Chapter 2: Looking Ahead

Moving forward, the foreign language program at ICCSD has several directions it could go. Generally though, students and teachers both agree that cutting back foreign languages even further is not the way to go.

“If you choose to cut languages, that speaks to your values. That says that we are not interested in learning about and accepting other cultures and other languages,” Ceurvorst said. “I personally feel like that’s a really poor education to give to our youth.”

Although money is primarily the biggest barrier for expanding to more foreign languages in the school district, Noble thinks that it is essential to give students a choice in their language options.

“There should always be two or more [languages offered] because if there’s just one then there’s no choice,” Noble said.

Casey Wilmesmeier is a Spanish teacher, but she used to be the sole German teacher at City High before the German program got cut. She believes that adding more languages isn’t necessarily the only way that the foreign language program could be expanded. 

“In the United States, we start language instruction really late,” Wilmesmeier said.“It’s something that would be much better to start much earlier.”

Wilmesmeier explained that starting younger could be another viable possibility in expanding the foreign language program.

“I think it was in the 90s, students used to have exploratory French, Spanish and German in fifth and sixth grade. Then they would start seriously taking one of them in seventh grade,” Wilmesmeier said.

Ceurvorst agrees that an exploratory program would be beneficial to students in learning foreign languages. 

“At that developmental age, learning a new language is something that you have to develop study skills for, and you have to learn about dedication and putting yourself out there taking risks, things like that,” Ceurvorst said.

According to Noble, an exploratory program would also give students a better chance to try out a language and discover if it is something they actually would like to pursue.

“If they start earlier than they have a chance to figure out whether or not they like their language and be able to switch,” Noble said.

Expanding to teach children languages at a younger age would not only help improve fluency but help them in other parts of their lives too. According to research at Northwestern College in Iowa, foreign languages taught at the elementary level help with English literacy, enhance problem-solving and attentional control, and are more likely to help students become proficient speakers in the language because of earlier exposure.

Regardless of whether students actually start learning languages at a younger age, Ceurvorst thinks that Education about language options is essential to allow students to make more informed decisions.  

“I think that we should be giving them more information so that they can make a conscientious choice that’s not based on myths or whatever random things they heard or their parents’ particular experience,” Ceurvorst said.

The lack of education when students are choosing languages is what often leads to the misinformation that makes people afraid to take languages other than Spanish.

“There’s a stigma around taking French classes,” Piker said. “It’s seen as more difficult, that the teachers are going to be less fun, that it’s not as useful of a language. There are a million reasons that people come up with as to why it’s a worse language than Spanish.”

The biggest barrier that foreign languages face has always been funding. Foreign language programs constantly have to prove that they are important in students’ lives and worth keeping. According to Ceurvorst, that is something that school districts should be advocating for when their funding is being decided.

“If school districts are not also lobbying our state legislature for the funds for language, then we’re not going to get that either,” Ceurvorst said. “I don’t think anybody goes to the State House from the district and says, ‘our language program is going to get cut if you don’t increase our school budget.’ I don’t think anybody’s advocating for that.”

Both Ceurvorst and Piker agree that the district should not provide languages for the sake of meeting the language requirement, but for helping students become better global citizens.

“The point of school is to make you a better citizen. You can be a better citizen and a more caring person if you know more about different people.” Piker said.