SSRC World Languages

flyer for Susie Gross non-district



*Promoting Fluency in the* *World Language Classroom* *with TPRS* by Susan Gross Mesa Public Schools Poston Junior High Media Center Saturday, April 19 8:30am-3:00pm $99 for out of district teachers bring a sack lunch & drink flyer for out of district teachers registration form for out of district teachers For additional information, please contact Robin Young at 480-472-0268.
OUR STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY
We believe that language is central to the understanding of culture. In a changing world, a knowledge of foreign languages and cultures is essential. In addition, the ability to communicate in other languages gives one access to the wider social, political, and economic world. The study of other languages also develops greater competence in and awareness of one's own language and culture.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO LEARN A SECOND LANGUAGE?
In its 1992 report, College Bound Seniors: The 1992 profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, the college entrance Examination Board reported that students who average 4 or more years of foreign language study scored higher on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) than those who had studied four or more years in any other subject area. Under "Long-Term Preparation" the College Board says, "Admission tests emphasize critical reading skills and vocabulary strength. . .Studying a foreign language can help a student figure out new words." Nancy Rhodes, Executive Director of CAL (Center for Applied Linguistics), points to research among third and fourth graders in Louisiana. Students who studied French scored higher in English testing than students in the control group who did not. Also, psycholinguists have found recently that a person who speaks two languages has a more extensively utilized cerebral range and a wider intellectual ability than the monolingual. Would you like to have a better understanding of your own English language through increased grammar knowledge, increased ability to pick up new and valuable words, improved capacity to interact orally with other people? Would you like to open up your tolerance and reasoning skills with a sensitivity to other cultures and how they think? How about increasing your memory and your ability to negotiate the meaning of what others say? In an age of global business, communications and friendships and conflict, would you like to know your geography a little better? Learn a foreign language.