Pre-Proposal: My Initial Thoughts

   Hello everyone. Today I began writing my argument proposal, and I've actually had a bit more trouble organizing my thoughts than I had originally anticipated. My essay topic is centered around the teaching foreign language in schools. Since I'm double-majoring in International Business and German Studies, you can guess that I support foreign language requirements in schools. Since we have to defend our position from one specific aspect, I was originally planning to argue that funding foreign language programs is a sound investment, while de-funding these programs does long term damage to the United States, despite its short term benefits. However, after doing some research at home over the last few days, I have decided to change my argument. I have decided to argue my point based on a new method. I think I'll present opinions from both ends of the spectrum, but instead of inserting my own opinions, I will analyze the credibility of those who give their opinions.
   This new thought came into my head as I was trying to sum up the research I had found for my research proposal. As I looked at the sources I had found during my internet search, I had stuck to online newspaper articles, book summaries, and other sources that would be considered credible in the eyes of a scholar. But I realized that, despite having searched for about two days through all these diferent kinds of sources, I hadn't found very many arguments against foreign language programs. Changing my tactics, I began to search "Arguments against foreign language education" as opposed to simply "foreign language education." A simple switch, and it helped me find a helium.com debate (here is the link: http://www.helium.com/debates/124525-should-all-school-pupils-be-made-to-learn-at-least-one-foreign-language) which led me to the first arguments against them that I could find. It was after a while that I thought to myself, If an online blog like Helium.com is the first place I find arguments against foreign language, then perhaps I should search more informal websites to find similar perspectives. When searching Facebook, I found a lot of fan-pages and groups with titles similar to WE SPEAK ENGLISH IN AMERICA!, or We Are In America, Speak English, the latter of which has over 18000 fans. Since these pages have many copycats, it's safe to assume that a lot of people share this opinion. I then began to wonder to myself, If so many people have this opinion, why was it so difficult to find it on the internet? After a few moments, it came to me. Why would scholarly sources like reputable newspapers (Washingtom Times, New York Post, etc.), national/international foundations (ACTFL, VOA, etc.), large companies (GE, among many others), and even our own federal government discourage learning foreign languages? Since these groups all deal largely on international levels, they promote foreign language in the classroom.
   But why then do some people feel that learning foreign languages should be de-emphasized in American schools?  Upon analyzing the origins of the opposing viewpoints, (keep in mind that pro-foreign language arguments came from newspapers, scholarly journals, and other reputable sources of knowledge, while Anti-foreign language opinions came largely from social media sites like Facebook and Helium) I realized that support for either side seems to originate from whether there is an understanding of the value of foreign language on a global scale. People opposed to foreign language in public schools do not seem to understand that America is falling behind as a worldly influence. They believe that Americans can continue to do well in international markets knowing only English, whereas scholars, journalists, and politicians understand the importance of bi/multi-lingualism. This is why the argument of whether or not public schools should promote foreign language is not a question of relevance or ethics, but basically a shouting-match between two sides of America. On one side are educated scholars, business-people, politicians, and immigrants, all people with wider perspective. On the opposite side are English-speaking Americans who fail to understand the importance of foreign languages, whether through general misunderstanding, blind faith in America's superiority, or stubbornness at working to understand other people and cultures.

I realize that this theory is highly watered-down, and very general in terms, but keep in mind it's only a short blog. My essay, once completed, will hopefully explore all of these thoughts much more in-depth. But until then, I leave you with this thought; Will America continue to be a dominant force in the world economy, or is possible that we can fall out of favor with other countries, international businesses, and people elsewhere in the world, leading to further economic problems?

Keep in mind, I do not mean to insult anyone at all. I'm only trying to spur thought about this subject. Feel free to leave your comments, questions, or information, but please remember to keep it civil. =)

-W