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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Family Language Learning: 5 Myths of Second Language Acquisition in Children

Myths and Misconceptions about Second Language Learning by Barry McLaughlin points out 5 myths of SLA in children and explores the affects these myths can have on practices both in the home and the classroom.

According to McLaughlin, the 5 myths are:

  1. Children learn second languages quickly and easily.
  2. The younger the child, the more skilled in acquiring an L2. 
  3. The more time children spend in a second language context, the quicker they learn the language.
  4. Children have acquired an L2 once they can speak it.
  5. All children learn an L2 in the same way.

 

3 comments:

  1. Wait, you mean I've been living a lie this whole time?! I totally believe (believed?) the first four "myths". Wait, why does he call them myths, has he done research that disproves them?

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  2. Did you get a chance to read his article? What do you think of his support for his arguments?

    What I took away from the article, and what I have heard from other families living overseas is that one cannot just assume that children will automatically learn a language when their families move overseas. Learning language takes more than just being a child, it takes proper input, it takes a safe environment, it takes healthy relationships, it takes motivation, etc. Depending on a child's situation, personality, etc they may not easily take to the idea of learning a new language but with the proper ingredients they can be helped to pull it off in many of the same way that adults can be helped.

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