Report Title:

After-school Language Pilot Program

Description:

Establishes a pilot program for optional, semester-long, after-school language classes for elementary school students at a selected public elementary school, to be administered by the University of Hawaii through graduate assistantships. Appropriates funds.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1401

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO education.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Mathematics, English, science, and history are considered the foundations of knowledge and have become core academic subjects taught at every public school in the state. However, due to limited resources, public schools are not able to offer courses in other subjects considered non-essential such as language education, although it can greatly contribute to the overall educational experience of students.

It is especially important that language education be made available to our youth, before they become adults.

A child's brain is different from the adult brain because it is still a dynamic, evolving structure. A two-year old child has twice as many synapses in the brain as an adult, and the synapses must be used, or they will be lost. As a child matures, brain plasticity is lost, the number of synapses is greatly reduced, and the brain no longer has the same ability to restructure itself. Therefore, when a child delays study of a foreign language until high school, what could have been the simple task of learning a language becomes not only more difficult, but also more complicated because now it involves grasping the rules of grammar, translating, reading, and developing learning strategies.

Learning a different language at an early age also enhances appreciation of other cultures. The events and aftermath of September 11, 2001, revealed the crucial need to develop respect for, and the ability to deal with, different people and ways of life.

As the "gateway" between the East and West, Hawaii is the perfect place to cultivate a multi-cultural, multi-lingual environment, beginning with early childhood education. Hawaii's "melting pot" of people includes native Hawaiians, who realize the importance of appreciating and preserving their own language and culture, and youth from across the globe who may also want to learn about the language and culture of their host society.

Currently, some public schools offer optional, after-school programs such as art, music, writing, and drama that enrich the regular curriculum. Language courses should also be added as a permanent supplement to the elementary school curriculum. Unfortunately, the courses offered by most after-school programs are not consistent because schools have the discretion to allow individuals from the community to teach supplemental courses.

The legislature finds that optional, semester-long, after-school language classes could be organized by the department of languages and literature (DLL) at the University of Hawaii (UH). These classes could be established through graduate assistantships that allow UH's graduate students to acquire teaching experience and earn a stipend, while public school students benefit from instruction by persons with expertise in the language being taught.

The purpose of this Act is to establish and appropriate funds for a pilot program consisting of optional, semester-long, after-school language classes for elementary school students at a selected public elementary school, to be administered by UH through graduate assistantships.

SECTION 2. Notwithstanding section 302A-408, the University of Hawaii shall establish a pilot program for optional, semester-long, after-school language classes for elementary school students at a selected public elementary school. On every school day, two language classes shall be offered, and at least one shall offer instruction in the Hawaiian language.

The university shall obtain the services of graduate assistants to teach the classes, pursuant to section 304-12.5. Each semester of an after-school language class shall be conducted by means of one semester of a graduate assistantship through the department of languages and literature at the university.

The university shall submit a report to the legislature evaluating the pilot program no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2006.

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $20,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2005-2006 to establish a pilot program for optional, semester-long, after-school language classes at a selected elementary school.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the University of Hawaii for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 3 shall take effect on July 1, 2005; provided further that this Act shall be repealed on July 1, 2006.

INTRODUCED BY:

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