardized assessments.
Kate Furbish students should be next in line to benefit from dual-language immersion. Brunswick teachers and administrators have already put in years of planning and research towards this vision, and it is important to not let the pandemic derail their hard work. As the school budget is set for the next year, contact school board members with your support for the immersion program and language instruction, and volunteer for the Multilingual Mainers and Foreign Languages for Youth programs at the Brunswick schools.
There are few better ways to set Brunswick students up for a lifetime of success and fulfilment than giving them this opportunity to develop bilingualism, improve overall academic achievement, and cultivate intercultural competence.
Emily Pan is a student at Bowdoin College.
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