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posted by chromas on Monday March 25 2019, @06:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the ^s([^\w\d\s])(?:.*?[^\\]\1){2} dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Is Computer Code a Foreign Language?

Maryland’s legislature is considering a bill to allow computer coding courses to fulfill the foreign language graduation requirement for high school. A similar bill passed the Florida State Senate in 2017 (but was ultimately rejected by the full Legislature), and a federal version proposed by Senators Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, and Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, is being considered in Congress.

The animating idea behind these bills is that computer coding has become a valuable skill. This is certainly true. But the proposal that foreign language learning can be replaced by computer coding knowledge is misguided: It stems from a widely held but mistaken belief that science and technology education should take precedence over subjects like English, history and foreign languages.

As a professor of languages and literatures, I am naturally skeptical of such a position. I fervently believe that foreign language learning is essential for children’s development into informed and productive citizens of the world. But even more urgent is my alarm at the growing tendency to accept and even foster the decline of the sort of interpersonal human contact that learning languages both requires and cultivates.

[...] The difference between natural and computer languages is not merely one of degree, with natural languages’ involving vocabularies that are several orders of magnitude larger than those of computer languages. Natural languages aren’t just more complex versions of the algorithms with which we teach machines to do tasks; they are also the living embodiments of our essence as social animals. We express our love and our losses, explore beauty, justice and the meaning of our existence, and even come to know ourselves all through natural languages.


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  • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday March 25 2019, @02:24PM

    by Immerman (3985) on Monday March 25 2019, @02:24PM (#819517)

    PE is valuable to almost everyone, because almost everyone gets insufficient exercise to maintain their body and promote healthy growth, which is especially important in the developing years. The sports-obsession of most PE classes however is completely gratuitous for most people if not outright counterproductive. As a bookish, non-athletic kid who was one of those who probably benefited most from PE, the mandatory being-put-on-display-as-a-loser for an hour every day did nothing good to my self esteem, and cultivated a strong distaste for participating the physical arts that lasted into my early 30s. But there's no reason a good PE class couldn't span dance, hiking, swimming, and many other non-competitive activities that would be less demotivating to those who need the activity the most, as well as introducing kids to a wider range of activities that might pique their interest for the long term. Unfortunately in America at least, PE seems to be mostly a class designed to employ the football coach, and is thoroughly permeated by gladiator culture as a result.

    And music (not just choir) seems to have far-reaching effects into other areas of education, even if we don't understand exactly why.

    Languages though - definitely at least as important. There does seem to be something that happens when you learn a second language well enough to think in it, a liberation of thought from the limits and assumptions of your native language. You can get there by other routes, but learning a second language is probably the easiest way for most people. And there's practical benefit as well if it's a common language - being able to be the person is able to translate for a distressed customer, or even just exchange a few pleasantries with a potential business partner or employee in their native tongue, can be a very valuable asset. Much more likely to be directly valuable than choir for someone with a mediocre voice.

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