Why?+Research+says..

Looking for research and quotes to back up your case? Here are some to start you off - please add more as you come across them:
Don't forget the fantastic LLAS free to download document '700 Reasons for Studying languages' click for link || click to link || and separate 2008 HEFCE report || **People who learn a foreign language earn an extra £3,000 a year** - a total of £145,000 over their lifetime. Companies are prepared to pay workers earning the national average of £25,818 as much as 12% more if they speak or learn a foreign language. For higher earners, the figures are even more startling. Those earning £45,000 could see a potential cash boost of 20%, amounting to an extra £9,000 a year or £423,000 over a lifetime....In addition, a survey of 270 dating agencies found that people who learn or speak a foreign language are also more attractive to the opposite sex. Britons who speak a foreign language were rated more highly because they are easier to match with partners as they are considered to be more intelligent and sexier. click to link and for the HEFCE report click here || **Second language study benefits higher order, abstract and creative thinking** * Individuals who learn a second language are more creative and better at solving complex problems than those who do not. (Bamford & Mizokawa, 1991) **Second language learning enriches and enhances cognitive development** * Research indicates that children who are exposed to a foreign language at a young age achieve higher levels of cognitive development. (Bialystok & Hakuta 1994; Fuchsen 1989) click to link || click to link || They found learning other languages altered grey matter - the area of the brain which processes information - in the same way exercise builds muscles. || BBC News article click to link || Same report referred to in 'My Health News' The Guardian and others || National Geographic Report click to link || The ability to speak a second language isn’t the only thing that distinguishes bilingual people from their monolingual counterparts—their brains work differently, too. Research has shown, for instance, that children who know two languages more easily solve problems that involve misleading cues. A new study published in //Psychological Science// reveals that knowledge of a second language—even one learned in adolescence—affects how people read in their native tongue. The findings suggest that after learning a second language, people never look at words the same way again.... || Scientific American article click to link || click to link || Sept 1999, || "Let me suggest one other way to raise standards. I believe that in this new economy every high school student should be close to fluent in a foreign language when he or she graduates. We should begin teaching foreign languages in our elementary schools, and then in middle schools and high schools. English is a beautiful language and every American student must be a master of it. English is surely a world language. But learning a foreign language exposes young people to new cultures and new horizons and helps them understand English better." || [|Changing the American High School to Fit Modern Times.] || click to link || click to link || see also - click to link ||
 * **Who?** || **What?** || **Where?** ||
 * Michael Gove, October 2011 || **"Understanding a modern foreign language helps you understand English better,"** he says. "The process of becoming fluent in a foreign language reinforces your fluency and understanding of grammar, syntax, sentence structure, verbal precision. There is no one who is fluent in a foreign language who isn't a masterful user of their own language." || Guardian Article
 * Book 'Foreign language and mother tongue' || This academic book argues that **people with more than one language have a different knowledge of their own first language** and moreover a distinctive state of mind //'multicompetence'...// || Google Scholar Books
 * Report commissioned by Michel Thomas
 * Three and a half years after graduating, languages graduates have the highest average salary of all graduates** - according to the 2008 report by HEFCE || webpage referencing report
 * NEA Research, December 2007 The Benefits of Second Language Study Research Findings with Citations || **Second language study benefits academic progress in other subjects**
 * Applying current standard practices of foreign language instruction reinforces English language course content of other coursework. (Curtain & Dahlberg 2004)
 * Learning another language can enhance knowledge of English structure and vocabulary (Curtain & Dahlberg, 2004)
 * Children of color, children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and EFL children make the greatest proportionate achievement gains from foreign language study. (Curtain & Dahlberg 2004)
 * Strong evidence shows that time spent on foreign language study strongly reinforces the core subject areas of reading, English language literacy, social studies and math. (Armstrong & Rogers 1997; Saunders 1998; Masciantonio 1977; Rafferty 1986; Andrade 1989; Kretschmer & Kretschmer 1989)
 * Similar results referenced in an argument for early language learning on BBC Muzzy
 * Language learners show greater cognitive flexibility, better problem solving and higher order thinking skills. (Hakuta 1986)
 * Foreign language study "enhances children’s understanding of how language itself works and their ability to manipulate language in the service of thinking and problem solving." (Cummins 1981)
 * Early language study results in greater skills in divergent thinking and figural creativity. (Landry 1973)
 * Language learners show greater cognitive flexibility, better problem solving and higher order thinking skills. (Hakuta 1986)
 * People who are competent in more than one language consistently outscore monolinguals on tests of verbal and nonverbal intelligence. (Bruck, Lambert, Tucker 1974, Hakuta 1986, Weatherford 1986)
 * Foreign language learners have better listening skills and sharper memories than their monolingual peers. (Lapkin, et al 1990, Ratte 1968) || NEA report citations
 * Arguments for starting to learn a language at a younger age - varied || * "The power to learn a language is so great in the young child that it doesn’t seem to matter how many languages you seem to throw their way....They can learn as many spoken languages as you can allow them to hear systematically and regularly at the same time. Children just have this capacity. Their brain is ripe to do this…there doesn’t seem to be any detriment to....develop[ing] several languages at the same time" according to Dr. Susan Curtiss, UCLA Linguistics professor. (Curtain & Dahlberg 2004)
 * "The learning experiences of a child determine which [neural] connections are developed and which no longer function. That means what is easy and natural for a child – learning a language – can become hard work for an older learner." (Curtain & Dahlberg 2004)
 * Critical Period Hypothesis - information with citations from Wikipedia
 * learning a language early in childhood is actually better for our long-term brain development than learning it after we have “solidified” our primary language skills. (Dartmouth College Study referred to in POSiT Science)
 * Language Learning and the developing brain click to link
 * Advantages to learning a language early - Spanish academy - click to link || Wikipedia click to link ||
 * The Dyslexic Society || **Dyslexia specialists generally agree that dyslexic children should be given an opportunity to learn a foreign language**. In a natural situation, they can learn to speak a foreign language well. Some students even find their dyslexia an advantage because their oral skills are more practised. || Dyslexic Society Website
 * University College, London (via BBC) - Dec 2004 || **Learning a second language "boosts" brain-power, scientists believe...**
 * York University, Toronto, reported in National Geographic - Feb 2011 || **To Stave Off Alzheimer's, Learn a Language?** Talk about the power of words—speaking at least two languages may slow dementia in the aging brain, new research shows.
 * Scientific American, 2010 || **Learning a Language** **Improves knowledge and understanding of mother tongue:**
 * POSiT Science || C**ountries that teach their children multiple languages from pre-adolescence onward produce citizens with more linguistically developed brains.** || Article with links to citations
 * US Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley
 * US National Report "College Bound Seniors: The 1992 Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers" || The College Entrance Examination Board reported that students who averaged 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 4 or more years in any other subject area. In addition, **//the average mathematics score for individuals who had taken 4 or more years of foreign language study was identical to the average score of those who had studied 4 years of mathematics//**. These findings are consistent with College Board profiles for previous years. || article referencing report
 * Special Needs Website || Reflective Curricula - Thinking Skills In Modern Foreign Languages - Here is a series of online and printed references dedicated to the use of thinking skills in the teaching of MFL. A short description accompanies each entry. || website
 * American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages || ...children who study a foreign language, even when this second language study takes time away from the study of mathematics, outperform (on standardized tests of mathematics) students who do not study a foreign language and have more mathematical instruction during the school day...
 * How does language learning support academic achievement click to link
 * How does language learning provide cognitive benefits to students click to link || Inter view with citations

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