Article: Foreign Language Immersion Improves Chances of Student Success

From http://www.voxxi.com/foreign-language-immersion-success

Foreign language immersion improves chances of student success
By John Benson
December 5, 2012

[Joint National Committee for Languages-National Council for Language and International Studies (JNCL-NCLIS) Executive Director William P.] Rivers
admitted data on foreign language immersion of elementary age school children is minimal, but a new study kicked off this past summer in Portland, Ore. by the American Councils for International Education and nonprofit think-tank Rand Corp. The three-year review is being funded by a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.

“The results generally show the more language kids get, the more striking the results are,” Rivers said. “They score better on all sorts of standardized measures, whether it’s first language literacy, mathematics and more. And there’s lots of other data on socio-economic outcome. People who speak a foreign language tend to make more money. Something like 3 percent on average regardless of the field, assuming they also speak English.”

Read more: http://www.voxxi.com/foreign-language-immersion-success