Bilingualism Among Students: Yes or No?

There are several controversies surrounding the possibility of teaching a foreign language to students in the United States during the primary years. The question is if that would truly be in the students' best interest. Some may argue that students should only have to learn English since it is the "internationally common" language. While it is true that students from many countries around the world are taught English from early on, studies show there would be many positive benefits for students in the United States if they learned a foreign language starting in elementary school too.
The benefits of learning a foreign language early on vary. Studies show that it helps with language acquisition in the child's first language; rules of grammar and syntax are better understood. By knowing a second language it is also easier to pick up a third or fourth language. And since the United States is becoming more and more diverse each day, knowing another language can be extremely helpful. Appreciation of other cultures and diversity among students can increase, possibly diminishing racism among students. Since there is an increasing amount of world issues, countries are going to need to work together to solve these problems and knowing other languages would make the communication process a lot easier. Trade is also flourishing among countries and communicating with traders involves speaking different languages. By teaching only English it makes it seem as though the United States is stuck in their ways, wanting to simplify things, and trying to combine all the cultures that live in this country into one ideal "American" culture. Learning a new language during early childhood is a more ideal time than the high school years. Research has shown that when a child is developing cognitively they are more able to absorb a language.