I learned my L3 at university. I was able to choose which language I wanted to learn based on my interests and needs. Meanwhile, primary schools around the world are introducing a mandatory L3 in their curricula. Is it better to learn L3 at a young age through formal instruction or should it be delayed when the learners have a higher proficiency in their L2? I would like to know your opinions regarding this matter. Thanks in advance for your replies.
LanguageAquisition as in (L2 and L3) are both biological and environmental. The challenge of multicultural Elementary ESL class insights and suggestions from Linda S Evans "Goals 2" provides students with skills needed to function successfully in a mainstream classroom. Teaching Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing define culture as the environment. Culture can be described as "all the aspects of one society, how its people behave, feel and interact" Donahue and Kunckle 1979,p.88) pp.10.
In this sense, students can be nurtured by rich multi-cultural and linguistic environment so that they feel free to choose the language and cultural heritage. Hence, education is an"acultured" organized and prescribed culture in L2 and L3.
Your question is very important and justified, because multilingualism is controversially discussed in expert discussions, especially in the educational landscape. Even more complex seems to be the question, how to learn more than one language during school time. Basically, people learn languages very individually. In addition, language acquisition depends on several factors, such as personal interest, contact with the new language, cognitive abilities, language attitude, social environment, language awareness, etc. Some people know only one language and are satisfied with it. However, around two thirds of the world's population is multilingual. The brain of a child or adult has room for several languages and is also able to acquire several languages at the same time. Emil Krebs, for example, spoke over 60 languages. As an ambassador in China, he mastered the prosody of Mandarin perfectly. He learned Armenian in nine weeks. Maybe he was a language genius. Nevertheless, the earlier the children are given the opportunity to learn several languages at school, the better it will be to deal competently with several languages later on. However, pupils should be encouraged to learn a new language with interest and playfulness. For example, I grew up multilingual and was able to speak four languages at the end of compulsory schooling. Later in my studies, I was able to learn three more languages, including German. Today I teach German in teacher training. A lot is possible. You just have to get the chance to learn new languages. Obviously, thanks to your interest, you learned an L3 in adulthood. My conclusion: Most children can acquire more than three languages at school if the language courses are taught in good quality and didactically well.
In my opinion, and having seen some school which teach three languages, it is better to star at early periods even when there will be a critical period of learning.
My children are bilingual and my family has children that are trilingual. During my 1st degree at the University of Potsdam, we had a similar discussion in a seminar. All participants had gathered anecdotal evidence from family members (we were 20ish). Most of us had observed that successful multilingualism had developed through interaction with specific adults (one parent speaking L1, the other parent speaking L2, a grandparent speaking L3 ....). The proficiency seemed to rely on how much interaction children were able to get with the language. The more immersed they were in one language the more their proficiency and tendency to use it.
My children started their bi-lingual journey at the age of 5, 3 and 1,5. The 5 year old had a rough start. He was very able in L1 and the change was difficult as he was aware of the barriers. My 3 year old, had a similar experience, only that for him the languages seemed to morph into each other once he experienced much more immersion. He could not differentiate between the two languages for a long time and would happily engage with someone in L1, not realizing they couldn't understand. My 1,5 year old grew up with a very structured L1/L2 differentiation as home and "out of house" language. This differentiation by context makes her an incredibly able L1 and L2 speaker with hardly any inappropriate code switching.
If that's and area of interest, have a look at: Vidrine-Isbell, B., 2017. Language attachment theory: The possibilities of cross-language relationships. Contemporary perspectives on cognition and writing, p.95.
This manual might also be helpful: The Handbook of Bilingualism. Edited by Tej K. Bhatia and William C. Ritchie (2004). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
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