Here at VIF, we focus heavily on language acquisition as part of an overall global education. One of the best ways for students to learn a new language is to participate in an immersion program. VIF's immersion program, Splash, teaches language through international teachers. Children benefit from learning a world language from native speakers by gaining an authentic accent and understanding idioms and culture that non-native speakers could not teach.
While immersion has been growing in popularity in the U.S. educational system, it has a more vested history in other parts of the world. For example, Canada has taught French immersion in its schools since the 1960s. Many language programs in the U.S. have adopted Canada's model for teaching other languages such as Spanish and Mandarin.
Another country that has a strong emphasis on language development through immersion is Costa Rica. Costa Rica has had a long tradition and focus on education. In 1948, President Jose Figueres abolished the army and vowed to make education the focus of Costa Rica. Since then, there has been steady growth in schools.
Many international companies such as the Standard Fruit Company, Chiquita Banana, Dole, Procter and Gamble, and Intel are located in Costa Rica. These companies provide jobs for locals, Americans, and other foreign nationals. The need to ensure quality education for the family members of these business' employees is paramount.
As an alternative to public schools, whose facilities and resources are typically very limited, private and charter schools emerged. Schools in the private sector range from International Schools with full English immersion and a U.S. curriculum base, to partial immersion and bilingual schools with varying degrees of English or other language instruction such as French, German, Hebrew, and even Italian.
Immersion programs are now part of the menu of the Costa Rican educational system with the main focus on development of the English language. There are well over 100 private schools in Costa Rica with a population of about 4.5 million students.
In response to the growing need to staff the schools, the Costa Rican university system has allowed multiple programs for training early childhood, elementary, and secondary teachers with an emphasis on English, French or bilingual education. In the last few years, there has also been a growing market for graduate programs in Costa Rica including programs from American universities like Framingham. As a result, there is a cadre of education professionals who understand the requirements of U.S. based educational systems including the rigor, methods, and strategies that make up the general educational practices observed in the U.S.
Language education is of such high importance to Costa Rica, that the Costa Rican government has expressed its desire for English to become a common language in the region. They see bilingualism as important in growing their economy and global presence.
While many schools here in the U.S. are pushing for better language education, we still lag behind many parts of the world in emphasizing the importance of multilingualism. Parents and educators should take a stand in demanding that world language education be a core component of every child's education. Other countries, including Costa Rica, have created a foundation for bilingualism through their immersion education. With the help of informed parents and educators, the United States can do the same.
--Kevin