About Language Immersion
We have assembled a collection of resources that address some of the common questions that arise as families consider the language immersion path for preschool. If you have any resources that have been helpful for you, please share them with us!
Click on the blue titles and links to be taken to the referenced research.
Click on the blue titles and links to be taken to the referenced research.
Is Preschool the right time for Language Immersion?
A child is never too young to start learning a new language! Research shows that the earlier a child starts to learn a second language, the better. The child's brain is a very dynamic, evolving structure. A two-year-old child has twice as many synapses (connections) in the brain as an adult. The young brain must use these connections or lose them. Thus, learning a skill during a critical or sensitive developmental period has important significance. According to Dr. Michael Phelps, Chairman of the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology of the UCLA School of Medicine, the learning experiences of the child determine which connections are developed and which will no longer function.
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Ready To Learn
Dr. Patricia Kuhl, a Speech Scientist at the University of Washington, reports that babies are born "citizens of the world" in that they can distinguish differences among sounds (temporal, spectral, and duration cues) borrowed from all languages. They are ready to learn any language they hear, but by six months of age, they start to specialize in their native language. |
Window of Opportunity
Dr. Susan Curtiss, Professor of Linguistics at UCLA, who studies the way children learn languages, notes that in language development there is a window of opportunity in which the child learns a first language normally. After this period, the brain becomes slowly less plastic and by the time the child reaches adolescence, the brain does not develop "richly and normally any real cognitive system, including language." |
Capacity For Multiple Languages
The four- or five-year old learning a second language is a "perfect model for the idea of the critical period." According to Dr. Curtiss. The power to learn language is so great in the young child that it doesn't seem to matter how many languages you expose them to: they can learn many spoken languages if they hear systematically and regularly at the same time. Children simply have this capacity. Their brain is just ripe to do this: there doesn't seem to be any detriment to developing several languages at the same time. |
What are the benefits of learning two languages?
Personal: Individuals who speak and read more than one language have the ability to communicate with more people, read more literature, and benefit more fully from travel to other countries. Introducing students to alternative ways of expressing themselves and to different cultures gives greater depth to their understanding of human experience by fostering an appreciation for the customs and achievements of people beyond their own communities.
Cognitive: Research suggests that students who receive second language instruction are more creative and better at solving complex problems than those who do not (Bamford and Mizokawa, 1991). Other studies suggest that persons with full proficiency in more than one language (bilinguals) outperform similar monolingual persons on both verbal and nonverbal tests of intelligence, which raises the question of whether ability in more than one language enables individuals to achieve greater intellectual flexibility (Bruck, Lambert, and Tucker, 1974; Hakuta, 1986; Weatherford, 1986).
Academic: Second language study helps enhance English and other academic skills.Through a partnership with the RAND Corporation, Portland Public Schools, and American Councils for International Education, Dr. Robert Slater and his colleagues followed dual language immersion students in Portland Public Schools for four years and compared their educational gains to those of their non-immersion peers. They found that students randomly assigned to dual language immersion programs outperformed their peers in reading in English by seven months in grade five and by nine months in grade eight. That amounts to almost a year ahead in reading level by the eighth grade compared with their non-immersion peers. Read more.
Similarly, a study of the reading ability of 134 four- and five-year-old children found that bilingual children understood better than monolingual children the general symbolic representation of print (Bialystok, 1997). Another study analyzed achievement test data of students in Fairfax County, Virginia, who had participated for five years in immersion—the most intensive type of foreign language program. The study concluded that those students scored as well as or better than all comparison groups on achievement tests and that they remained high academic achievers throughout their schooling (Thomas, Collier, and Abbott, 1993).
Studies have also found that students who learn foreign languages score statistically higher on standardized college entrance exams than those who do not. For example, the College Entrance Examination Board reported that students who had averaged four or more years of foreign language study scored higher on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) than those who had studied four or more years of any other subject (College Entrance Examination Board, 1992; Cooper, 1987). These findings, which were consistent with College Board profiles for previous years (College Entrance Examination Board, 1982; Solomon, 1984) and with the work of Eddy (1981), suggest that studying a second language for a number of years may contribute to higher SAT scores.
Similarly, a study of the reading ability of 134 four- and five-year-old children found that bilingual children understood better than monolingual children the general symbolic representation of print (Bialystok, 1997). Another study analyzed achievement test data of students in Fairfax County, Virginia, who had participated for five years in immersion—the most intensive type of foreign language program. The study concluded that those students scored as well as or better than all comparison groups on achievement tests and that they remained high academic achievers throughout their schooling (Thomas, Collier, and Abbott, 1993).
Studies have also found that students who learn foreign languages score statistically higher on standardized college entrance exams than those who do not. For example, the College Entrance Examination Board reported that students who had averaged four or more years of foreign language study scored higher on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) than those who had studied four or more years of any other subject (College Entrance Examination Board, 1992; Cooper, 1987). These findings, which were consistent with College Board profiles for previous years (College Entrance Examination Board, 1982; Solomon, 1984) and with the work of Eddy (1981), suggest that studying a second language for a number of years may contribute to higher SAT scores.
What should I expect when my child learns more than one language?
According to the The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), every bilingual child is unique. Developing skills in two languages depends on the quality and amount of experience the child has using both languages. The following are some basic guidelines:
- Like other children, most bilingual children speak their first words by the time they are 1 year old (e.g., "mama" or "dada"). By age 2, most bilingual children can use two-word phrases (e.g., "my ball" or "no juice"). These are the same language developmental milestones seen in children who learn only one language.
- From time to time, children may mix grammar rules, or they might use words from both languages in the same sentence. This is a normal part of bilingual language development.
- When a second language is introduced, some children may not talk much for a while. This "silent period" can sometimes last several months. Again, this is normal and will change.
Will learning two languages cause speech or language problems?
No. According to The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), children all over the world learn more than one language without developing speech or language problems. Bilingual children develop language skills just as other children do. If a child has a speech or language problem, it will show up in both languages. However, these problems are not caused by learning two languages.