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[Debate/토론] (NYT) Should Foreign Language Classes Be Mandatory in College?
최고관리자 | 17-02-19 23:31
Should Foreign Language Classes Be Mandatory in College?
A Princeton University proposal would require all general-education students to study a language other than English, even those already proficient in a foreign language. As American college students increasingly balk at foreign language requirements, many institutions are no longer requiring it, and those that still do often let students test out. Should the study of a foreign language be mandatory in college?
* general-education = 일반 교육/ other than ~ = ~외에/ proficient in ~ = ~에 능통한/ balk at ~ = ~에 망설이다/ test out = [이론·생각·기계 따위]를 시험해 보다/ mandatory = 의무적인, 법에 정해진
외국어 공부가 대학에서 의무화 되어야 하나요?1. Learning to Think Is More Important Than Learning a Language
I want to be challenged in the way I think about an issue, not in the way I express that thinking.
2. Studying a Language in College Should Depend on Your Interests
Learning another language takes time and dedication; it’s hard and if you don’t want to do it,
you’re probably not going to. We'd be better off making it mandatory in elementary school.
3. Americans Today Can’t Afford Not to Know Another Language
Universities need to mandate the study of a foreign language so that Americans are able to compete in
a growing, competitive job market.
Sample Essay
Learning to Think Is More Important Than Learning a Language
High school students look forward to college as a place where they are free to choose what they want to study and what career path they want to take. While learning a foreign language theoretically presents a valuable opportunity to communicate or think in a different way, a foreign language requirement is problematic. First, it assumes that the same process of learning new “languages” and ways of thinking can’t be accessed by simply studying a different discipline; and second, that students will learn a language well enough to actually experience a culture. My own experience suggests that this isn’t the case.
Learning thinking skills, or even communication, isn’t unique to foreign language classes. While it may be true that argumentation differs across cultures (in Laos, arguments may be less direct than in India), it is also true that a physicist argues a point differently from a literary theorist. It isn’t just actual words or the syntax of the writing that changes, but the actual ways of making an argument.
The level that high school students reach even after years in a foreign language course can make real fluency seem unattainable. As an American living overseas, I see that the gap between fluency and the level in classes is even clearer. Growing up in Poland, I was immersed in the culture and picked up the language naturally. I was able to communicate easily, and understood cultural references because I had made that culture — nursery rhymes and all — my own. Now, living in Laos, after studying French for 11 years, I still can’t fully understand the jokes my French classmates make on the soccer field. Though I learn a lot about other cultures through foreign language classes, have I learned more through my other classes or life experience? I think so.
In foreign language class, we have the chance to discuss important current events and global issues — an opportunity we don’t have in many courses. Our language level, however, often makes expressing nuances of opinions difficult. Taking courses other than foreign languages, though maybe not as obviously cultural, gives students a chance to explore new or foreign ideas with the basics of communication already in place. I want to be challenged in the way I think about an issue, not in the way I express that thinking. At the same time, a foreign language can be a great area of exploration, but I suspect the classroom isn't the best place to really learn it.
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