Denmark considers compulsory language test for all two-year-olds

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Independent

Denmark considers compulsory language test for all two-year-olds


Parents could face cuts to child benefit if they don't comply, indicates Education Minister
May Bulman |
6 hours ago|

Children in Denmark could be required to take part in a language programme from the age of two, if a government minister's proposals are implimented.

Ellen Trane Nørby, Danish Minister for Education and member of the Liberal party, has put forward plans for a policy that requires parents to agree for their children to be enrolled in the programme or risk have their child benefits cut, according to Danish news outlet Jyllands-Posten.

There is currently a compulsory language programme in place for between 15 and 30 hours per week for Danish three year olds.

But Ms Nørby said some children were "lagging behind" and put forward plans to extend the the current system to apply to children regardless of whether their parents work or stay at home in order to improve rates of integration.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/denmark-compulsory-language-test-all-two-year-olds-a7342091.html

[madaboutharry]

1. I read a book a few years ago

that documented how many children, especially boys, who were late talkers ( beginning to speak between ages 3 and 4 ) were children who were intellectually gifted in math and science and often grew up to become mathematicians, doctors, scientist, and engineers.

I think the name of the book was Late Talkers Late Walkers.

This proposal from the Danish government seems a bit extreme. I wonder if it could do more harm than good. Not far away in Finland children don't begin school until they're 7 years old.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. The article uses the term "rates of integration". Could this be an initiative aimed at immigrants?

Rather than simply trying to rush kids to speaking?

[madaboutharry]

3. 2 years old still seems very young

regardless if it's aimed at immigrants where a foreign language (not Danish) is spoken in the home. I don't know a lot about language acquisition but 2 is so young.

[Monk06]

36. Developmentally children are at their maximum language acquisition capacity between 2 and 5 years of

age

Every year beyond this window makes language acquisition more difficult

[mwrguy]

4. Probably

Denmark is pretty xenophobic

[snooper2]

7. negative

[mwrguy]

32. Yes

[TomVilmer]

10. Yes, this is directly aimed at immigrants

84 percent of non western immigrants in Denmark are already using public daycare, compared to 88 of all children. This program is directed to a very small number of children, which everybody agrees could use some help. But since we have that kind of a government, help is given as punishment, to make everybody feel sad about it...

[Yo_Mama]

14. Yes. The concern is that the children without native Danish-speaking backgrounds

will have a bad early school experience if their language skills aren't up to par.

[Javaman]

6. Einstein didn't speak until he was 5 years old. nt

[xocet]

8. That is just a story - see page 36 of "Subtle is the Lord" by Abraham Pais for more information....

n/t

[Javaman]

9. dang, it was a good one too. oh well. nt

[tblue37]

12. At age 3 my first words were, "Mommy, can I read you a story." Then I read to her from a

19th-century edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Freaked her out.

[mopinko]

13. that would be my son, tho he walked before 1 yo.

didnt talk till he was almost 3, and went from zero to complete sentences in perfect english in about a month.

he is working on a phd in theoretical math on a full boat scholarship.

[olddad56]

17. my son could say da da at 4 months, spoke in sentences by 1 year, and didn't walk until 16 months.

He knew the alphabet at 18 months and could tell pronounce any printed letter in the alphabet you pointed to.
His mom read to him every evening from the time she was a couple months pregnant.

[mopinko]

22. yup. did you know- the clinton foundation has a program

to promote singing to babies for mothers, fathers, grandparents and siblings from early pregnancy, as you say.

how old is he now? how is he faring?

[olddad56]

34. my son is 20 now.,,

He is a math major at Cal and a jazz musician, and an all around great kid.

[virgogal]

27. One of my sons was a late talker,also a grandson. This bewilders me.

[YOHABLO]

5. Oh those darn Scandinavians, so full of idealism

.

[closeupready]

11. Denmark is a member state of the EU, and EU directives on human rights supersede

member state directives in situations where directives are at odds. So I wouldn't worry that this xenophobic proposal stands.

The Primacy of European Union law (sometimes referred to as "supremacy&quot is an EU law principle that when there is conflict between European law and the law of Member States, European law prevails; the norms of national law have to be set aside. This principle was developed by the European Court of Justice, and, as interpreted by that court, it means that any norms of European law always take precedence over any norms of national law, including the constitutions of member states. Although national courts generally accept the principle in practice, most of them disagree with this extreme interpretation and reserve the right, in principle, to review the constitutionality of European law under national constitutional law.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primacy_of_European_Union_law

[Yo_Mama]

15. There is nothing xenophobic about it. This is offering extra childhood

education programming for those who need it.

[Sand Rat Expat]

18. Separating kids by ethnicity is absolutely xenophobic and racist.

Providing or mandating earlier language classes for very young children, not so much. If there's a language barrier when the children of immigrants or refugees begin to attend school, their education is going to suffer as a result. Giving them the assistance they need to thrive in school and wider society isn't xenophobic. Rather the reverse, in my opinion.

[Yo_Mama]

23. I was referring to the language proficiency, of course. Which applies to all.

In GA we have a strong early childhood intervention for children with developmental delays/handicaps. These sorts of programs are as egalitarian as it gets. For the child of a single mother living on a low income to get the type of intervention that upper middle-class/upper class children get only make sense for society, in my opinion.

And the language proficiency deficits are of course not just going to show up in children with non-Danish family backgrounds. It will show up in other circumstances as well, such as autism:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/increase-denmark%E2%80%99s-autism-diagnoses-caused-reporting-changes

[Sand Rat Expat]

30. Yes, that's what I was referring to as well.

The separation by race/ethnicity obviously isn't okay. But I don't see why anyone would have issues with language proficiency classes, as closeupready apparently does. I guess some people will just flip out over anything.

[Igel]

19. And yet it remains true that

--language ability when you start school is very strongly connected with success in school

--many immigrant families are monolingual at home, and since it's easy to only speak your L1 you neglect what has to be one of your kid's L1s for full membership in nearly any society

--language ability--we're talking number of words and fluency--is connected with reading readiness. We often use the word "phonemic awareness," but the educational establishment as of a few years ago had no idea how to teach it (or that you can't teach it directly because it's an emergent property of speakers, not of the language).

[closeupready]

21. And EU policy on human rights supersedes Denmark's racist proposals.

So, I'm good with that. Cheers.

[Quantess]

28. Which "race" would that be?

If you learn a new language, can you gain a "race"?

In any case, this is an attempt to increase integration, and to minimize ghettos. Sweden has notorious ghettos and could take a hint from Denmark.

[closeupready]

29. lol (will you be here all week?)

?

[Quantess]

33. I'm fluent in 2 languages, which makes me bi-racial.

I now get to feel discriminated against whenever someone fails to address me in both languages.

[Sand Rat Expat]

31. I'm not seeing how language proficiency assistance is "racist."

Can you explain why you feel that Denmark's proposal is racist, please? Because I'm just not seeing it.

[LanternWaste]

20. Four allegations makes a pattern?

Four allegations makes a pattern? Bless your little heart, regardless of your shape or form.

[Yo_Mama]

24. I was referring ONLY to the early-childhood language proficiency.

And no, I will not disappear from this thread.

It is absolutely the reverse of xenophobia to ensure that children get the support they need, even in early childhood, to have the best possible outcomes in school and later life.

In GA, we have formalized intervention programs for BABIES who are identified as having special needs:
https://dph.georgia.gov/Babies-Cant-Wait

There are a lot of poor people in GA. Many of them people of color, some of them immigrants. The program will provide THEIR children who are identified as having special needs the same types of things that our upper and middle class families have always been able to give their children. Nothing about that is racist or xenophobic or whatever.

Any meaningful intervention that can be provided to a very young child early on pays off hugely for that person as an adult and for society. Investing in your citizens is egalitarian rather than "ist".

[closeupready]

25. Well, I'll say this, that you've gained a bit of nuance here.

Georgia is not the topic here. Denmark is, and as I've posted, they've been attempting to implement a number of xenophobic pieces of legislation over the last few months, likely in reaction to some of the terrorism that has occurred in Western Europe recently. This is merely the latest.

I'm sure we'll see more attempts to penalize immigrants. But as I've said repeatedly, as a member state of the EU, it's not Denmark whose laws prevail in the event of a conflict between Danish laws and EU laws; it's the EU.

[GulfCoast66]

35. And we all see how strong the EU is now

There is nothing racist, xenophobic or any other phobic with insuring that Children in a Nation can actually speak the language of that nation.

I love the concept of the EU and love Europe. But the EU was coming close to a suicide pact. And the Members of the European Parliament Are starting to figure that out.

We are entering a phase of power being removed from Brussels. Hopefully the EU will persevere, and drop the idea of a United States of Europe.

[RelativelyJones]

26. Absurd. There is nothing xenophobic about this.

This will equip children with the language skills they need to make the most of their talents from the beginning of school, and not feel alienated by language barriers not overcome until 8 or 9.