Should native speakers be allowed to take their first language as a class at Choate?
Though Choate’s answer is yes, some argue that it’s illogical for a student who already “knows” a language to retake it. If you’ve taken Geometry, why take it again? Not only does prior experience speaking a language give native speakers an unfair advantage, but they themselves are likely to gain little from the class. At first glance, it appears that allowing native speakers to take their mother tongue as a class benefits no one.
What does being a native speaker even mean? According to Language Department Head Mr. Georges Chahwan, a native speaker “refers to someone who has used and learned the language in their early childhood.” The person, he said, “has been fully immersed in that language at home, in school and throughout their environment.” By this definition, we are all native speakers of some language. Therefore, all at Choate whose mother tongue is English technically take their first language as a class. Shouldn’t this allowance apply elsewhere?
And so we shouldn’t see native speakers of foreign languages as unfair competition. Rather, we should view them as role models to learn from. A student who grew up in Beijing could share about her culture in a Chinese classroom. A student who was raised speaking Spanish could talk about how the language has shaped his identity. Especially in higher level classes that focus on culture, history, and literature, this sort of knowledge and firsthand experience benefits everyone. These classes also focus on the discussion of plays, stories, or books that often have nothing to do with what one already knows, but rather, personal opinion and understanding. Instead of viewing native speakers as unfairly advantaged, we should do our best to learn from them.
In any case, simply being a native speaker doesn’t mean that one knows the grammatical constructs of her language properly. Native speakers might know verb tenses intuitively, but they might not be able to name them or apply them in writing. As a result, they too, struggle on assessments. A Spanish student may be completely fluent in Spanish but can’t always conjugate verbs, write the most powerful essays, or dissect Spanish texts. Choate’s language classes are still beneficial to the students taking them — regardless if they have grown up speaking the language or not.
Students should, indeed, be able to study their first language at Choate. Languages are linked inherently to culture and understanding the world, and when it comes to this, native speakers have bountiful experiences to share. Having a native speaker in a language class presents us all a challenge to learn and grow.
Graphic by Elaine Zhang/ The Choate News
