Can Preschool Children Be Taught a Second Language? 

Jeanette Vos, Ed. D.

 

http://www.earlychildhood.com/Articles/index.cfm?FuseAction=Article&A=60

 

This article discusses the importance of early exposure to foreign languages and explains why preschool years are vital years, when learning a second language is as easy as learning the first.

Related Links

The following links will provide you with some information regarding the current research and important aspects of early exposure to foreign languages.  MRIs show that the brains of those who became bilingual prior to age eight stores both languages in the same location; whereas later learners (after age eight) stored the information in separate areas of the brain.

Bilingual Acquisition

Fred Genesee

 

http://www.earlychildhood.com/Articles/index.cfm?FuseAction=Article&A=38

 

This article explores the concerns that parents may have regarding bilingualism (speaking two languages).  The author demystifies this normal phenomena and provides helpful suggestions on how to help children achieve this goal.

Enhancing the Language Development of Young Children

Sandra Crosser, Ph.D.

 

http://www.earlychildhood.com/Articles/index.cfm?FuseAction=Article&A=119

 

This article provides an overview of the theories of learning in general, and how they apply to language learning specifically.

Earlier is Better 

Linda Foust

 

http://www.parentspress.com/edulanguages.html

 

This is a wonderful article explaining the logic behind the current scientific research, and the specific advantages to immersion.  It also provides parents a framework for choosing a program for their child.

Reading your Baby’s Mind

Pat Wingert and Martha Brant

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8852928/site/newsweek/

 

In page three of this article published recently in Newsweek (August 2005), the authors discuss evidence that merely exposing young babies to videos and audio tapes of a foreign language does not work.  They need the emotional connection to humans in order to acquire this language.

What Parents Want to Know about Foreign Language Immersion Programs

Tara W. Fortune and Diane J. Tedick

 

http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0304fortune.html

 

This article was published in C.A.L. Digest (The Center for Applied Linguistics) in August 2003.  It answers, in layman terms, questions that parents may have about foreign language immersion programs and their effectiveness.

Learning a Second Language

Lynne S. Dumas

 

http://www.trevor.org/foreign/Foreign_Lang_Child/child_magazine.htm

 

This article, published in the Feb 1999 issue of Child magazine, provides helpful information to parents trying to navigate through the literature about exposing young children to a second (or third) language in a school setting.  It also discusses how learning a second language boosts

Academic success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bilingual Kids do Better in School

 

 

http://www.derrytoday.com/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=3421&ArticleID=1680402

 

This article discusses the results of a new study which shows bilingual teaching improves children’s linguistic and mathematical skills.

Bilingual Babies -- A Sign of the Time

From 20/20 at ABC News

 

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2823509&page=1

 

This article discusses the advantages of bilingualism and also talks about multilingual (ability to speak/understand more than one language) myths.