Teaching Second Languages

"Education policies disregard fundamental concepts of neuroscience when they delay teaching second languages until early adolescence and simultaneously undervalue bilingual programs for young children."

This is the conclusion of a report of the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, "The Timing and Quality of Early Experiences Combine to Shape Brain Architecture."  The report explains...

"Beginning at birth, all children have the capacity to learn any of the world's languages."  This ability is encoded in our genes and activated by exposure to everyday conversation in an interactive way.  Unless a child has a specific disability, the achievement of fluency in any language, as well as the mastery of more than one language at the same time, does not require formal instruction or intervention in the early childhood years.  It simply requires ongoing communication with others.  Moreover, the younger the brain, the greater its capacity to master more than a single language.  If education policies were guided by what we know about the development of the brain, second-language learning would be a preschool priority."

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