Learning A Language As A Child - The Advantages
Monday, 10th November 2008
Is it true that children pick up languages more easily than adults and, if so, why is this?
It is a commonly-held belief that learning a language as a child is far easier than doing so as an adult. Just as they learn their maternal language, children appear to have an innate ability to absorb a foreign language that makes learning a language later in life seem a far more complicated – but by no means not impossible – affair. But is it true that children pick up languages more easily than adults and, if so, why is this?
It is not just a myth that a child’s capacity to learn is enhanced at a young age. Time is of the essence, however. If you want to give your child his or her best chance to become fluent in another language, you need to start the process while their brain is still developing and best able to process such information. This golden time, according to linguists and extensive study in the field, falls while the child is under approximately 10 years of age. During these early years, a child’s brain is more ‘malleable’ and able to assimilate more than one language without getting confused; it has also been found that bilingual children have more advanced grey matter (the part of the brain which processes information) than those who have not learnt another language or, perhaps more telling, those who learn a second language later in life. The onset of adolescence past 10 years old then exposes a child’s maturing brain to outside influences that may inhibit its ability to process information such as language structure in the same, efficient way.
From as far back as the 17th century, but more recently backed by research carried out by linguists such as Noam Chomsky, it has been suggested that a child’s brain is better able to understand the structure of a language thanks to a concept known as ‘universal grammar’. This concept is based on the idea that all languages have a common structural basis, and it is through this basic set of rules that children are able to work out the grammar and patterns of not just their own language but other languages too.
Besides the language itself, another factor that seems to be significant in language learning whilst young is pronunciation. Whilst it is rare for an adult who is learning a foreign language to achieve native-speaker level in pronunciation, childhood appears to provide the optimum learning environment for the brain to interpret new sounds and perfect a foreign accent. Without even realising it at the time, a child is therefore given the valuable gift of a chance to master pronunciation, perhaps the most coveted and demanding aspect of language for any adult.
I know that when I was studying Spanish as a teenager, my written and reading abilities were strong, having studied books and texts to a good level; it was only when immersed in Colombia’s capital city of Bogota on my year off at university that I realised with horror my inability to speak a word. After a few months and a lot of effort I got there – not to say that my Spanish accent is perfect, because there are many days my tongue feels tied – but to this day I look enviously at people who learnt languages so young that they are oblivious to the trials we go through later in life to develop those all-important conversational and pronunciation skills.
It is not solely down to biological programming that children display a propensity for languages, however. The educational and social environment in which they typically find themselves is in itself conducive to rapid acquisition of language. The very way in which children subconsciously interact and play, through games and songs and repetition, provides the ideal foundation for learning a creative skill such as language. Although adult classes may use such ‘childlike’ activities to learn a language – indeed, language schools across the world commonly use interactive, audio-visual methods of learning – it is not as natural or continuous a method of learning as it is in a younger learner’s world.
The knock-on effects of learning a language when young are substantial, too. Although they still carry weight when acquired as an adult, the extra skills and confidence that come from learning a language can only be of increased benefit if picked up when young. Over the years, studies of children who are learning a second language have quoted advantages such as improved school performance, better communicative and problem-solving skills, and higher scores on tests in their own native language. To develop a child’s awareness and interest in foreign cultures is also an important and positive step; not only is it necessary in today’s multi-cultural societies, but it will invariably increase his or her career prospects and encourage tolerance and communication on a global scale.
So it seems that the need for language is everywhere and it is within everyone to learn a foreign language if they so choose. The reality of the matter, though, is that if we teach children languages from a young age we will be giving them valuable and irreplaceable skills to take forward into the future - with quicker, more impressive results than if we leave it too late.
Tags: children, cactus kids
Posted by Sarah Gooding under Attitudes to Language Learning, Benefits,
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