● Ṡeяεиiτч . . ☆
13-09-2013, 02:35 PM
http://img.scoop.it/jdF4Q6ElWfP5POkVlILQlzl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVaiQDB_R d1H6kmuBWtceBJ
?How Early a Second Language
In an earlier post on questions parents may want to consider when deciding to make their child bilingual,
I stated that some people still believe that you cannot be a
"real" bilingual if you have not acquired your two languages in infancy or as a very young child (see here).
There is a common belief that the earlier a second language is acquired,
the more fluent a child will be in it.
And yet when we examine the scientific foundation this belief is based on,
we find that it is not as strong as we could imagine.
In an paper entitled, "Three misconceptions about age and L2 learning", University of British Columbia researcher Stefka Marinova-Todd
and her two coauthors argue convincingly against
the fact that there is a critical (or sensitive) period for second language acquisition beyond which the language will not be acquired adequately.
They claim that some researchers, as well as the lay public,
have fallen prey to three fallacies.
The first is based on a misinterpretation of observations of learners
of different ages which tend to suggest that children,
especially young ones, are fast and efficient at picking up a second language.
In fact, it has been shown repeatedly that young children are rather unsophisticated and immature learners in that they have not yet fully acquired certain cognitive skills, such as the capacity to abstract,
generalize, infer and classify, that could help them in
second-language acquisition.
.
.
If you like the topic you can complete reading from here
.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-bilingual/201309/how-early-second-language
?How Early a Second Language
In an earlier post on questions parents may want to consider when deciding to make their child bilingual,
I stated that some people still believe that you cannot be a
"real" bilingual if you have not acquired your two languages in infancy or as a very young child (see here).
There is a common belief that the earlier a second language is acquired,
the more fluent a child will be in it.
And yet when we examine the scientific foundation this belief is based on,
we find that it is not as strong as we could imagine.
In an paper entitled, "Three misconceptions about age and L2 learning", University of British Columbia researcher Stefka Marinova-Todd
and her two coauthors argue convincingly against
the fact that there is a critical (or sensitive) period for second language acquisition beyond which the language will not be acquired adequately.
They claim that some researchers, as well as the lay public,
have fallen prey to three fallacies.
The first is based on a misinterpretation of observations of learners
of different ages which tend to suggest that children,
especially young ones, are fast and efficient at picking up a second language.
In fact, it has been shown repeatedly that young children are rather unsophisticated and immature learners in that they have not yet fully acquired certain cognitive skills, such as the capacity to abstract,
generalize, infer and classify, that could help them in
second-language acquisition.
.
.
If you like the topic you can complete reading from here
.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-bilingual/201309/how-early-second-language