Language learning needs to be tailored to the age and stage of development of the child.
A new education policy for England, announced in Spring 2007, aims to introduce thelearning of a foreign language to all children from the age of 8 by the year 2010. But therewas a similar initiative in the 1960s and it didn’t work then, so why should it now? Thispresentation explores the reasons underlying the belief that children can ‘naturally’ learnanother language if they begin young enough, and considers reasons why classroom learningmay not always tap into whatever natural language learning skills children have. Drawing ona range of previously published research and my own recent empirical studies, I suggest that,unless we are careful, our primary-age children will be flung into an adult-style learningapproach, which they are too immature to handle. How, then, can young children’s learningpotential be exploited most effectively? The role of multiword sequences as a form of lexis isconsidered, making reference to my model of formulaic language processing e.g. Wray 2002.Consideration is given to how memorising useful wordstrings may assist children indeveloping a view of language knowledge that promotes effective learning.
Wray, A. (2008). The puzzle of language learning: From child’s play to ‘linguaphobia’. Language Teaching, 41(2), 253-271