A Critical Examination of the Beliefs about Learning a Foreign Language at Primary School

Bongaerts et al. also point out that these suggestions are mainly based on
studies investigating the acquisition of English in predominantly naturalistic
environments. The achievement in the area of phonology by the subjects in
their own studies suggests 'that in some cases, at least, the biological
disadvantages of a late start may be compensated for by an interaction of
certain Ieamerand context variables (Bongaerts, Planken & Schils, 1995: 44).
With intensive phonological training, exposure to an input rich environment and
high levels of motivation some adult learners can become indistinguishable from
native-speakers. On the other hand, however, it ∞uld be argued that an early
start might have eliminated the need for explicit phonological tuition and that in
contexts where native-like pronunciation in two languages is desirable, such as
the bilingual context of Canada or Catalonia for example, an early start might be
desirable simply from a phonological point of view.

Studies are generally conclusive that in the area of morphological and
syntactical development older means faster and that adolescent learners and
adults outperform the younger children. In natural contexts the younger
children are said to overtake eventually but the issues of speed of learning and
ultimate attainment have quite different implications for the teaching of a foreign
language in the classroom and will be discussed again later.

That the foreign language classroom presents its own challenges has already
been stated in earlier sections. Whether one can speak of universals in a
school ∞ntext is questionable as it is difficult to determine how far a general

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