Going beyond the obvious Ben Evans, Headmaster at Edge Grove School The learning of languages from an early age is an essential life skill and one that has traditionally been given far less kudos in our education system than it truly deserves. Acquiring a new language, from pre-school age contributes to long-term fluency and it has been well documented that children who learn more than one language are more adept at language learning than monolinguals. Today, we are also becoming increasingly aware that those children who have learnt more than one language early on, have demonstrated an increased ability to problem solve due to their high order thinking skills. Those fluent in more than one language have also been shown to
develop stronger multi-tasking and creative ability. There really are very few arguments against the benefits of global language learning for the young. Children, typically, acquire their first language whilst being actively engaged, exploring their environment and interacting with others. They gradually acquire the vocabulary and the rules of grammar of the language, and the communicative competence, enabling them to use language appropriately in different contexts. Young children learn best in an environment of fun and active engagement and in collaboration with their peers – language learning should be no different.
Understanding the science behind language acquisition Research has shown that young children have an innate ability to acquire new languages due to the plasticity of the brain and ear. This neuroplasticity gives younger brains the ability to be more sensitive and responsive to experiences than those that are older. This is why it makes sense to introduce our children to a range of languages early on. It is widely believed that after the age of seven, children can start to lose their natural ability to reproduce new sounds, which makes language learning more difficult. It is important that schools begin to understand the science behind the acquisition of languages to appreciate how important it is to harness their youngest pupils’ natural abilities to enhance their learning. Just as the brain goes through stages of development as we age so too does the larynx, which undergoes changes as children grow and, as a result, they will gradually lose the ability to pronounce new sounds with accuracy and ease. Some independent schools are teaching languages such as Mandarin, Arabic and Japanese (known to be some of the hardest languages to learn). This is because at a young age, children can reproduce many of the complex sounds required for some of these languages more easily than adults can. This goes beyond a lack of inhibitions but is due to the physicality of their vocal systems, auditory skills and oral plasticity.
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