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

even if Chomsky is right in postulating innate language learning mechanisms for
the acquisition of a first language and even if innate mechanisms and
age-related factors play a role in the acquisition of a second language in natural
contexts, they are unlikely to be sufficient for the successful learning of a foreign
language within the constraints of formal learning situations where other
learning mechanisms play a role.

Thus the various reports from Scotland tell the reader much about what children
have learned (or not learned as might be the case). That primary school
children do learn some language material is to be expected. It is also to be
expected that with different methodologies and teachers better equipped for the
task, some children might have done better. However, this does not necessarily
lend support to the view that younger is better as one cannot discard the
possibility that similar results could have been achieved more efficiently at a
later stage, as the evidence discussed in Chapters Two suggests.

Potential benefits of an early start, such as increased levels of motivation, are
psychological rather than linguistic. However, psychological benefits, such as
positive attitudes and increased willingness to speak, are fickle learner variables
and as such they are subject to change in the classroom. Affective factors
would therefore seem only limited indicators of eventual success. In any case,
positive attitudes could be a reflection of children's Tun' experiences at primary
school rather than of an early start as such. As the ∞mments from teachers
have also shown, these 'learning outcomes' did not apply to all the children

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