In search of the benefits of learning Latin.

Abstract

The authors studied whether Latin or French as a foreign curricular language is a better preparation for learning Spanish. Fifty native German speakers who took a university Spanish course concluded their course with a translation test. English was the 1st foreign language for all students, whereas half of them had learned French and the other half had learned Latin as their 2nd foreign language at school. Participants who had learned French at school made markedly fewer grammar errors and slightly fewer vocabulary errors in the Spanish test than participants who had learned Latin. Knowledge of Latin is probably not an optimal preparation for modern language learning. For many centuries, Latin was the language of the church and the sciences in the Western European world. Its value as a foreign language in higher education was therefore rarely questioned. Although Latin had lost its significance as a means of international communication as early as the 17th century, it enjoyed its heyday in Western curricula in the 19th century (Pfeiffer, 1976). In the wake of industrialization, however, there was increasing pressure for the curricula to make room for mathematics, sciences, and modern languages. Nevertheless, Latin persists as a curricular option in secondary schools in many European countries, particularly those with a tracked secondary system, such as Germany. At the Gymnasium, which is the highest track of the German secondary school system, Latin has the status of a core subject on equal basis with mathematics, English, and German. Depending on their elementary school achievement, approximately 35% of students enter the Gymnasium after Grade 4 and graduate after Grade 13. A final examination at Gymnasium level (Abitur) is required for university admission. For the Abitur, a minimum exposure of 4 years to at least two foreign languages is required. The vast majority of German students start with English as their first foreign language and, depending on what their parents decide, study either French or Latin as their second foreign language from Grade 7 on. Depending on which subjects students select in the last 3 years of the Gymnasium, they study the second language until Grades 10, 11, or 13. Overall, about two thirds of the students choose French, and one third choose Latin as their second foreign language. Advocates of Latin as a school subject make three arguments (Wolff, 1975). First, Latin provides insights into the roots of Western culture. Second, broad transfer effects are assumed, because learning Latin is thought to support the development of intelligent learning and reasoning strategies. It is assumed that studying Latin will improve achievement in formal domains such as mathematics and the sciences. Third, transfer effects to language competencies are expected. Translating Latin sentences into the mother tongue requires grammar knowledge that can be helpful for language-based activities in the mother tongue as well as for foreign language acquisition. Moreover, because Latin is the origin of the Romance languages and has impacted other European languages, Latin might provide advantages for modern language learning.