When is it too late to learn a language?

Recent comments from the Education Secretary Michael Gove highlight the sad reality that British children are just not learning languages at an early enough age to foster real language ability*. In most European countries speaking more than one language is the norm and it’s regarded as a fundamental part of education. Not here in the UK.

At what age then should kids be exposed to a foreign language? The idea that children get “confused” if exposed to more than one language in childhood is absolute nonsense. In fact the opposite occurs - such exposure helps develop a child’s cognitive and communicative ability. As far as language learning is concerned the earlier the better.

One of the issues this raises though, is the question: Is there a point of no return when it is just too late to start teaching a foreign language? For decades linguists have explored the idea that there is a critical period for language acquisition - a window of time where children have the best chance of learning a language as if it were their native language. When that window closes, language learning becomes hard work.

There can be no doubt that language acquisition becomes harder - but not impossible - as we move out of puberty and into adult life. The existence of a critical period is not clear. It may be that the critical period is broken down into chunks of acquisition which apply to different aspects of language, so that language learning is not a granite slab but a series of individual bricks that all come together over an extended period of time.

From an educational standpoint, language teaching should ideally start in primary school. Anecdotal evidence suggests that young children are more enthusiastic and less inhibited about using a foreign language compared to teenagers. However, there needs to be some cohesive policy that allows qualified language teachers to follow a defined course structure so that children build on what they learn at primary school when they reach secondary school. That requires policy, educational planning, teacher development and above all a recognition that language learning should start at an early age.

*http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15135560

What’s in a Word?

What is the basic building block of language? If you asked that question to 100 people it wouldn’t be surprising if the most common reply was “words”. In many cases we tend to think in term of a hierarchy of words, sentences, paragraphs - an almost automatic default which equates language with written language.

In fact language is built on sound. We learn our own language initially by forming sounds and developing speech and it is only when we have acquired that skill that we then develop our language ability by learning to read and write.

That’s where phonetics and phonology come into play - my least favourite aspect of linguistics, mainly because I’ve always struggled with them - but an essential part of language nonetheless. So every once and a while I’ll post a basic term along with a definition just to keep you - and me- up to date with the basics of the topic. Here’s the first one:

Phonetics: the scientific study of how speech sounds are produced, how they are used in spoken language and how those sounds are represented. This involves an examination of how we produce and classify speech sounds.

If you have a simpler definition, or an easier way of remembering what phonetics is all about, please leave a comment and share your knowledge.

Tune into Planet Word - it’s an eye-opener!

I’ve just managed to catch up on this week’s episode of Steven Fry’s new series Planet Word thanks to the BBC iPlayer. If you haven’t already watched it, it’s well worth it. Even if linguistics is not your “thing” Fry manages to make it interesting and even a bit funny.

This second episode raises some really interesting questions about language and identity and the preservation of minority languages. He takes a look at Irish, Basque and Occitan. There’s a couple of eye-opening comments about minority languages from someone at the Académie Française - note to self: is there such a word as “linguaphobic”?

The episode also explores the development of Global English or Globish - how the use of a lingua franca like English has spurred on globalisation but may also be contributing to language death because minority languages are seen as “going nowhere” (yes we’re back to the Académie Française!) Interestingly there was an article in the October / November issue of The Linguist magazine on a similar theme and it is an area of concern for many.

Personally, having watched the first two episodes, this is the type of series that can help foster a real interest in the practical aspects of linguistics. When the book comes out - and believe me, the BBC will end up bringing a book out - it would be the perfect Christmas gift to rouse someone’s interest in languages.