Reply to Middle school languages by school?

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Middle school languages by school?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is it worth even attempting Chinese if a child isn't going to become functionally literate without separate classes outside of school?  How much ability to read actual text (not transliteration) is built into the MCPS curricula?[/quote]

I'd heard that the majority of students in these classes are native speakers which makes them very tough for a non-native.[/quote]

Strange how they cater to that language with rigor, leading to more streamlined opportunity for advanced learning in HS, but leave French and Spanish without the same.[/quote]

If "that language" is filled with native speakers, wouldn't they need to have rigor and advanced learning as opposed to a language class this is 50/50 native speakers/learning French or Spanish as a second language? Spanish for speakers of Spanish class is offered in HS. Not sure what exists for French - the natives are probably in a mixed class with non-native students.[/quote]

Spanish for Spanish Speakers is offered in HS, but there is nothing for French, despite a sizeable home Francophone population, with down-county concentrations, and despite the French (and Spanish) Immersion programs continuing from elementary into middle.  But those MS programs lack the rigor employed in MS/HS Chinermse/Mandarin, despite high proficiency/achievement levels in the other languages, which then creates the self-reinforcing exclusionary paradigm, noted in the first two posts of this sub-thread, that tends to accrue the educational value largely to those with home/outside language instruction.

Nice boutique program, there, for "that language" for privileged elements at Hoover, especially those coming from Potomac ES (given the concerns expressed by BRES Chinese/Mandarin Immersion families who note relative difficulty with MS continuation versus those coming from PES, and given the inbounds seat reserve of PES where that does not exist at BRES or for other immersion language sites).

Don't get me wrong.  Having community-serving programs is great.  Having a "this for me but not for thee" paradigm for such, especially with exclusionary socioeconomic overtones, decidedly is not, and MCPS should be addressing the disparity.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics