2. 外语
  3. Some parents are sending their preschool age children to take foreign language courses, with a view to developing their kids’ fo

Some parents are sending their preschool age children to take foreign language courses, with a view to developing their kids’ fo

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问题     Some parents are sending their preschool age children to take foreign language courses, with a view to developing their kids’ foreign language skills the earlier the better. The following are excerpts about this trend. Read it carefully and write your response in NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
    1. summarize briefly both articles;
    2. give your comment.
Excerpt 1
    In the first week of school, Schools Superintendent Anthony Bivona went back to kindergarten and first grade. And he learned a couple new words—in Spanish.
    For the first year, Center Elementary’s 500 or so kindergarten and first-graders are learning a foreign language.
    Brookfield is one of the few traditional public school districts in the Western Connecticut region to expand world languages to the kindergarten level. It is one of 10 in the state.
    Sienna Katz, the youngest daughter of multilingual school board member Victor Katz, came home from her first day at Center able to speak seven different words, including her name. On the second day, she came home singing a song in Spanish.
    "At that age, they absorb it like a sponge," said Katz, who works as a software engineer for an international company, where he is called upon to speak a variety of languages.
    An outspoken advocate for expanding the district’s foreign language program, Katz said the benefit is unquestionable, with many studies showing proof that academic performance of children is advanced by early language learning.
    The National Network of Early Language Learning says acquiring those early literacy and cognitive skills helps youngsters with standardized tests, teaches them positive attitudes toward different cultures and makes it easier to acquire broader language skills later in life.
Excerpt 2
    Parents in South Korea who put their pre-school-age children into English language classes are wasting their money and could be slowing their educational development.
    This is the message delivered by an education pressure group, World Without Worries About Private Education. It has distributed 200,000 copies of booklet, assessing 12 common misconceptions about the value of starting English learning early with contributions from education experts, commentators and parents.
    The main message in the booklet is that very young children make little progress in English when they are put into special English-medium kindergartens by their parents.
    Kim Seung-hyun, policy director of World Without Worries, says that children starting English classes at eight or nine years can learn in six months what a child starting at five has learned in two years.
    World Without Worries recommends that children start learning English from age 10, by which time they are confident in their first language, have well-developed cognitive skills and are motivated to learn.
    Kim also claims that research comparing the development of children at English-medium kindergartens with their counterparts at pre-schools who eschew foreign languages supports this case.
    "The results showed that children who go to normal kindergartens scored higher in language ability and creativeness. The amount of time and energy children devote to English is harmful to the development of essential skills."
选项
答案 Kids Needn’t Learn a Foreign Language in Kindergarten Nowadays it has become a trend that pre-school-age children take foreign language courses in kindergartens. Advocates believe that early language learning can improve children’ academic performance and give them an edge on standardized test, developing positive attitudes to different cultures and acquisition of language skills. An education group in South Korea, however, warns that putting their preschool-age children into foreign language classes parents are wasting their money and could be slowing children’s educational development. Instead, this education group recommends that children start learning English from age 10. In my view, early language learning is an unnecessary gesture which burdens children and distorts the nature of kindergarten education. To start with, premature contact with a foreign language could impose pressure upon children. Childhood is a valuable period of time for carefree adventures and giving free rein to imagination. Language acquisition, though an important part, need not be excessively pursued by sending children to a fancy and pricey kindergarten. This gesture, however justified or well-intentioned, overwhelms children with the obligation to master a foreign language at an age when all sorts of possibilities remain open for equal exploration. Moreover, the primary task of preschool education is to initiate children into good communication, rather than language impartation. A kindergarten provides probably the first platform in which children learn to talk, share and play with their peers. It’s a place where they are introduced to the idea of interaction and empathy. Overemphasizing foreign language skills instead of the sense of empathy at such an early age is no doubt putting the cart before the horse. To conclude, the parental urge to create a linguistic talent, although understandable, often results in pressure on the child, let alone financial burden on the family. Therefore, it is best to let nature take its course when a flower is still in a bud. Kindergartens, after all, are not language training centers.
解析     材料由两个选段构成，主要围绕“孩子在幼儿园学外语”的优缺点展开阐述。
    选段一主要介绍孩子在幼儿园学外语的好处，包括提高学业表(advanced academic performance)、教导孩子以积极的态度看待不同文化(teaches them positive attitudes toward different cultures)、将来更容易习得更多的语言技能(makes it easier to acquire broader language skills later in life)等。
    选段二则主要是基于韩国一个教育组织的观点，介绍了孩子在幼儿园学外语的负面效应，包括：浪费金钱(are wasting their money)、延缓孩子的学业发展(slowing their educational development)、进步不大(make little progress)等。
    开头：引出学龄前儿童学外语的现象，分别概括两段材料的不同观点，并在此基础上提出自己的观点，即父母不用专门让孩子在幼儿园学外语。
    主体：分两点阐述理由。
    1．过早接触外语会加重孩子的负担，并说明负担加重的理由：孩子在幼儿园应该以玩为主，不是以学外语为主。
    2．幼儿园教育的初衷不是学习外语，而是培养人际交往和“感同身受”的能力。
    结尾：重申观点，幼儿园不是语言培训机构，父母不必操之过急。
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