The Effect of Elementary Latin Instruction on Language Arts Performance

Teaching Latin to law students in the midst of the decolonisation of the university curriculum

“…There seem to be many studies which indicate that Latin does indeed improve the academic performance of students in general and in English. A study conducted by Mavrogenes (1977) indicates that students who have received Latin instruction from Grade 4 through 6, have shown a marked improvement in their English grades. More recently, Holliday (2012), however, mentions that, even though general evidence exists that Latin instruction improves grammar and English vocabulary, there is no evidence to suggest that it is the only language that does so.…”

Literacy via Latin: A Case Study

“…According to Mavrogenes (1977), " ... a daily twenty-minute period of Latin instruction in the intermediate grades has produced solid results in children's language and reading performance" (p. 268). She summarized the results of Latin studies conducted in Washington, DC, Easthampton, Massachusetts, and Indianapolis, Indiana.…”

A study of the effect of foreign language study on learned abilities

“…Among the reasons for this Interest were that student learning, curricular coherence, and academic standards no longer met expectations (National Institute of Education, 1984). The scores on the SAT, the ACT, and the GRE were declining and American students were not achieving at the same rate as their counterparts from other nations (National Institute of Education, 1984;Mavrogenes, 1977;Hirsch, 1987). Educators, legislators, and the general public called for accountability not only in the funding of education (Grant and Riesman, 1985), but in student outcomes.…”

“…During the late 1960s and early 1970s, a number of elementary schools required Instruction in Latin for their students (Mavrogenes, 1977 (Mavrogenes, 1977;Eddy, , 1981. These results do not answer the question of the degree to which one foreign language affects learned abilities over another since the effect of other languages on students was not compared.…”

“…In studies of high school and elementary foreign language students, Latin has had the strongest effect on students' verbal abilities (Wiley, 1984-85;Mavrogenes, 1977). German followed Latin in Influencing verbal skills, with French and Spanish vying for third place.…”