When it comes to learning languages, sooner is statistically better. I further explore this concept in more detail in the annotated bibliography I have reformatted below to make it easier to read.
Introduction
Over the course of coming up in an academic background, from middle school introduction classes to high school and college classes, indubitably one will notice that picking up a second language comes easier to some than to others. Looking back at personal experience, some grinded it out for good grades in classes, but then there were others that a second language or even a third language simply came easier to than others. There seemed to be common denominator with those that lasted in learning languages and those who fizzled out without mastery of the language that they set out to learn. This was second language exposure at a young age. It never made sense to me that those who were already bilingual could have room in their memory banks for more vocabulary, grammar, and language skills. Interest was sparked in this topic by reading Kelvin Camilo’s narrative titled, “Native Tongue Twist” and the connection he drew to being multilingual at a young age and how that affected his learning of English and the challenges he faced. In Addition to Kelvin’s piece, my own piece, “Lost on a Hong Kong Subway” also seemed to come into play as an inspiration on the topic of second language acquisition relatively early on, and how that affected our education and future experiences. However, it seems that learning languages is an acquired talent of sorts. Therefore, there is a question that needs to be answered in more depth, which is,. iIs the ability to effectively and efficiently add languages to one’s multilingual repertoire dependent on prior second language exposure at a young age or additional previous language mastery, and if so, should more of an emphasis be put on foreign language in the American education system?
Over the course of coming up in an academic background, from middle school introduction classes to high school and college classes, indubitably one will notice that picking up a second language comes easier to some than to others. Looking back at personal experience, some grinded it out for good grades in classes, but then there were others that a second language or even a third language simply came easier to than others. There seemed to be common denominator with those that lasted in learning languages and those who fizzled out without mastery of the language that they set out to learn. This was second language exposure at a young age. It never made sense to me that those who were already bilingual could have room in their memory banks for more vocabulary, grammar, and language skills. Interest was sparked in this topic by reading Kelvin Camilo’s narrative titled, “Native Tongue Twist” and the connection he drew to being multilingual at a young age and how that affected his learning of English and the challenges he faced. In Addition to Kelvin’s piece, my own piece, “Lost on a Hong Kong Subway” also seemed to come into play as an inspiration on the topic of second language acquisition relatively early on, and how that affected our education and future experiences. However, it seems that learning languages is an acquired talent of sorts. Therefore, there is a question that needs to be answered in more depth, which is,. iIs the ability to effectively and efficiently add languages to one’s multilingual repertoire dependent on prior second language exposure at a young age or additional previous language mastery, and if so, should more of an emphasis be put on foreign language in the American education system?
Gabryś-Barker, Danuta. Cross-linguistic Influences in Multilingual Language Acquisition. Heidelberg: Springer, 2012. Print.
Smith, Asha H. "Language Learning in Adulthood: Why Some Have More Trouble Than Others." Diss. Stanford University, 2009. Print.
"Learning a Second Language: When & Why." District Administration Magazine (2006): n. pag. Direct Administration. Nov. 2006. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.
Conclusion
The main message pertaining to all of the preceding research and analysis is that although there is much information scattered throughout libraries worldwide and throughout the internet as well, there is still no conclusive evidence one way or another regarding whether or not linguistic competence in multiple languages has any direct relationship to how early one learns their first foreign language. There are definite connections between the two, but no direct line can be drawn. Most of the information available to date has been mere hypothesis and theories with no actual proof. Therefore scholars mike myself will need to conduct more studies and surveys to draw valid conclusions. Before reforming the education system in favor of increased emphasis on language, the government should also conduct nationwide research in hopes of increasing multilingual proficiency to advance this country’s youth.
The main message pertaining to all of the preceding research and analysis is that although there is much information scattered throughout libraries worldwide and throughout the internet as well, there is still no conclusive evidence one way or another regarding whether or not linguistic competence in multiple languages has any direct relationship to how early one learns their first foreign language. There are definite connections between the two, but no direct line can be drawn. Most of the information available to date has been mere hypothesis and theories with no actual proof. Therefore scholars mike myself will need to conduct more studies and surveys to draw valid conclusions. Before reforming the education system in favor of increased emphasis on language, the government should also conduct nationwide research in hopes of increasing multilingual proficiency to advance this country’s youth.
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