Blair will expand the number of foreign languages it offers by one to two new languages next year, according to foreign language resource teacher and French teacher Arlette Loomis. The possible additions include Chinese, Japanese or Arabic, or a combination of them, Loomis said.
The expanded curriculum would increase the scope of Blair's current foreign language program and better reflect the school's cultural diversity, Loomis said.
Loomis is currently spearheading the effort to add the new languages to the French, Spanish and Latin courses already offered. During the week of Nov. 27, Loomis distributed a survey to all freshmen, sophomores and juniors through the social studies department that asked for input on which new foreign languages students would take. The choices included Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, German, Russian and Ancient Greek.
As of Friday, Dec. 8, 35 percent of students surveyed showed interest in Italian, 22 percent showed interest in Chinese, 20 percent showed interest in Japanese, 13 percent showed interest in Arabic, 9 percent showed interest in German and Russian and 7 percent showed interest in Ancient Greek. However, Loomis does not want the Blair foreign language department to only focus on romance languages and so she will be pushing to implement Chinese, Arabic or Japanese next year.
Loomis said that the department will offer one or two languages as a pilot program next year, but can add more in the future. The smaller number of choices will focus the curriculum, ensuring the quality of Blair's programs while also expanding choices for students. "It's better to know one language thoroughly than to get a smattering of languages," Loomis said.
Loomis hopes that the new language courses will foster increased intercultural awareness. "For me, Blair is a microcosm of the world because we have students coming from so many different countries. I hope this will encourage students to want to know more about and understand Blair students of other origins," she said.
Other MCPS schools currently offer all of the languages on the survey, except Ancient Greek. Since the curricula already exist, adding new languages to Blair should be straightforward, said MCPS foreign language supervisor Judith Klimpl. For Ancient Greek, a new curriculum for the language will have to be created, Klimpl said.
There are still many obstacles to expanding the language program before next year, Loomis said. The choices as to what languages Blair can offer ultimately fall down to scheduling logistics, finding qualified teachers and appropriating funds.
Loomis believes that all of the languages listed on the survey, especially Arabic and Mandarin Chinese, are important for students to learn in order to succeed in today's global community. "It will be an enriching experience for the whole school to have these new languages [because they] reflect the perspective that we are all part of one big world," she said. "A language is an opening to culture, and beyond that, understanding."
Assistant Principal Linda Wanner is enthusiastic about the new languages because she believes they will benefit all of Blair's population. "Gone are the days when everyone expected you to know one language and to stay in one place," she said.
In a similar move, the U.S. Department of Education recently allotted $12.9 million in grants to 22 school districts to fund "critical" foreign language instruction. "Languages like Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi and Farsi are not only essential for trade in the global economy, but also to our national security," Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said in an Oct. 13 press release. "When it comes to foreign languages, our students get started too late — and too few study critical languages. We can and must turn this around."
Before Blair moved to its new location, the foreign language department offered German and Chinese via televised instructors, but these programs were soon disbanded because of logistics and inferior technology, Loomis said. The foreign language department decided to strengthen its Spanish, French and Latin classes and pioneer Spanish for Native Speakers. "Now we are ready to expand and offer new languages," she said. "Now is the right time."