False: children do not learn a second language overnight
No learning overnight for children A popular belief is to think that children who are exposed to another language at late stage of bilingual development or after the age of…
Bilingual Code Mixing is not a sign of confusion
A distinctive behaviour of bilingual speakers is Bilingual Code Mixing (BCM), which usually takes place when two languages are mixed in the same or in two different utterances in the…
How do bilingual children represent languages in their mind?
Besides the importance given to the relationship between language and cognition Researchers have showed a great deal of interest in the nature of language representation in the child’s mind with…
Dispelling Bilingual Myths – Dual language development in early childhood
Dual language development in early childhood introduction This critical review is based on empirical research: enjoy it! That human beings possess the cognitive capacity to learn one language without…
Why bilingual children need a supportive learning environment
The research methods used The advances made in early childhood bilingual research lay in the research methods employed which vary considerably from the ones used at early stages. Indeed, most…
Yes, children can learn two languages or more without problems
The phonetic processing in infants Recently Petitto et al (2011) carried out a neuroimaging experiment to examine the phonetic processing in bilingual and monolingual babies. She divided the babies in…
Is it cognitiveley burdensome for young children to learn two languages?
The complicated link between language and cognition One of the main issues in understanding dual language development in both simultaneous bilinguals and sequential learners is undoubtedly the complicated link between…
Some reasons why bilinguals to have/not have accents
Why individuals attain a different level of fluency when learning a foreign language? I bet many of you have wondered why most adults retain a native like accent when speaking…
How you can practice speaking a foreign language?
Is chatting in a foreign language the same of speaking face to face? There are a number of studies that empirically demonstrate that the CMC synchronous chatting modality provides the…
What is Foreign language anxiety?
Overcoming foreign language anxiety Many of you have certainly experienced discomfort when speaking a foreign language which was not acquired in early childhood. You might have thought it was related…
Why are children better language learners than adults?
Do Children Really Learn Languages Faster than Adults? According to Chomsky (1997, p. 167) “The theory of a particular language is in its grammar, the theory of languages and the…
Is there a critical period for second language acquisition?
What is the critical period for language development? Researchers generally agree children are better language learners than adults, read below to find out why. Not surprisingly, children are commonly believed…