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

1.6.1.1 OveralIProvision 48

1.6.1.2 LanguagesTaught 48

1.6.1.3 StartingAge 49

1.6.1.4 Nature of Provision 49

1.6.1.5 Pattern of Provision and Amount of Teaching Time 49

1.6.1.6 StaffingandStaffTraining 50

1.6.1.7 TransfertosecondarySchooI 51

1.6.1.8 Conclusions Drawn from the CILT Report 51

1.6.2 The Situation in Scotland 52

1.6.2.1 The Scottish National Pilot 53

1.6.2.2 The Aim of the National Pilot 54

1.7 European Projects 57

1.8 Conclusion 58

CHAPTER TWO

Catching them Young - The Origins of the Beliefthat Younger is Better

2.1 Introduction 60

2.2 The Origins of the Belief that Younger is Better 60

2.2.1 Neurological Arguments - The Critical Period Hypothesis 61

2.2.2 Chomsky's Theory of First Language Development 66

2.2.3 Language Development, Interaction and the Environment 69

2.2.3.1 Interactionist Dimensions 70

2.2.3.2 Environmentalist Perspectives 72

2.2.4 Critical Periods in First Language Acquisition 73

2.3 Catching them Young 75

2.3.1 A Critical Period in Second Language Development? 79

2.3.2 Maturational Constraints and Phonological Development 83

2.3.2.1 Phonological Development in the Classroom 88

2.3.2.2 Summary of the Findings on Maturational
Constraints on Phonological Development 91

2.3.3 Maturational Constraints and the Acquisition of

Syntax and Morphology 92