Purdue News

June 1, 1987 JOHNNY TAKES SPANISH--ENGLISH IMPROVES West Lafayette, Ind.-- While the brightest students are usually the ones taking foreign languages, a new study reveals that average students might benefit even more. "In this study, children of average intelligence who took a foreign language later scored higher on the reading section of achievement tests than those who did not take the foreign language," says Alan Garfinkel, associate professor of Spanish and education a-t Purdue University. Garfinkel and graduate student Kenneth Tabor conducted the study with 672 school children from the Tudington, Mich., school district, where Tabor teaches Spanish. "Other studies have confirmed that students who take foreign languages tend to do better on achievement tests, but traditionally it's been the brighter kids who are encouraged to take foreign languages in the first place," Garfinkel says. He says students in this study were tested in grade four, prior to taking the foreign-language course, and again in grade six, after taking the course. Students were given the Stanford Achievement Test and the Otis Lennon School Ability Test. According to -the Purdue study, the students who benefited most from a year or two of a foreign language were not those who were the brightest--their test scores increased only slightly--but those of average intelligence. The average student who took a foreign language scored 14-15 items higher (out of 120) than those of equal intelligence whom did not. The test results, the investigators contend, suggest that we may not be encouraging enough students to take foreign languages. They point out that bright students--those generally college-bound--are usually counseled to take foreign languages while others often are not. "We have an untapped resource in foreign languages--one that can be used not only to teach another language, but to improve ability in our own language," says Tabor, who is former coordinator of Secondary English and Foreign Language in the Ludington Area School District. For Garfinkel, the results are not really surprising. "For years I've heard students say, 'Gee, I first really learned grammar when I took French."' He says children of average intelligence are especially likely to benefit from lessons in vocabulary and grammar presented in foreign-language classes. While some communities have embraced foreign-language study for elementary-school children, others have shied away from the prospect, often for financial reasons, Tabor says. "It might be that we're missing the boat. Perhaps we should be re-evaluating our approach to foreign languages--and encouraging many more students to take them." Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@uns.purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page