Taking Advantage of One’s Early Years: Learning a Second Language

The United States is becoming more and more bilingual every day. It is important for students of the United States of America to keep up with the advancing world. The easiest way to learn a second language is when a person is young. This is why it would be beneficial for schools to start teaching a foreign language in kindergarten and continuing it through twelfth grade. Students are more likely to learn and remember a foreign language if they are introduced to it at a young age. A majority of other countries teach foreign languages to their students throughout their school lives. Most students coming out of high school in other countries are totally

This paper will be revisiting the article PreK-3rd; Challenging common myths about young English language learners written by Linda Espinosa. In this article Espinosa provides us with some common myths that people believe about dual language programs and the effects that it has on children. Therefore, in my previous reflection paper two myths were chosen which were myths one and six. Thus the two myths are “myth 1: Learning Two Languages During the Early Childhood Years Will Overwhelm, Confuse, and/ or Delay Acquisition of English (Espinosa pg. 5).” The second myth is “myth 6: Native English Speakers May Experience Academic and Language Delays in Dual Language Programs (Espinosa pg. 15).” In the previous reflection paper, I discussed the two myths based off of my prior knowledge. Thus since the course is coming to an end, I will be stating if my opinion has changed or remained the same towards these two myths. Therefore, this paper will be providing more evidences that was been provided for us throughout the quarter.

To learn a second languages is very important because people have better opportunities in life. For children from ages five and under it is the best time to learn as many languages. Angele Sancho Passe, the author of “Dual-Language Learners (Birth to Grade 3)”, talks about techniques for teaching English in a multilingual classroom and how reading in english to dual-language learners helps teach them oral language skills. Patton O. Tabors, the author of “One Child, Two Languages”, talks about writing case studies of children displaying different second language abilities. In the article, “Ways to Introduce Your Kids to Foreign Languages” by Grace Hwang Lynch, believes two-way bilingual immersion is a helpful way to introduce foreign languages

We may see teaching our children different languages as a means for them to communicate with our extender family and pass on our cultural heritage or as extender knowledge for the child. In addition to the aforementioned reasons to learn more than one language, research indicates there is

To understand children’s language learning we have to go beyond language classrooms. Regarding the child as a language learner we have

Learning a foreign language is an incredible life skill to have. Especially in our globalized world today, there has never been a better time for children to learn a new language. Not only will this enrich their education

This reference highlights the importance of learning two languages simultaneously. How one language can be addressed to be more competent for a specific purpose such as; writing, listening, reading and speaking (Francis, 2012, ch.1). Children who grow up in bilingual settings the second language is rarely optional, in fact, it is a necessity for the policy of that particular location. For instance, a Latino family will raise its child with the language they are familiar with such as Spanish. The location in which they raise their child will play a fundamental role towards the linguistic speech that area prefers to educate the child. The setting being an English speaking institute will deliver the skills and ability needed for that child to

Our children will live in a different era. We must give them something special. Learning and mastering a foreign language in very young age will help them to speak it as a native speaker without accent. This will allow them to compete with others in the job market in the future. For instance, I applied for many pharmacy technician position in Milwaukee area. Unfortunately, I had three interviews, but none of them accepted me. All of them asked one question at the end of the interview “do you speak Spanish” My answer was no. Then the interview was done. They need someone with more than one language to be able to communicate with different customers that speak different languages. Furthermore, some companies pay extra money if the applicant master more than one language. I think to master any foreign language you should start learning it as soon as you start the elementary school. This experience taught me that kids must start learning a new language in very young age to master it and to have a nice job in the

With the exception of severe disabilities or social problems, all humans acquire language as a core of basic property of their humanity called ‘vernacular’ which is used in everyday life Gee & Hayes (2011, p. 8). I believe that this is why early intervention is so important; not to label a child; but to better support them for further education. Most humans can learn

In many parts of the world, children grow up using more than one language. When the language on the streets and the markets is different from the language at home, children start using these other languages easily.

The children who learns dual language can receive various advantage. Languages define identities and cultures that supports self-esteem, which links to children’s social and emotional development (Kearns, 2014). The natural communication between family members of bilingual child allows the child to access to the family’s heritage language, enable them to discover their native culture knowledge, and offer smooth language communications to connect to wider community (Kearns, 2014; Place & Hoff, 2011). To ensure child preserved family’s heritage language completely, it is crucial for the child to hear the language constantly during the critical (sensitive) periods, which is before eight month of age, as children are most sensitive to differentiate the sounds of languages at that period (Peterson, 2015). After the critical period, child will only focus with the sound that associate with their environment that they constantly expose to, and will post difficulties to distinguish the languages with similar sound (Peterson, 2015).

In Today’s world, countries are connecting and learning another language is essential for the growth of the United States. Many countries including China, France, and Germany require every student to show proficiency in at least one other language. Public schools should teach a foreign language starting in kindergarten because it increases potential of being employed, increase cognitive abilities, and delays the onset of disease that causes memory loss such as Alzheimer.

There are many negative aspects of teaching foreign languages at early stage or at preschool. At kindergarten level children are not fully developed both physically and mentally, instructing foreign language beside native language would confuse them, causing deficiency in proper function of languages. If the children pay more attention and importance to foreign language, then it will lead to native culture ignorance when they grow up and the value of the native language would be damaged. This would have detrimental effects on the entity of a nation. Encouraging two languages simultaneously prevents either language from developing well and the child may have lack of proficiency in both languages. As the

Being able to fluently speak two languages is a very demanding and competitive skill. The capability to articulate thoughts to people who may not speak the same primary language as you is very profitable not only in the work force, but also in everyday life. Learning a second language also helps to shorten cultural gaps between different countries. With the seemingly increased importance in learning a second language, schools nationwide have implemented learning a foreign language as a requirement, for graduation in High School. However, starting to learn a second language at a young age is the most effective and beneficial practice in leading a child on the path to fluently speaking another language. This practice is more effective and

Language is one of the valuable gifts which have been passed to children. The first language is significant and builds the basis for all later language progresses. Parents, family members and early childhood professionals have very important role on the development and maintenance of the first language. Studies shows that knowing one language can assist the child to comprehend how other languages work. First or home language is