EVIDENCE #1a: Leopold, Wendy. (April 30,2012). "Bilingualism Fine-Tunes Hearing, Enhances Attention - Dual language speakers better able to encode basic language sounds and patterns", Northwestern Now, Northwestern University. Retrieved from https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2012/04/kraus-bilingualism-music

DESCRIPTION:

Second language learner proponents have long touted the benefits of bilingualism for cross-cultural understanding and professional and personal opportunities. Recent research adds to that by proving that dual language learning augments the brain's functioning. For this standard I present images of diverse experiences I had in France from 1985-1987, dovetailed with an analysis/reflection through the lens of an important study highlighting the positive effects of foreign language learning for the brain.

ANALYSIS/REFLECTION:

My academic, social and personal experiences in France allowed me to develop deep competencies in the French language and broaden my global awareness and understanding immensely. While a student in Paris, I also worked as a "fille au pair" and a waitress. I developed a small close group of French friends from an announcement I responded to that was posted on a bulletin board at L'Institut Catholique. Someone was looking for an anglophone speaker to practice English with in exchange for practicing French. These person-to-person interactions helped immensely to put into practice the academic French language learning I was doing.

My first interaction with the French language and culture was in 5th grade at Port Washington elementary school in Port Washington, New York. I adored my teacher and made a good friend in the class named Marie-Laure who was French. It was only later, my first year of college, in 1983, that I started to study French because of my desire to work in international relations.

One cannot dispute that there are multiple benefits of learning another language on both a personal and societal level. In an article entitled, Bilingualism Fine-Tunes Hearing, Enhances Attention - Dual language speakers better able to encode basic language sounds and patterns, April 2012, by Wendy Leopold, the author reviews a Northwestern University study with

the first "biological evidence that bilinguals’ rich experience with language “fine-tunes” their auditory nervous system and helps them juggle linguistic input in ways that enhance attention and working memory".

The exciting findings by Northwestern bilingualism expert Viorica Marian and auditory neuroscientist Nina Kraus show how bilingualism affects the brain and boosts cognitive abilities. They found that “bilingualism serves as enrichment for the brain and has real consequences when it comes to executive function, specifically attention and working memory."

Thus, in addition to multicultural understanding, dual language learning is great brain exercise. For my learners, it is valuable that I have lived and worked in both Paris, France and Yaounde, Cameroon. I share these experiences with them in multiple instructional activities combining other curricular content areas and real life experiences. Fluency in French opens doors to many academic, professional and personal opportunities. French is the language of international relations (which is why I initially learned it), the language of the arts and used among many francophone trading partners.

Myriad learning tasks I employ reference the francophone world in my classes from "Les Lions:, the Cameroonian soccer team, to the French presidential election in 2017, to the chocolate trade in West Africa, to the historical Congo Square in Louisiana, once a French colony. Learners become better global citizens and gain transferable cross-cultural skills through learning a second language. Moreover, the research above biological proves that bilingualism also helps grow brain synapses and thus learning.

This shows my competency in this standard because of my vast personal experience learning French, instructional activities planned around francophone resources, and research that depicts the neurological advantages of foreign language acquisition. While teaching French at Edmunds Middle School, I had hoped to take my French students on a day trip to Quebec. However, due to logistics, it did not work out. In the future I would like to do this. Canada, just to our north has 9.2 million francophones, 6 million of whom live in Quebec. What a great learning opportunity!

EVIDENCE #2: Yaounde, Cameroon 1989-1990

EVIDENCE #2a: Thompson, Amy. Dec 11, 2016. "How Learning a New Language Improves Tolerance". The Conversation, University of South Florida. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/how-learning-a-new-language-improves-tolerance-68472

DESCRIPTION: In this section, I present images from living in West Africa from 1989-1990, as well as an image of a class with youth in Burlington, Vermont. I had the opportunity to live, work and study in Cameroon through a graduate Rotary Scholarship. I had previously been working in Washington D.C. following college graduation. Positions included an internship with The African-American Institute, French teacher at the Emerson Institute and new business assistant with Chemonics, an international development firm. I was eager to have the opportunity to get to Africa for some on the ground experience as my interest in the region had been growing.

I will also refer to an article from University of Florida professor, Amy Thompson entitled, "How Learning a New Language Improves Tolerance". With racial tensions high in the United States, more tolerance is greatly needed. The societal advantages of second language learning cannot be overstated to meet this need by growing cultural competency.

ANALYSIS/REFLECTION:

In today’s increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, proficiency in other languages is a key skill that gives one the opportunity to engage with the world in a more immediate and meaningful way. Of vital importance, and a point often overlooked however, is that second language learning also serves to instill tolerance and build cultural understanding.

According to Thompson, learning a second language "opens people’s eyes to a way of doing things in a way that’s different from their own, which is called “cultural competence.” Our society is in need of greater cultural competency to embrace differences as opposed to being afraid of them. Second language learning includes learning about the cultures of the target language and can help learners gain intelligence and understanding about others different from themselves. In fact, I have found that it is during times living abroad that I have learned the most about myself as well.

My knowledge of French allowed me to say yes to many experiences and opportunities in Washington D.C. and then Cameroon. I worked for Chemonics as a new business consultant in Yaounde. This entailed attending meetings and functions with governmental officials and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) staff. I worked with CARE, an international relief agency, attended conferences on natural resources, family planning, took university courses, and also carried out a community development project as referenced earlier.

Today, these rich experiences contribute to my teaching and work with youth in my community, some from French speaking countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. To my learners, I am able to share a repertoire of experiences and support them as they uncover their interests with suggestions of additional resources and opportunities for French language and francophone cultural acquisition.

As I develop as an educator, I look forward to organizing opportunities for authentic social interactions in French for my learners. Teaching tolerance goes without saying, yet, I will say that it is an important role a teacher plays for her own learners and society as a whole. This reflects my mastery of this standard because of the relevant work-life experiences I have had and linking that to the important lessons of tolerance that are gained through second language learning.

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