tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/second-language-acquisition-20240/articlesSecond language acquisition – The Conversation2022-08-30T14:27:50Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1878202022-08-30T14:27:50Z2022-08-30T14:27:50ZModern language GCSEs continue to fall in popularity – but new research shows language knowledge will last you a lifetime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481071/original/file-20220825-20-y4yvbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5472%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-traveling-tourists-sightseeing-map-hand-1758786365">NDAB Creativity/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You might think that if you stop using a language after studying it at school, you will end up forgetting everything you knew. But this isn’t true. Language knowledge will stay in your brain for decades.</p>
<p>In 2022, around <a href="https://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/">25,000 A-levels</a> and around <a href="https://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/?post-year=2022&post-location=">315,000 GCSEs</a> were taken in a modern foreign language. This means that language GCSEs taken have fallen by more than 40%, and A-levels by around 25%, over the <a href="https://www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/">past 20 years</a>. Between 2014 and 2019, entries to modern language GCSEs <a href="https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-policy-insight/insight-articles/language-trends">fell by 19%</a>. </p>
<p>This is a worrying trend, not least because learning a language is <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/cognitive-benefits-learning-language-two-minutes/">valuable in and of itself</a>. Among the many benefits are <a href="https://www.chariotlearning.com/learning-new-languages-improves-test-scores/">better performance on general standardised tests</a> and <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eures/public/five-reasons-why-learning-language-can-boost-your-employability-2021-06-22_en">a boost to your wage</a>.</p>
<p>There is another reason why studying a language at school will serve you well. As <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-teaching/article/abs/final-frontier-why-we-have-been-ignoring-second-language-attrition-and-why-it-is-time-we-stopped/B7065D862C3B5E039757FA7C90C2C4F4">my new research shows</a>, the knowledge you acquire in a foreign language appears to be astonishingly stable over long periods of time. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/327136?casa_token=xXhzD3KleXYAAAAA%3AYn_o6wYO_pjhthd7vH6GnqpW3jLPkpOlbkZzMdVSYF1XddGD_GTYjiqJyVb3wTnqawYstPNY0lJ44o0Y1rdFDfbEMBaKAkD8xtR8r0Q36joJkdWt0T8X#metadata_info_tab_contents">similar finding was reported</a> almost 40 years ago. The psychologist Harry P. Bahrick carried out an investigation of some 600 Americans who had learned Spanish in high school up to 50 years previously. While Bahrick found a small amount of loss between the third and sixth year after learning had ceased, knowledge appeared stable for decades afterwards. </p>
<h2>Holding onto knowledge</h2>
<p>Learners retained around 70% of the vocabulary they had learned after 25 years, despite not having used the language at all in the interim. </p>
<p>In comparison, a similar study of the retention of knowledge of <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0096-3445.120.1.20">high-school mathematics</a> found that, unless participants continued to study maths in college, their performance on questions for high-school algebra and geometry indicated they had forgotten pretty much everything. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students wearing headphones at computers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481073/original/file-20220825-22-cyguo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Learning a language sticks with you.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teenage-student-headphones-computer-school-class-2135573137">BearFotos/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My colleagues and I recently carried out <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-teaching/article/abs/final-frontier-why-we-have-been-ignoring-second-language-attrition-and-why-it-is-time-we-stopped/B7065D862C3B5E039757FA7C90C2C4F4">a similar study</a> on the retention of foreign language knowledge. We asked 491 participants who had taken French GCSEs or A-levels up to 50 years ago to complete a test of French vocabulary and grammar knowledge. We also included a detailed survey on their use of French in the interim period, as well as looking at other factors, such as whether they had enjoyed studying French, and how successful they had been. We excluded anyone who continued studying the language later, for example at university.</p>
<p>Our findings were unambiguous and startling. We found no loss at all in their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. In other words, participants who had taken their exam decades ago and not used French since then performed at the same level as those who only took the exam a few months ago, and as those who did, on occasion, use French. </p>
<p>This finding may seem even more surprising and counter-intuitive than Bahrick’s original results. After all, we know – or think we know – that if you don’t use a skill, you’ll lose it. Why would language be different from anything else?</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/5AC1991F59C8059E9DD3F1141EE66E7D/S026144482200026Xa.pdf/explicit-and-implicit-knowledge-and-learning-of-an-additional-language-a-research-agenda.pdf">answer probably lies</a> in the way in which we acquire, remember and use language. </p>
<h2>How your brain works</h2>
<p>Some parts of language (mainly the vocabulary) are memorised in the same way as facts, rules of algebra, dates, names and so on. This memory system is indeed <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/declarative-memory">vulnerable to erosion</a>. Other parts, though, like grammar, are learned in a way that is much more similar to <a href="https://www.livescience.com/43595-procedural-memory.html">riding a bicycle</a>. We use the part of our brain that is good at remembering rules and sequences through frequent repetition, so grammar becomes more like a reflex, and that kind of knowledge resists forgetting.</p>
<p>What’s more, your brain does not have a distinct part labelled “English” and a separate part labelled “French”. Rather, think of language as a very complex, responsive net, and that every time you use a word, you are touching the net. </p>
<p>Every time you touch one part of the net that point lights up with energy. However, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13428-018-1186-5">this energy also spreads</a> to all the areas of the net that are connected to the bit you are touching – words that sound similar, words that mean similar things, words that are often used together with the one you are touching. </p>
<p>When you learn a foreign language, you build a similar net, which partly overlaps with the one you already have in your native language. If, at some point in your life, you learned that “apple” in French is “pomme”, then that word will receive a small amount of stimulation every time you use the English version – and even more so if the two words <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749596X09001247?casa_token=8yNsfPwQA64AAAAA:uvJ1HrjPXjfAN3b5y4bT4yYCIAy6bJ18SvoXU1Q66Vw7f4sMZUPYwCAC5XvIU9oKlwP8cA6pUys">happen to sound similar</a>, such as English “banana” and French “banane”. This stimulation is what prevents the language from eroding entirely.</p>
<p>Of course, this does not mean that you can simply start chatting away in perfect French decades after your GCSEs. What it does mean is that, if you decide to return to it, you don’t really have to painstakingly re-learn the grammar you were taught back then – the likelihood is that it is still in your brain and only needs tickling a bit to emerge. </p>
<p>One of the great findings from our project was how many people felt that their language skills came flooding back during some minor emergency on holiday, like lost luggage or a broken down car. This also suggests that our brains remember the languages we have learned, and just need a bit of help bringing them back to the surface.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187820/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monika Schmid receives funding from DFG, NWO, AHRC and ESRC. </span></em></p>The brain holds on to language knowledge for decades.Monika Schmid, Professor of Linguistics, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1552192021-05-05T20:06:08Z2021-05-05T20:06:08ZIs your kid studying a second language at school? How much they learn will depend on where you live<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396211/original/file-20210421-15-pxc36j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-man-learning-different-languages-736268884">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People learn a second language for many reasons, including work, to better understand the world, an interest in the culture of the language itself, and love.</p>
<p>Learning a language has many <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/287/Cognitive-Benefits-Language-Learning-Final-Report.pdf">benefits</a>. For children, it can improve literacy, maths and science skills. It can enhance social skills and empathy, and give them an appreciation of cultural diversity. Evidence also suggests learning a language can safeguard against cognitive decline in older age. </p>
<p>People in Australia speak more than <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/2071.0%7E2016%7EMain%20Features%7ECultural%20Diversity%20Data%20Summary%7E30">300 languages</a>. Learning one of these can enrich participation in our multicultural country. </p>
<p>The federal government pointed to the importance of languages in preparing <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tehan/job-ready-graduates-power-economic-recovery">job-ready graduates</a> by including the subject in the university fee cuts announced in 2020. Yet, this perspective is not consistently reflected in the way languages are taught in schools across Australia’s states. </p>
<p>Languages <a href="https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia-data-portal/year-12-subject-enrolments">have the lowest year 12</a> enrolments of all subject areas. Only 10% of year 12 students were enrolled in languages in 2019, compared to 30% in health and physical education, and nearly 50% in the sciences.</p>
<p>Learning languages has a different kind of status across different states. This can be partly be seen in the amount of time each state dedicates to language learning at school. </p>
<h2>How fast can you learn a language?</h2>
<p>The amount of time needed to learn a language depends on several factors, including a student’s baseline level of knowledge and the kind of language they’re learning. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://support.cambridgeenglish.org/hc/en-gb/articles/202838506-Guided-learning-hours">the University of Cambridge</a> suggests learning a language for a total of 180-200 hours to be able to interact simply, and a total of 1,000-1,200 hours for fluent, precise expression.</p>
<p>The Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (<a href="https://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/Australian_Curriculum_Languages_Info_sheet_Nov_2013.pdf;%20https://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/Languages_-_Shape_of_the_Australian_Curriculum_new.pdf">ACARA</a>) recommends language learning for around:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>350 hours from foundation to year 6</p></li>
<li><p>160 hours for years 7 and 8 </p></li>
<li><p>a further 160 hours across years 9 and 10</p></li>
<li><p>and 200-240 hours across years 11 and 12. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Overall, this is a minimum of 870 hours from the beginning until the end of school. </p>
<p>While students in some states do spend around this amount of time learning languages, others spend far less.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Elderly man filling in the brain of a man in a jigsaw puzzle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398573/original/file-20210504-24-de8x2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398573/original/file-20210504-24-de8x2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398573/original/file-20210504-24-de8x2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398573/original/file-20210504-24-de8x2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398573/original/file-20210504-24-de8x2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398573/original/file-20210504-24-de8x2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398573/original/file-20210504-24-de8x2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Evidence suggests learning a language can protect against cognitive decline in older age.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/high-angle-view-senior-man-collecting-1776503864">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For instance, in Victoria, schools <a href="https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/languages-education/print-all">must offer languages</a> from foundation to year 10, with a recommended 150 minutes per week each year. This totals at least 1,203 hours by the end of year 12. </p>
<p>The amount of time students actually spend learning a language in Victoria varies between schools. Data shows 79-98% of students across years 7 to 12 <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/languages/EduState_Languages_Provision_Report_2019.pdf">receive</a> 180 minutes or more of language learning per week.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-time-it-takes-to-learn-a-new-language-depends-on-what-you-want-to-do-with-it-92745">The time it takes to learn a new language depends on what you want to do with it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But in South Australia, there’s far less requirement for language learning. <a href="https://www.education.sa.gov.au/doc/melc-review-languages-education-policies-australia">Schools are required</a> to teach languages for 80 minutes per week from foundation to year 7, and 128 minutes per week in year 8. There is no requirement beyond year 8, meaning the total amount mandated is 474 hours. </p>
<p>This is similar in Western Australia, where languages are <a href="https://www.education.sa.gov.au/doc/melc-review-languages-education-policies-australia">required to be taught</a> for 120 minutes per week for students in years 3 to 8 (a total of 444 hours). Every student in WA <a href="https://www.education.wa.edu.au/languages">learns a language</a> in years 3 to 6, with a policy to extend this to year 9 by 2023.</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="mFSYF" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/mFSYF/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<h2>Teaching also differs</h2>
<p>There are also differences in the expertise required of language teachers across states and territories. </p>
<p>Victorian language teachers, for example, must have majored in the language they teach. Or they must apply for a <a href="https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/languages-education">Statement of Equivalence</a> to verify their linguistic competence is up to the same standard.</p>
<p>By contrast, neither the <a href="https://www.education.tas.gov.au/about-us/teach-tasmania/teach-in-tasmania/">Tasmanian education department</a> nor the <a href="https://www.trb.tas.gov.au/Documents/Employment%20as%20a%20Teacher%20in%20Tasmania.pdf">teachers’ registration board</a> have any specific languages requirement for teacher recruitment.</p>
<p>A non-specialist teacher might manage beginner French, but going beyond that can prove challenging. This may explain the sharp drop in student enrolments beyond year 7 in Tasmania, as shown in the 2019 Tasmania Department of Education Corporate Survey (data that’s not currently publicly available).</p>
<p>Anecdotal evidence also suggests a lack of skilled teachers has led some schools to cut language programs. </p>
<p>Shortage of specialist teachers may also help explain why states such as SA and WA don’t mandate language provision beyond year 8. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398577/original/file-20210504-13-cetjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Girl and woman communicating via sign language." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398577/original/file-20210504-13-cetjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398577/original/file-20210504-13-cetjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398577/original/file-20210504-13-cetjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398577/original/file-20210504-13-cetjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398577/original/file-20210504-13-cetjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398577/original/file-20210504-13-cetjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398577/original/file-20210504-13-cetjdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students in Victorian schools have a choice of 19 languages, including Auslan. In Tasmania, the options are much more limited.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mom-communicating-deaf-daughter-focus-on-1364154689">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Victoria, <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/languages/EduState_Languages_Provision_Report_2019.pdf">mainstream secondary schools</a> offer 19 languages (including Hindi, Indonesia and Auslan). Meanwhile, only five languages are available for students to learn up <a href="https://www.tasc.tas.gov.au/students/courses/languages/">until year 12</a> in Tasmania — Chinese, French, German, Italian and Japanese.</p>
<h2>What we need to do</h2>
<p>In August 2019, the federal government promised to develop a <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tehan/investing-languages-studies-australia">national strategy for languages</a> “to support language teaching and learning in Australia”. But what the strategy will mean in practice is elusive.</p>
<p>To ensure better language education across Australia, states must adequately resource their language education policy and outline a clear plan for how it should be implemented. </p>
<p>Some states are further ahead with this than others. For instance, through 2019 and 2020, Queensland rolled out a <a href="https://www.mltaq.asn.au/documents/item/1721">series of strategies</a> for language provision in schools. These suggested schools will be required to align with ACARA recommended hours. But the strategy document doesn’t explicitly state how many hours of learning should be provided for languages. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-languages-early-is-key-to-making-australia-more-multilingual-99085">Learning languages early is key to making Australia more multilingual</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A good language policy might consider how much time is to be dedicated to languages, how that time should be distributed, and what criteria should be applied in recruiting language teachers. Development of the policy should also consider what steps will be needed to make policy a practical reality.</p>
<p>Involving stakeholders — such as schools, universities, parents and students — in developing language education policy is central to ensure it’s successfully implemented.</p>
<p>States must carefully consider the professional knowledge required for effective teaching of languages. This should inform recruitment and prompt provision of professional development opportunities to equip teachers with strong knowledge of language and pedagogy.</p>
<p>Collaboration between schools, local universities, professional associations and state government plays a key role.</p>
<p>States also need to have a clear definition of language programs. This is so there is a clear understanding and aligned expectations among government, schools and parents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155219/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mairin Hennebry-Leung does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Learning a language to speak adequately requires a minimum of around 870 hours. Some Australian states mandate around 1,000 hours through secondary school, but others require less than half that time.Mairin Hennebry-Leung, Lecturer in Languages and TESOL, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1248232019-10-14T12:49:34Z2019-10-14T12:49:34ZWhy Uganda’s English language policy is failing rural children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296640/original/file-20191011-96257-qbjxyj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Uganda's English language policy isn't applicable to schools in the the country's rural areas.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Uganda’s language <a href="https://nutrition.opm.go.ug/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Revised-Education-Sector-strategic-plan.pdf">policy</a> requires that rural schools should choose a dominant local language to use as the language of learning and teaching for the first three years of primary school while English is taught as a subject. The fourth year of schooling is a transitional year in which English as the language of learning and teaching is introduced. English then becomes the medium of instruction. </p>
<p>In areas where it’s not easy to choose a dominant language, as is the case in urban schools, English as the medium of instruction is recommended.</p>
<p>We <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10228195.2018.1536162">investigated</a> the circumstances under which children learn and acquire English in central Uganda’s rural Rakai district. </p>
<p>We set questions related to the learning and teaching support materials for English, the challenges rural Ugandan learners face in learning English, the differences between government and private schools on vocabulary teaching and learning as well as opportunities available for learners to acquire English in rural schools.</p>
<p>We conducted the study in 2012 in four rural schools. The results of this study are still relevant because the language-in-education policy hasn’t changed. Teacher training and curricula are also still the same. </p>
<p>We found that learners faced various challenges in learning and acquiring English. It was difficult for them to reach the vocabulary levels set out by the country’s National Curriculum Development Centre. For example, they are expected to learn at least 800 English words after three years.</p>
<p>The essence of the mother tongue policy was partly to enhance the teaching and learning of English in Uganda. But our findings point to a host of difficulties faced by learners in private and government schools. We conclude that Uganda needs to rethink how English is taught in rural contexts. In addition, the time of transition to English as a language of learning and teaching should be reconsidered. </p>
<h2>A difficult subject</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/about/staff/publications/paul-nation/1992-Hirsh-Vocabulary-reading.pdf">Studies</a> show that vocabulary is a crucial element in reading and comprehension. According to some <a href="https://utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/cmlr.63.1.59">studies</a>, learners of English need knowledge of the 3000 most frequent words to read and understand graded readers. </p>
<p>But nobody has studied whether that is realistic in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10228190701794608">poorly resourced learning environments</a>, such as those in Uganda. </p>
<p>The curriculum development centre also considers “words” when speaking about vocabulary learning. However, <a href="https://www.lextutor.ca/cover/papers/nation_2006.pdf">studies</a> refer instead to word families – “the word and all its inflected and derived forms”, counted as one. </p>
<p>In Africa, there are numerous <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01434631003658073">studies</a> of language-in-education policies. But there is a shortage of research on <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312915353_The_politics_of_mother_tongue_education_The_case_of_Uganda">vocabulary learning</a> in both first and second languages. </p>
<p>As far as we know ours is the first study in Uganda that evaluated the number of words children acquire in the process of learning English. </p>
<h2>How English is taught</h2>
<p>The curriculum development centre set guidelines on how English should be taught from grade 1 to grade 3. It suggested presenting at least five new words every day, using short dialogues, presenting new sentence structures, pictures and wall charts, and using songs, games, acting, rhymes, exercises and speech.</p>
<p>The centre discourages teachers from using learners’ mother tongues while teaching English – an approach not supported by <a href="http://perlinguam.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/689">research</a>.</p>
<p>The centre expects the curriculum to be well-structured and supported by appropriate materials. But teachers in our study viewed the curriculum as <a href="http://spilplus.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/163">poorly structured, repetitive and inadequate</a>. They said they didn’t have the right materials and that learners weren’t able to learn the desired vocabulary in each school year.</p>
<p>We didn’t see recommended methods like role play and speeches being used. Instead, teachers asked learners to read after them and to chorus. </p>
<p>Another challenge we encountered related to training. The National Curriculum Development Centre recommends a one-teacher-one-classroom policy. So there is no specialist English teacher for grades 1 to 3. </p>
<h2>State schools versus private school</h2>
<p>Teachers also pointed to a big disparity between schools funded by the state and private schools – for example, in the materials provided and in exposure to English.</p>
<p>In private schools, it’s compulsory for all children to speak English at school all the time. But government school learners only encountered the language in English lessons.</p>
<p>Also, children in private pre-primary schools <a href="http://perlinguam.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/547">encounter</a> English learning at the age of 3 or 4 while those in government schools do so only at 6 (when they join grade 1).</p>
<p>It was clear from our classroom observations that the two sets of learners were at different levels of communicative English. Those in private schools were able to answer questions posed by the teachers while those in government schools found responding in English challenging. Some learners in government schools responded in Luganda (their mother tongue) to questions posed to them in English.</p>
<p>We saw that teachers used their class time differently. The curriculum development centre guidelines stipulate that English lessons last 30 minutes. But those in private schools were between 40 to 60 minutes. Government school teachers were also less punctual. </p>
<h2>Going forward</h2>
<p>We conclude that the targets set by the curriculum development centre need reviewing for two reasons. The first is that they are unrealistic, given the environment in which English is being taught in rural Uganda. The second is that they fall below what’s required for a learner to be able to comprehend English texts and access the curriculum in English.</p>
<p>The recommended two years to acquire basic communicative skills and four years to acquire cognitive and academic language proficiency is only possible in well-resourced environments. Our study shows that children in rural Ugandan schools can’t acquire these in three years only. </p>
<p>There are broader issues to consider too. Learners need more time to be exposed to the language before they can learn through it. But children in government schools mostly use their mother tongues and aren’t exposed to media in English. Moreover, teachers in rural areas are not very proficient in English.</p>
<p>The government needs to review the policy. It also needs to employ qualified and specialised teachers in English language and support materials for English need to be thoroughly evaluated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124823/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Medadi Ssentanda receives funding from Makerere University Directorate of Research and Graduate Training. He is affiliated with Makerere University and Stellenbosch University. </span></em></p>Uganda’s English language policy is at odds with the situation on the ground in the country’s rural schools.Medadi Ssentanda, Lecturer, Department of African Languages, Makerere UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1092732019-01-15T23:35:20Z2019-01-15T23:35:20ZIt’s time to change the way we teach English<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253463/original/file-20190111-43529-4dn8bc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C3539%2C1958&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Luiz Capitulino,11, and his mom Sheyla Do Vale of Brazil embrace after becoming official Canadians during a citizenship ceremony at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Monday, Sept. 25, 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As we move into 2019, <a href="https://en.iyil2019.org/">the United Nations’ International Year of Indigenous Languages</a>, it’s time to consider not only how we think about <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trilingual-border-signage-mohawk-1.4899653">Canada’s linguistic identity</a> but also how we might develop best practices for learning and teaching languages. </p>
<p>Since 1969, Canada has recognized <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/official-languages-act-1969">two official languages</a>, English and French, but many people who live in the country are in fact <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/census-family-language-highlights-1.4231841">multilingual</a>. There are approximately <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011003_3-eng.cfm">60 Indigenous languages</a> and <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011001-eng.cfm">140 immigrant languages</a> in Canada besides English and French. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://youtu.be/9EfvwZ_bOcY">in my own case I use five languages</a>: Portuguese, Spanish, English and a little Italian and French. I was born in Brazil in a family with Italian and Spanish heritage, and learned Portuguese, the country’s official language, at school. Later, I learned English, followed by French after I moved to Montréal. In Canada, stories like mine are more common than we think. </p>
<p>To teach English in a way that acknowledges multiple languages in Canada, we need an approach that values and advances students’ existing language and cultural identities. </p>
<p><em><a href="https://doe.concordia.ca/plurilinguallab/">Plurilingual</a></em> instruction is an approach that doesn’t discourage or shy away from using the learner’s primary language(s) when the new language is introduced. Plurilingual approaches seek to move beyond <em>monolingual</em> approaches, focused on the target language only. </p>
<p>A plurilingual approach can be taken to teach any new language. But in particular, my research has led me to focus on how plurilingual approaches to teaching English could change students’ experiences of language learning.</p>
<h2>English is often a second or third language</h2>
<p>In Canada, 7.7 million residents speak a non-official language as a mother tongue, an increase of <a href="http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016010/98-200-x2016010-eng.cfm">13.3 per cent between 2011 to 2016</a>, and the number of people speaking <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011001-eng.cfm">more than one language at home</a> is on the rise. </p>
<p>Using more than one language is not uncommon in Canada, particularly in <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/98-314-x2011001-eng.cfm">metropolitan areas</a> such as Toronto, <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreal-is-canadas-most-trilingual-city-census-reveals">Montréal</a> and Vancouver where switching and mixing languages for different purposes is part of everyday life. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253425/original/file-20190111-43525-plsvh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">East Pender Street, Vancouver. In Canada, using more than one language is not uncommon, particularly in large cities such as Vancouver, Montréal and Toronto, where switching and mixing languages for different purposes is part of everyday life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Canada is multicultural in addition to being multilingual. Cultural diversity is not only represented by immigrant cultures but also by diversity within Indigenous, anglophone and francophone groups. After all, these groups are both linguistically and culturally diverse in the sense that not everyone who speaks the same language and is part of the same cultural background speaks or behaves the same way. </p>
<p>While Canada recognizes English and French as official languages, the <a href="http://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf">Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada</a> has called for the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/pch/documents/campaigns/indigenous-languages-legislation/7-Early-Engagement-Report-2017-2018.pdf">revitalization, promotion and preservation of the country’s Indigenous languages</a>. <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/C-18.7.pdf">The Canadian Multiculturalism Act</a> also mandates that we “preserve and enhance the use of languages other than English and French, while strengthening the status and use of the official languages of Canada.”</p>
<p>But the way English language programs have presented teaching English to students doesn’t acknowledge the diversity of multiple linguistic backgrounds. The category “English as a second language” — so common now it is frequently shorthanded to ESL — ignores the fact that many students find themselves in my situation: they are, in fact, studying English as a third, fourth or fifth language. </p>
<p>Further, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2009.tb00171.x">ESL programs</a> often undervalue the use of more than one language to access information, communicate and use cultural knowledge in interactions with people from diverse backgrounds.</p>
<h2>Benefits to students</h2>
<p>In plurilingual language instruction, teachers focus on developing what linguists call a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amv030">linguistic repertoire</a> rather than the mastery of one language only. </p>
<p>Plurilingual instruction values the use of languages, dialects (or varieties of language) as well as cultural knowledge that students have developed throughout their lives; they build on this knowledge to further develop proficiency in the new target language. </p>
<p>For example, students learn strategies such as <em>translanguaging</em>: when learning words in the target languages, they reflect on similarities and differences in other languages. </p>
<p>And, as the language learner’s confidence grows with switching between languages, this also develops the person’s ability and confidence to make language choices and manage language risks in socially and linguistically diverse social settings. </p>
<p>Thus, researchers believe that <a href="https://rm.coe.int/168069d29b">embedded with plurilingual competence is also <em>pluricultural</em> competence</a>: learners experience greater comfort with, and enjoyment in, the fluid linguistic and cultural demands and opportunities of communicating in diverse societies. </p>
<p>While plurilingual instruction is relatively new in Canada, many countries including Uganda, Spain and Mexico have introduced plurilingual instruction and reported benefits of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38893-9_13-1">linking linguistic and cultural diversity in language education</a>. </p>
<p>Studies based in Canada alone suggest that when teachers use a plurilingual approach language students gain opportunities to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.116">personally identify with multiple languages</a> and value <a href="https://doi.org/10.20360/G2901N">multiple strategies</a> for language learning. Students also become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.111">confident and skilled in using different languages or a language mix depending on their location</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253428/original/file-20190111-43544-ufc3mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bilingual menu at Schwartz’s Deli, Montréal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In my most <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1807/91806">recent study</a>, I examined plurilingual instruction in comparison to regular instruction that emphasized one language only (monolingual) in a university English language program in Toronto.</p>
<p>I recruited seven teachers who taught the same program to 129 students but used different approaches. </p>
<p>After four months, students who received plurilingual instruction reported it was beneficial for the development of cognition, linguistic and cultural empathy, relatability, critical thinking and willingness to learn more languages, among other benefits. </p>
<p>All of the teachers in my study showed preference for plurilingual instruction and reported that it challenges cultural stereotypes and encourages students to be active, engaged learners who are empowered and confident with their own language use.</p>
<p>While more research is needed to confirm these results, future research could also be done in classrooms where French is taught as the official language, or where any languages are taught to help our understanding of benefits of plurilingual instruction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109273/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angelica Galante has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and The International Research Foundation for English Language Education. She is affiliated with Concordia University's Department of Education, Plurilingual Lab and the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance.</span></em></p>The language learning approach called “plurilingualism” empowers people to draw on many languages and cultural modes of communicating.Angelica Galante, Assistant Professor in Applied Linguistics, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/917662018-02-22T02:03:53Z2018-02-22T02:03:53ZThe Winter Olympics reminds us of the value of learning a second language<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207022/original/file-20180219-116333-13j3ds4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hosting sporting events to spark an interest in language and culture is known as 'soft diplomacy'.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Vassil Donev</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Big-ticket sporting events are an opportunity for countries to showcase their cultures. <a href="https://theconversation.com/live-from-pyeongchang-how-an-olympic-broadcast-works-91238">TV broadcasts</a> show stories about the cultural, historical and social aspects of the host country – which, for this year’s Winter Olympics, is South Korea.</p>
<p>We hear other languages at global sporting events, too. Almost 80 million people <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/05/116_157214.html">speak Korean</a>; it’s the world’s 13th-most-widely spoken language.</p>
<p>Potentially <a href="https://www.dramafever.com/news/are-korean-and-japanese-related-languages/">related to Japanese</a>, Korean first borrowed its writing system from Chinese characters. But King Sejong the Great introduced a new writing system in the 15th century. He wanted everybody to be able to read and write, which had been difficult when using Chinese characters. </p>
<p>The new writing system, <em>Hangul</em>, was an innovation Koreans are still proud of today. The <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/memory-of-the-world/register/full-list-of-registered-heritage/registered-heritage-page-8/the-hunmin-chongum-manuscript/">document</a> in which it was introduced, the <em>Hunminjeongeum</em>, is one of Korea’s most important historical documents; the date of its publication – October 9, 1446 – is now <a href="https://www.90daykorean.com/hangul-day/">Hangul Day</a>, a public holiday.</p>
<h2>Languages, Olympics, and soft diplomacy</h2>
<p>The Korean peninsula has been split into North Korea and South Korea for about 70 years. North Korea’s isolation means its residents haven’t taken up English words as much as South Koreans; they also <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2994774/A-tale-two-languages-70-years-separation-seen-vocabulary-North-South-Korea-splinter-two-different-dialects.html">use many different words</a> for day-to-day items.</p>
<p>This is basically what happens to all languages when some speakers form new communities. The linguistic differences in the two Koreas came to light when members of a combined women’s hockey team <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-06/winter-olympics-language-problems-unified-korea-ice-hockey-team/9399410">had trouble understanding one another</a>. A dictionary of North and South Korean terms had to be written to help them out.</p>
<p>Other countries have also used hosting the Olympics to tell the world about their language. For example, the Office of Chinese Language Council <a href="http://www.china.org.cn/learning_chinese/news/2008-08/18/content_16263061.htm">saw the 2008 Beijing Olympics</a> as a great way to showcase Chinese. </p>
<p>Sparking an interest in languages is sometimes called <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304451104577389923098678842">“soft diplomacy”</a>. Hosting Summer and Winter Olympics, Eurovision, and football World Cups is all about influencing what others in the world like about your country by presenting its appealing and attractive aspects.</p>
<p>Some people connect soft diplomacy with sneaky attempts to make a country’s culture and political aims more successful on the world stage, but it is also about understanding other cultures. It’s an opportunity for the world to learn about a nation’s cultural achievements, about the ways people from that culture might see the world, what makes them tick, what makes them proud, and what they are worried or sad about. </p>
<p>And, sometimes, deep differences in cultures and ways of living and doing things disappear when people start to “get” one another.</p>
<h2>Korean language studies in Australia</h2>
<p>For South Korea, hosting the Winter Olympics is a great opportunity to engage Australians with Korean language and culture.</p>
<p>The Korean Culture Centre in Sydney <a href="http://www.koreanculture.org.au/australian-national-athletes-visited-the-kcc-for-the-korean-culture-experience-program/">hosted five athletes</a> taking part in the Olympics to experience Korean culture and some language lessons before their departure.</p>
<p>Korean as a second language is taught in <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/korean/en/audiotrack/8621-students-are-learning-korean-71-schools-around-australia">more than 70 schools</a> across Australia. In the 1990s, Korean – along with Japanese, Chinese and Indonesian – was one of the <a href="http://www1.curriculum.edu.au/nalsas/about.htm#intro">four highlighted Asian languages</a> in national language learning policies. But while Japanese and Chinese are still going strong, Korean and Indonesian have had their struggles. </p>
<p>Indonesian was taught in many schools in the 1990s, but it has since lost its momentum. It <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-19/indonesian-language-declining-schools/7405422">has been in severe decline</a> since a travel warning to Indonesia followed the Bali bombings in 2002.</p>
<p>Korean language studies are today <a href="http://dfat.gov.au/people-to-people/foundations-councils-institutes/australia-korea-foundation/news/Pages/korean-language-studies-on-the-rise-again-in-australia.aspx">well represented in New South Wales</a>, but they have a smaller presence in other Australian states. The <a href="http://www.koreanculture.org.au/">Korean Cultural Centre</a> is in Sydney, and many people with a Korean background have settled in the state. There is even a primary school <a href="http://www.campsie-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/korean-bilingual-program">with Korean bilingual classes</a>. </p>
<p>Most soft diplomacy takes place in second-language classrooms. Learning a second language helps kids learn about other cultures, and hopefully understand and like them.</p>
<p>Korean language studies have received increased interest over last decade, since the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/06a541aa-8725-11e7-8bb1-5ba57d47eff7">cultural phenomenon of the “Korean Wave”</a> swept the world. This was the great success of Korean pop music, boy bands, and popular soap operas and dramas in many other Asian nations. It also went beyond Asia: K-pop became popular in Australia and Europe too.</p>
<p>The Korean government realised this, and <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10286632.2013.829052?src=recsys">increased grants</a> to artists, film-makers and other creative types to foster the development of more Korean Wave products.</p>
<p>The Winter Olympics and its sideshows of Korean culture and language are great reminders of the value of second-language learning. Engaging with the language of another country is an opportunity to increase understanding, to dive deeper into a country’s culture, history and society.</p>
<p>So, let’s encourage children to learn at least one other language well, ideally to Year 12 and beyond. And it’s never too late to start learning another language as an adult.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91766/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simone Smala does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For South Korea, hosting the Winter Olympics is a great opportunity to engage the world with Korean language and culture.Simone Smala, Lecturer in Education, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/538402016-02-08T12:07:02Z2016-02-08T12:07:02ZAt what age is it easiest to learn a second language?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109505/original/image-20160128-27170-m4xy38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Getting going early. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">takasu/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you want to learn a foreign language, should you begin before a certain age in order to fully master it? Popular opinion holds that young children find it easier than adults because childhood is a “critical period” for language learning.</p>
<p>It has been difficult to prove this, but new <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0143328">research</a> published by my colleagues and me, using brainscans and innovative statistical methods, does indeed suggest that our capacity to learn a language diminishes gradually over our lives. </p>
<p>The familiar mantra that children immersed in a language <a href="http://www.ounewsbureau.com/?p=129">“soak it up like a sponge”</a>, while adults apparently do not, is not in itself proof of the existence of a critical period for language learning. But it is both easier and more important for children to quickly become good in a second language they hear spoken around them. </p>
<p>There are<a href="http://assets.cambridge.org/97805216/32317/sample/9780521632317ws.pdf"> many reasons</a> for this. Children can spend more time and effort on learning than adults who have many competing demands; the motivation for children to fit in is much higher, and the habits of pronunciation and grammar of their first language are less deeply ingrained and thus easier to overcome. And, of course, all learning gets harder with age. </p>
<p>None of these factors have anything to do with a specific critical period for learning languages, but all of them do make younger learners of a new language eventually outperform older ones.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109507/original/image-20160128-27159-1aca4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109507/original/image-20160128-27159-1aca4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109507/original/image-20160128-27159-1aca4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109507/original/image-20160128-27159-1aca4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109507/original/image-20160128-27159-1aca4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109507/original/image-20160128-27159-1aca4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109507/original/image-20160128-27159-1aca4s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not always sticking to the book.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ChristianChan/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Grammar gripes</h2>
<p>In addition to this overall and gradual advantage for younger learners, there is one notable qualitative difference: even very good older language learners differ from younger ones when it comes to using grammar correctly and consistently. Every time I mark a run of scripts from my adult students, most of whom are from non-English-speaking backgrounds, I find that while they are amazingly good at using a wide range of vocabulary, appropriate style and complex grammar, they often struggle with some simple grammatical rules. </p>
<p>For example, many adult learners never fully master the distinction between “he walks” and “they walk”. They also often fail to grasp that “I have lived in Colchester for two years” means that I still live there, while “I lived in Colchester for two years” means that I do not. Why are simple and highly frequent rules apparently impossible to master, while words that have been encountered only a few times sink in easily?</p>
<p>There seem to be some “pockets” of grammar that even advanced older learners persistently fail to use correctly, while children master them early on and with ease. This observation is at the heart of the idea of a “critical period”, a limited time window, usually assumed to last until puberty, during which the human brain is specifically sensitive to linguistic input, including grammar. After this window has closed, it is assumed that grammatical rules have to be taught explicitly and become difficult to internalise. </p>
<p>Traditional statistical methods are good at capturing a slow decrease in proficiency among older language learners. But it has been difficult to scan the entire age range and detect a sudden drop that would be indicative of a critical period. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0143328">our recent study</a>, we used a comparatively new method of analysis, called “<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Generalized_Additive_Models.html?id=hr17lZC-3jQC">generalized additive modelling</a>”. This is effective at accurately assessing the result of language learning across the entire age range, while taking into account other factors, such as the amount of time the learner spends using the language.</p>
<p>We analysed the brain activity, measured by means of the <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/EEG/Pages/Introduction.aspx">EEG signal</a>, of 29 native speakers and 66 second-language learners of German when they heard correct German sentences and sentences which contained a grammatical error of agreement. In article-noun combinations (such as “the garden” or “the house”) German requires the article to match the gender of the noun, so that the masculine noun <em>Garten</em> “garden” takes the masculine article <em>der</em>, while the neuter noun <em>Haus</em> “house” requires the neuter article <em>das</em>. </p>
<p>Native German speakers, on hearing mismatches such as <em>das Garten</em> or <em>der Haus</em> show a strong brain response to this error, typical of detecting a grammatical mistake. The 66 second-language learners often either had no response at all or appeared to treat it like an error of word choice, not of grammar. This was particularly the case for those who had learnt the language later in life. But the change was gradual across the entire age range – there was no “bump” – suggesting there is no particular “critical period” and that it’s just a question of not leaving it too late before you start learning. </p>
<h2>How important is puberty?</h2>
<p>Our study had some limiting factors, which highlight the need for more research. First, all of the learners we tested spoke either Polish or Russian as their first language, and both of these languages, like German, have grammatical gender. Learning the rules for their first language might have enabled them to get them right for the second one. </p>
<p>Second, the youngest learners we included were aged seven when they came to Germany. While the traditional view on the critical period is that it closes around puberty, some <a href="http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/zfsw.2009.28.issue-1/zfsw.2009.002/zfsw.2009.002.xml">recent studies</a> suggest that it may be as young as five. It is therefore possible that our study failed to detect the critical period because even the youngest participants were already past it when they began learning German.</p>
<p>More evidence, as well as informed use of novel statistical methods, is therefore needed to answer the question once and for all about whether there is a critical period for language learning.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53840/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This study was funded through grant 016.104.602 from the Dutch National Science Council NWO. Monika Schmid has received funding from NWO, KNAW and Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p>We really might get gradually worse at learning a new language as we age, says a new study.Monika Schmid, Professor of Linguistics, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/483302015-10-01T04:40:13Z2015-10-01T04:40:13ZMaking an African language compulsory at university may do more harm than good<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96665/original/image-20150929-30976-16br7t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Small conversation or oral groups help people to learn a new language. When classes get too big, it's impossible to teach in this way.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The status of languages is a <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/south-african-students-protest-afrikaans-150902065344452.html">political hot potato</a> on South Africa’s university campuses. The country’s minister of higher education and training <a href="http://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/call-compulsory-african-language">believes</a> that all university graduates in South Africa should have learned at least one African language during their studies. </p>
<p>The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), located in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, became the first to heed the minister’s call when it <a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20130531073217996">introduced Zulu</a> as a compulsory subject for all new students from 2014. This is part of its broader <a href="http://registrar.ukzn.ac.za/Libraries/policies/Language_Policy_-_CO02010906.sflb.ashx">language policy</a>, which emphasises “the need to achieve for Zulu the institutional and academic status of English”.</p>
<p>UKZN has been hailed for this move, but some have also <a href="http://www.ufs.ac.za/docs/default-source/timeslive-documents/2013-05-23---master-one-language-before-tackling-another-1258-eng.pdf?sfvrsn=0">warned</a> that making only Zulu compulsory is a political decision that may contribute to linguistic and cultural nationalism.</p>
<p>My current research, which I recently presented at a <a href="http://www.britac.ac.uk/events/2015/African_Multilingualism.cfm">conference</a> of the British Academy, explores the interplay between language dynamics and ideological constructions in South African higher education. It examines UKZN specifically in light of the introduction of the compulsory Zulu module. </p>
<p>Some of the findings suggest that the university’s top-down approach in this instance has alienated even some Zulu language lecturers. They feel this policy is actually doing their language a disservice.</p>
<h2>Problems and paradoxes</h2>
<p>Nearly 78% of KwaZulu-Natal’s residents speak Zulu as <a href="http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/5">a first language</a>. The university argues that, given this demography, choosing Zulu as a compulsory African language can contribute to social cohesion and nation building in the province and beyond.</p>
<p>There is no doubt that all South Africans, no matter their background, should ideally be fluent in at least one African language. UKZN’s non-Zulu staff and students can benefit enormously from learning the language.</p>
<p>But there are two major problems with the policy. The first is ideological. Quite simply, Zulu is not a pan-African language. It’s not even a transnational one like Kiswahili, which is the <em>lingua franca</em> in Tanzania and Kenya. Zulu is inextricably linked to Zulu ethnicity – and the policy is therefore seen by some as prioritising one nation or group above any others.</p>
<p>The second problem is more practical and relates to the content of the course. The 2014 policy sees Zulu taught for just one semester – that’s about five months. Zulu language lecturers say this system has created so many problems that any real value is being lost.</p>
<p>During November and December 2014 I interviewed seven people who are involved in developing and championing UKZN’s language policy and six Zulu lecturers at two of the institution’s campuses.</p>
<p>The lecturers said that morale among students in the compulsory module is so low that they are little more than “resistance learners”. One lecturer called the module a “Mickey Mouse” course that gives students only the most basic knowledge of the language. </p>
<p>There is also a paradox between the university’s stated policy and its practice. In interviews with UKZN language policy stakeholders I was informed that the objective of the module is for students to acquire “communicative competence” in Zulu. But there are so many students in each class that there is simply no space for the sort of “conversational” component that would teach them how to “chat” in Zulu.</p>
<p>The UKZN _Basic isiZulu _module had 325 students in 2013, 1381 in 2014 when the policy was implemented and has 2254 in 2015. Oral practice lessons are absolutely impossible with such huge classes. </p>
<h2>The danger of stigma</h2>
<p>Any language can acquire a stigma because of sociopolitical circumstances. During the apartheid era, Afrikaans was viewed as the <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/june-16-soweto-youth-uprising">language of the oppressor</a> – a tag it has still not <a href="http://www.thedailyvox.co.za/open-stellenbosch-protest-its-like-the-remnants-of-apartheid-live-here/">shaken off</a>. And this is despite the majority of Afrikaans speakers today being “coloured”, and not Afrikaners. </p>
<p>Some of the Zulu lecturers I interviewed actually drew explicit links between the compulsory teaching of Afrikaans during apartheid and UKZN’s mandatory Zulu lessons. This emphasises that it is the compulsory aspect of the course which is seen as particularly problematic. </p>
<p>It is absolutely necessary for South African education to move away from the English hegemony, and African language learning will play a crucial role in this shift. African language learning – both for mother tongue and second language learners – must be fostered at primary and secondary school level. </p>
<p>The early practice of academic reading and writing in African languages should be taken for granted for all South Africans. My previous <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=90FBAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA107&lpg=PA107&dq=IsiZulu-English+Bilingualisation+at+the+University+of+KwaZulu-Natal:+An+Exploration+of+Students%27+attitudes&source=bl&ots=ie1TpbtY0G&sig=kykdTlvdv3ilskrLaNzQ3ZbQoGk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMIjYnF1J-cyAIVw2sUCh2tdwPv#v=onepage&q=IsiZulu-English%20Bilingualisation%20at%20the%20University%20of%20KwaZulu-Natal%3A%20An%20Exploration%20of%20Students'%20attitudes&f=false">research</a> shows that fostering Zulu as an academic language at tertiary level is far too late in academic development. </p>
<p>Linguistic diversity should be approached as a resource and a tool for creativity and nation building. Ideally, every child in KwaZulu-Natal should learn Zulu from a very young age. But this type of change needs to emerge from the bottom up rather than being imposed from the top down. The UKZN language policy seems to be an example of a top-down approach that is deeply shaped by ideological and political interests rather than with sound educational practice in mind.</p>
<p>Ultimately, shouldn’t South African universities aim to make non-African language speakers aware of the beauty and benefits of knowing an African language – rather than forcing students to study them?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48330/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Rudwick receives funding from the DFG (German Research Foundation). This research was funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation), but the views contained in this article are solely the author's.</span></em></p>It is important that all South Africans learn to speak an African language. But is making a single language a compulsory university subject the best way to make this happen?Stephanie Rudwick, DFG-funded researcher in Afrikanistik (African Studies), University of LeipzigLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/467812015-09-11T05:33:23Z2015-09-11T05:33:23ZBilingual children lag behind in language learning early on, but catch up by age five<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94157/original/image-20150908-4353-1foec72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Harder when you first begin juggling two languages.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">calmmindphoto/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Given the increasing number of <a href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/population-by-country-of-birth-and-nationality/2014/rpt-population-of-the-uk.html#tab-conclusions">non-English speaking families</a> in the UK, concern has increased over the impact that growing up in a bilingual or non-English speaking home environment may have on <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecoj.12054/abstract">children’s performance</a> and readiness for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/mar/05/teaching-eal-foreign-languages-students-integration-schools">school</a>. So are bilingual children at an educational disadvantage when starting school compared to their classmates who speak just one language? </p>
<p>Using <a href="http://growingupinscotland.org.uk/using-gus-data/">Growing Up in Scotland</a>, a nationally representative data set of 8,000 children, I compared cognitive and non-cognitive skills of three groups of children aged under six living in Scotland: those with two UK-born parents (90% of the sample); those with one UK and one foreign-born parent (9%); and those with two foreign-born parents (1%). Almost half of the children without two UK-born parents spoke both English and another language at home, compared to 1% of those children with UK-born parents. </p>
<p><a href="https://b1dbb26e-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/joannacliftonsprigg/research/Bilingualism_And_Skills_2015.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7crxeV5DFjHs3vpp-FXTvtIZ_l04YuwxELgvQd_OaU59ur5rODocEW3DO6lBEPYaztBX9Ay1742EPe-5SMA-0n29e0Kvw3TPuvaSyASSzuF-OkL-SuZTiRaTSWCypOYsKooS6qrUZkSivJsQxfQt5jsn0UhoB1S_90GTPuDsPnn5OFvb4LHPVHeUpgRtpbo-yXLsv52w4xYhUEwfn7UWJmzADzicJ7qLeGkjcgaLdH0mbc-kWaXXOpl27jlhbSX9D4hGqrIb&attredirects=0">The results of this research</a> suggests that acquiring two languages does not affect the cognitive and non-cognitive skills of young children, such as their ability to recognise objects, match pictures, or their responsiveness and behaviour in everyday situations. It does, however, temporarily affect their knowledge of English vocabulary. </p>
<p>While bilingual children can initially lag behind in naming vocabulary, however, the disadvantage disappears before the age of five for most of them, except for those who have two foreign-born parents.</p>
<h2>The role of parents</h2>
<p>Previous <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w18429.pdf">research</a> has established that children’s early educational attainment <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2164659">is essential</a> for their later schooling and adult life outcomes. Language is a particularly potent instrument because it influences a child’s ongoing performance as well as their ability to acquire new skills. </p>
<p>Linguists agree that bilingualism may give children an educational advantage over their peers <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-language-you-speak-changes-your-view-of-the-world-40721">by changing</a> their understanding of certain concepts and improving their creative thinking abilities. At the same time, some research has found that it may <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358777/">delay speech</a> as it requires <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=3107592&fileId=S1366728908003477">simultaneous acquisition</a> of vocabulary in two languages. </p>
<p>A child’s linguistic competence is shaped by their home environment and, therefore <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w15889">hinges significantly</a> upon their parents. Parents’ ability to teach a child two languages plays a crucial role in bilingualism and is often overlooked. In particular, two foreign-born parents may be in a worse position to raise a bilingual child due to their limited knowledge of the language spoken in the host country or lack of country-specific knowledge. Understanding this is increasingly important due to the growing number of multilingual and multicultural families in Europe.</p>
<h2>Catching up quickly</h2>
<p>I have not found evidence to confirm that the acquisition of two languages affects any skills other than the ability to name vocabulary in English. Children performed comparably in physical and behavioural tests, as well as in tasks testing their cognitive performance, such as matching pictures that contain common elements.</p>
<p>As a group, bilingual children at three-years-old scored lower than their monolingual peers in the vocabulary exercise, in which they were asked to name objects in a picture in English. But they had almost caught up by the age of five. My conclusions did not change when I accounted for a variety of other factors which may matter for the child’s performance, such as their family’s socio-economic background.</p>
<p>The picture gets more complicated when family composition is taken into account. Bilingual children with two foreign-born parents obtained a 25% lower score in the vocabulary naming task than monolingual children at the age of three. This is a big gap – as an average three-year-old scored 56% in the exercise. The significant difference between the two groups was still visible at the age of five.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, bilingual children with one UK-born and one foreign-born parent scored only slightly worse in the task at age three, but did not perform differently at the age of five. </p>
<h2>How to help</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94384/original/image-20150910-27325-1oj21g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Practice letters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ABC via Denis Vrublevski/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Understanding the source of this gap may help shape future education policy. For example, if the origins of a parent or the country-specific context where the child is growing up play a role in the way they learn languages, programmes that help assimilation could be put in place to support foreign families. </p>
<p>Although my work to analyse the role of parental background on these results remains ongoing, I’ve already found evidence that certain actions by parents help children improve their linguistic performance. For instance, those children whose parents reported practising letters with them had better attainment in the vocabulary naming test, and this was more pronounced for bilingual children than children who spoke one language.</p>
<p>Provision of formal childcare also helps address the performance gap by exposing children whose parents are not native English speakers to English. </p>
<p>Given the positive results of this research, particularly for children from a mixed-nationality background, it will remain to be established whether bilingual children go on to outperform their monolingual peers in skill tests as they grow older.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46781/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Clifton-Sprigg received research funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (+3 Studentship, 2011-2014).</span></em></p>Bilingual children’s progress in learning vocabularly depends on their parents.Joanna Clifton-Sprigg, Lecturer in Economics, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.