Some people believe that schools should teach foreign languages for primary school children. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

It is argued that primary school
students
should learn foreign
languages
as a compulsory subject in their
curriculum
. Despite the disadvantages involved, I am of the opinion that
this
development is generally more favourable.
To begin
with, there is a considerable drawback to teaching foreign
languages
to primary school
students
. The main one is it adds to their already burdensome volume of schoolwork. As these elementary
students
are always subjected to a hectic
curriculum
with the mounting of homework and in-class assignments, the addition of one more subject even makes them more difficult to study effectively.
For example
, the Japanese Ministry of Education recently attempted to incorporate English into the national
curriculum
for primary schools.
However
,
this
policy received a strong objection from parents because they complained that their children are already stressed with a heavy workload from other core subjects.
On the other hand
, learning foreign
languages
at an early age brings certain benefits to children.
Firstly
, they can be exposed to new and diverse cultures. As language is a defining characteristic of a nation’s culture,
students
can
subsequently
acquire a greater understanding of how citizens of that country communicate with others and how their society functions culturally.
Secondly
, learning a foreign language can assist in developing
students
’ cognitive abilities. In doing so, they will learn how to recognize complex patterns and use critical thinking to make sense of the new knowledge they are acquiring.
Hence
, these skills are beneficial for a child’s education as they serve to expand the thinking abilities of the brain. In conclusion,
while
adding foreign
languages
to the
curriculum
as a core subject creates more pressure on primary school
students
, I assert that
this
approach has more merits because it can provide young
students
with new knowledge about foreign cultures and help sharpen their cognitive skills.
Submitted by nguyenlyacbd on

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Topic Vocabulary:
  • foreign languages
  • primary school
  • advantages
  • disadvantages
  • develops
  • cognitive skills
  • enhances
  • cultural awareness
  • improves
  • communication skills
  • increases
  • future opportunities
  • promotes
  • multi-lingualism
  • affect
  • learning
  • subjects
  • qualified
  • language teachers
  • lack of
  • time
  • resources
  • difficulties
  • maintaining
  • language proficiency
  • potential
  • unequal distribution
  • opportunities
  • overall perspective
  • properly implemented
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