Language in School: Do students really learn?

I read an opinion piece from the Washington Post, written by a man named Jay Mathews. Mathews was debating whether or not it is useful to offer language classes in high school. While he stated that learning a second language is clearly a useful skill to have, most people take language classes in high school because it's a requirement, not because they actually want to learn. They take a second language to get in to college or to fulfull language requirements for graduation, but all they're really worried about is the grade, not the knowledge that they gain. And do they even really learn that much? Still, these programs are expensive to maintain and they may not be actually doing any good.

I agree that many students only take a foreign language in school because it is some sort of requirement. They aren't necessarily taking the class out of pure curiosity or interest. Because students are often only worried about the grade many don't retain much of their language acquisition after the class ends. This may seem like a waste because then the question is why are we spending all of this money to teach kids something that they aren't going to use or remember?

I must say that my own experience falls somewhere along these lines. My experience is different in that I was always interested in learning Spanish, and that is why I continued taking language classes long after my requirement had been fulfilled. Still, while I would say I demonstrated a commitment to learning the language, I must admit that I feel I've lost a lot of what I learned. I'm not sure how much Spanish I actually remember or am capable of using today. This is somewhat distressing because I think of all the years I studied trying to gain proficiency.

While I may have lost some of my ability to speak Spanish, I still think it was definitely a worthwhile experience. I think it is invaluable to have this exposure to a new language and thus a new culture. This exposure helps to foster understanding and empathy for people around the world and allows us to see things in new ways. For these reasons alone I think that foreign language departments are invaluable.

Also, when you think about it, there are many other subjects taught in school that you will never remember or use again, just as with a foreign language. Yet we still place great emphasis on these subjects, including calculus and chemistry. Honestly, the average person is not going to use their understanding of the periodic table or derivatives on a daily basis. Still, we consider these subjects to be of great importance. We consider this type of exposure to be key in the development of a student, thus why should language exposure be of any less merit?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2010/04/why_waste_time_on_a_foreign_la.html