Should Early Education Have Forgien Language Taught - Essay Example

?Learning a second language in early life Introduction Globalization has brought world so closer to each other thatpeople like or need to understand each other’s attitudes, knowledge, skill and behavior which has brought people into a state that they learn each other languages. Most of the children around the world learn to speak two languages in their early ages these days. Many consider it as the need while others think it is a liability to liability to those children who are often immigrants, members on the minority group or those who are misfit in the majority group of people. This paper seeks to develop an argument that shows the importance of learning a second language in the early ages of life. There is no doubt, that learning a second language is not the most important element of a child education that will identify the success in his future life. However, with the ease of immigration rules and people moving to different countries for living has made it quite vital for their existence in those countries to learn a second language other than their mother tongue. For Instance, In Canada it is a very crucial subject to learn a second language. Immigrants from different parts of the world, to whom English or French is not first language of choice, have made Canada a multicultural and multilingual state. Such children in school represent a vast cultural and linguistic diversity which impact their future goals and development. Thus, it is essential to understand to learn about the impact of learning a second language on children’s cognitive and academic skills in future. Different Views on Age of learning a second language The age of learning a second language is also an important determinant. Human brain develops with time after birth for several years. Some researchers argue that cognitive skills must be completely acquired before the brain is fully matured. Eric Lenneberg, a well known Neurobiologist is strictly is against this idea that learning a language must be done from the age of two to puberty (Lennerberg, 1967). He argues that it is an old concept which was quite prevalent in the beginning of the 20th century that learning a second language early in the life makes a child dull and confused and inhibits the normal cognitive development of the brain that leads to failure in their future educational and academic life. These views were also turned upside down later by Peal and Lambert that showed how superior it is learning two languages in the early age than one (Peal & Lambert,1962) . They conducted various experiments for children who started learning a second language in their early childhood and compared it to their achievements and academic skills in their later life. It was prevalent in the research that they were no less efficient, skilled and knowledgeable than those who did not learn a second language.  It is very essential for children to fully acquire their first language as researches show that if they do not, they may have problems in becoming an academic professional and fully cultured in their second language. This is because of the interrelationship of language and cognitive growth. When parents use their first language that they know the best with their children there are less chances of the interruption of the cognitive growth of the children. The research further argues that whatever learnt in the first language either knowledge, organization, development, skills, academic literacy etc will be transferred to second language when learnt. Children expand their language learning depending on how often they use and practice it. Parents who communicate more often in their first language develop better linguistic skills ability to express their needs, ideas and feelings. If children do not acquire their first language, it may become a problem for them in the future to express their thoughts efficiently (Collier, 1992). However, other argues that when children learn all new information and knowledge in their second language in later life, the first language becomes stagnant and does not stand aside with new vocabulary, knowledge and skills. Benefits of learning a second language at an early age Learning a second language at any age is an amazing experience in different ways but children have the most to gain from a wonderful quest. Children involuntarily believe that learning a second language is fun to explore and play around. The amount of time given to learn a language is one the most important factor in determining its success. As learning a second language is all about practicing and engaging oneself with the language, thus children who start learning the language at an early age easily master it than those who start at adolescence or adulthood. They easily repeat words without any embracement which is quite impossible for adults. The fear of making a mistake is one of the major determinants that inhibit a person to learn a second language. An article published recently in The New York times quoted a renowned scientist James Flynn who says that mind is more than a muscle and needs cognitive exercise which can be best provided by learning a second language in early childhood (Bhattacharjee, 2012). Children who started learning a second language earlier found to have a bigger mass of grey matter which is responsible for information gathering, memory storage and sensory perception. Therefore, bilingualism boosts the brain’s activity like taking the brain into a gym. Children are good at picking things; they learn what they hear which results in better understanding and mimicking the accent when it comes to a second language (Roy & Alex, 2012). Many studies explored and suggested that many immigrant parents to US not able to pick up a better accent of English even after spending decades while their children picked them quite well and quickly. Also, learning a second language at an early age helps children to avail better opportunities in their school, college or career. Children who are bilingual have a bigger perspective of the world and see the bigger picture from different contexts. Conclusion Global village has affected children in a way that they are exposed to multicultural and multinational society. Children whether immigrants or non-immigrant get a chance to express their selves to an outer world which has learning a second language other than their mother tongue as the most important determinant for cross-cultural relationships. Also, people tend to learn a second language for better opportunities and exploration of the world. The whole discussion showed that it is better to learn the language earlier in children life which comes up with lot of ease, benefits and opportunities that cannot be attained if the second language is learnt at adolescent or adulthood. Moreover, researches also showed that learning a second language helps in exercising the brain which helps in better understanding of things, perspectives and memory storage. Thus, people who are bilingual or multilingual found to have better opportunities, academic skills and knowledge. References 1. BHATTACHARJEE, YUDHIJIT. "Why Bilinguals Are Smarter." Http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-benefits-of-bilingualism.html?_r=0. NY Times, 18 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. . 2. Collier, V. P. "A Synthesis of Studies Examining Long-term Language Minority Student Data on Academic Achieve-ment." Bilingual Research Journal 16.1-2 (n.d.): 188-211. 1992. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. 3. Lenneberg, Eric. "Biological Foundations of Language." New York: Wiley, 1967. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. 4. Peal, E., and WE Lambert. ". The Relation of Bilingualism to Intelligence." Psychological Monographs, 1962. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. 5. Peal, Elizabeth, and Wallace E. Lambert. "The Relation of Bilingualism to Intelligence." Psychological Monographs: General and Applied 76..27 (1962): 1-23. APA, 1962. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. . 6. Roy, Deb K., and Alex P. Pentland. "Learning Words from Sights and Sounds: A Computational Model." Cognitive Science 26.1 (January 2002): 113-46. Jan. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. . Read More