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

This would challenge the assumption that younger is necessarily better for all
children, in all contexts and under all circumstances. It has been argued that
many ofthe above 'qualities' are lacking in young children and are more likely to
be present in more mature children. Language awareness increases with age,
conceptual and world knowledge increase with age, learning and
communication strategies increase with age. However, the effects ofthe
environment and supportive backgrounds in developing these competences
cannot be ignored thus rendering the very concept of 'age' and its companion of
'optimum age' derived from first language acquisition a rather unreliable
predictor of success in learning a foreign language and categorical statements
such as 'younger is better¹ or 'older is better¹ might have little relevance when
made in the context of the classroom.

Younger might be no worse for gaining a first 'taste' of a foreign language.
The task ofgoing beyond this first taste, however, requires qualities in the
learner which many young children do not yet have. A clear distinction would
need to be made between cognitive and affective variables in learning a foreign
language and while 'younger^, might be 'better¹ for the latter the evidence
suggests that younger is not necessarily better for the former. In any case,
affective factors alone, although an important ingredient in the total learning
process, are not very reliable predictors of likely learning outcomes. Chapters
Five and Six will focus on two case studies of children learning French at
primary school.

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