Learning a foreign language at the wrong stage or age may lead to confusion as a result of possible excessive interference of L2 especially when it comes to reading and writing the foreign language. Which stage or age will provide good results?
See the excellent 2014 research review by Victoria A. Murphy in Second language Learning in the Early School years: Trends and Contexts Oxford : OUP which examines up to 2013 research data on this- Earlier if well organised is generally better. However she concludes most FL programmes do not provide enough exposure to the target language therefore languages need to be used as mediums of instruction even if for short periods and taught as well . Time is less important than quality of instruction and experience .An excellent review of recent research - John
Long before reading and writing, a two-year-old child can learn a foreign language. My three children are bilingual Spanish-English, and all three use both languages in their professions: librarian, physician, entrepreneur/politician.
Earlier they start easier they learn. Children not only learn vocabularies and grammar they also learn accents. Have you guys read papers from Memphis researchers about learning by confusion. They imposed confusion and learners learnt more!
Moreover, if we teach them from childhood then we are also training learners' working memory to perform more effective in switching between two languages. That's why people who learn different languages at home and school learn the third language easier than children who only can speak in one language.
Questions to consider here:
While earlier is better may be true, there's quite a lot of debate on the subject: http://oupeltglobalblog.com/2014/04/01/iatefl-this-house-believes-that-primary-elt-does-more-harm-than-good/
Ref:
Larson-Hall, J. (2008). Weighing the benefits of studying a foreign language at a younger starting age in a minimal input situation. Second Language Research, 24(1), 35–63. doi:10.1177/0267658307082981
I do not think there is a fixed or best age. What is clear though, is that languages are more easily learned when the learner is younger. There is no evidence that there might be any form of danger for a child learning a foreign language at any stage in lfe. There are natural facilities/ infrastructures that should enable the child to compartmentalise and use each language when required.
I was raised bilingually (German-Swedish) since my early childhood. Although I was exposed to Swedish, I never used it actively (living in Germany I spoke German). Only when I traveled to Sweden, I had to use it and did so. So, I think the daily contact with a language in early years is more important than practicing it.
It may also help when learning other languages in later years. I had, for example, no problems to master Thai language at the age of 50. You will find this situation quite often, I'm convinced.
Adding to my previous comment, I assume the best time is when they can easily communicate with their first language. Perhaps when they are four or five years old! This is the time that they learn fast, and you can provide them more practise for a longer retention.
Research show the child can learn three languages before the age of five.
I am bilingual, learning English and Spanish as a child from Spanish born parents who also spoke English. While hearing and speaking both languages as a child in the home and home of family members and then learning English in school when school age, the two languages became 'naturally' spoken and understood. Of course when it came time to write the two languages it became somewhat more difficult learning the differences in spelling, writing, rules for usage of the two languages, etc.
Previous studies have shown that adolescents and adults are in many ways better at learning a new language than children, except in the area of pronunciation.
See the excellent 2014 research review by Victoria A. Murphy in Second language Learning in the Early School years: Trends and Contexts Oxford : OUP which examines up to 2013 research data on this- Earlier if well organised is generally better. However she concludes most FL programmes do not provide enough exposure to the target language therefore languages need to be used as mediums of instruction even if for short periods and taught as well . Time is less important than quality of instruction and experience .An excellent review of recent research - John
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