The Relationship between the Learning of English and the Learning of a Second Language in Pre-Schoolers

Abstract

Educators and parents are concerned with the optimal age of introducing a second language to children. This study attempted to find out whether young pre-school children are able to handle two languages competently. Children between the ages of 31/2 and 6 were assessed on a number of language tasks in both English and the mother tongue. Results show that young children found difficulty in learning two languages simultaneously, but the degree of difficulty varied according to the types of second language and the extent of exposures to the two languages in question.

Descriptors::

• pre-school children
• bilingualism
• second language acquisition
• measurement