Great Scot September 2019 Great Scot 157_September 2019_ONLINE | Page 14

Junior School
LEFT TO RIGHT: EVAN BROUGH, RICHARD CHEASLEY, DONNY MCOMISH, ROHAN KINARIWALA, RIO BARRY
MR JON ABBOTT WITH YEAR 6 BOYS DURING A LITERATURE CIRCLE SESSION
Becoming
multilingual:
a great way
to connect
The more that you read,
the more things you will know.
The more that you learn,
the more places you’ll go.
Dr Seuss
12
Great Scot Number 157 – September 2019
This has always been my favourite quote by Dr Seuss, and it
is certainly pertinent to acquiring an additional language. Reading
and learning, as well as the skills gained in the process of language
learning, are not only the ticket to getting around the globe but they
are also a way to open another path to successful, international
futures.
There are many experts in the field, pointing out the great
advantages for speaking a variety of languages. Professor Garcia,
for example, notes the need for today’s young people to be able to
cope with global interactions in a technology-driven world, especially
in terms of multiliteracy skills, and the need for multilinguals in
international business markets where speaking English is not enough.
She makes the following apt observation: ‘… It is stressed that
language skills are complementary to other skills such as science,
engineering and technology and are not in competition with them, nor
are these skills mutually exclusive.’
My most admired experts, however, are our young Junior School
boys. It seems they are intrinsically aware that being more multilingual
and multicultural is not only more fun (I quote: ‘It’s OK, Frau Cornelia,
we have texted each other to practise our part as waiter for the