Foreign Languages Should Be Taught More Intensively At German Elementary Schools

Essay from the year 2008 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Other, grade: 1,3, University of Trier, language: English, abstract: At German elementary schools a development in teaching focus in the last years should actually have taken place: there has officially been a partly shift from traditional subjects, such as mathematics to modern languages, such as English or French. Fifteen years ago, however, foreign languages were rarely taught at German elementary schools, and if they were given room in the children’s timetable, they played only a subordinate part in it. On the contrary, foreign languages are included in the timetable today, but many schools decided to teach them integrated into the other subjects. Honestly speaking, this seems to be a really good solution, but during a work experience at a German elementary school, I discovered that none of the three or four teachers of one class feels responsible for carrying out the task. Talking to the responsible teachers, they admitted being aware of this deplorable situation but do not want to focus more on languages needing the time to teach the basics of the other subjects. I definitely cannot approve of this because there is an abundance of aspects why foreign language teaching should start at the latest at elementary school and should also be very intense to secure the best development of the child as possible, which can be proven by answering opposition, explaining the main reasons, naming the positive results, and giving examples.