Đề bài: Many people believe that all children should learn at least one foreign language at school. Discuss and give your own opinions?
Brainstorm: 50/50
a. Agree:
- Global integration -> a growing number of international corporations
-> accelerating trend towards requiring high command of a foreign language of employees
-> learning a second language: gain an advantage over other candidates
-> secure a stable job with lucrative income
Ex: VN - English certificates (IELTS, TOEIC,...)
-> appreciation from recruiters
-> stand a higher chance of landing a job + promising promotion prospects
b. Disagree:
- Not everyone was born with innate linguistic abilities
-> forcing all students: those pupils would be put under an excessive amount of pressure
-> act as a strong disincentive to endeavoring for these students
-> academic performance: deteriorate
- Instead: foreign language classes should be encouraged as an optional subject
-> in tandem with: students should be entitled to opt for the subjects they have a passion for
-> have strong motivation to make an effort to learn
-> achieve higher grades at school
My essay:
It is widely believed that it is imperative for students to learn one or more foreign languages at school. While this can be valid to a certain extent, I would argue that a second language should be an optional subject rather than a compulsory one.
The notion that students should be required to learn at least one language rather than their mother tongue is largely justifiable. The key rationale in favor of this view is that nowadays linguistic skills are of paramount importance on account of increasing global integration. This development has led to a growing number of international corporations, contributing to an accelerating trend towards requiring high command of a foreign language of employees. As a result, learning a second language at schools can help students to gain an advantage over other candidates in the competition of securing a stable job with lucrative income later. Vietnam perfectly exemplifies this situation. In recent years, English certificates such as IELTS and TOEIC play an pivotal role for students to gain appreciation from recruiters. Having those certificates, job seekers would stand a higher chance of landing a job as well as having promising promotion prospects.
However, in lieu of the aforementioned practice, I contend that pupils should not be compelled to learn a second language at school. The underlying reason behind this view is that not everyone was born with innate linguistic abilities. Therefore, if all students including those who are obtuse are forced to learn foreign languages, they would be put under an excessive amount of pressure. In long-term, this can act as a strong disincentive to endeavoring for these students, and thus their academic performances would deteriorate considerably. Instead, it is mandatory that foreign language classes be encouraged as an optional subject. This method should be adopted in tandem with entitling students to opt for the subjects they have a passion for. By this way, pupils would have strong motivation to make an effort to learn and achieve higher grades at school.
In conclusion, while there are several reasons to advocate teaching foreign languages at school to students, I am of the opinion that students should be given the rights to make their own decision whether to study or not.
