Young children in Britain today are growing up to be Europeans, and if they are to benefit from being part of Europe they will need to feel at home with at least one of the main languages and cultures of Europe.
Starting to learn a foreign language at an early age provides a good foundation because young children are prejudice-free, enthusiastic about life and eager to learn. They appear to have an innate self-propelled desire to find out about the world. This energy can easily be directed towards finding out about a new language and culture, especially if their parents and carers also show enthusiasm.
Very young children are still active language learners. Their language learning skills and strategies are ready to be used and adapted to pick up a new language. Young children are still in the habit of picking up language they hear, retaining it and then later, when they are ready, repeating it, mimicking the pronunciation of the role model from whom they have heard it.
It is thought that monolingual native speakers have not acquired all the structures of English until about the age of five years. Emergent bilinguals, whose home language is not English, remain active language learners for a very much longer period.
Parents, especially those of emergent bilinguals, often worry that learning a new language might interfere with children's progress in learning English. However, if the new language is introduced in a way appropriate to the early learners' developmental level, there is little likelihood of any problems. On the contrary, learning a new language builds children's confidence and helps them to look more closely at their own language and culture and to make comparisons.
Choice of language
Since French is the foreign language most commonly learned by UK adults at school, it is logical to introduce French to young children. Although parents and practitioners might claim they 'were no good at French at school', they soon find they can resurrect sufficient simple French to support their children's learning.
France is the nearest foreign country to Britain and French is spoken in many other countries, including Belgium, Switzerland and ex-French colonies and Protectorates such as Senegal, Mauritius and Morocco.
Families may be disappointed that Spanish is not being introduced. This is due largely to the shortage of Spanish-speaking practitioners. However, Spanish and Italian, like French, are Romance languages, so older children confident at using simple French will soon pick up Spanish or Italian, if taught lessons include dialogue.
Children who acquire their first foreign language early retain their skills of language acquisition and can re-use them in acquiring subsequent foreign languages later in life, even as adults.
Provision
Early years settings provide an excellent environment for learning language, for several reasons.
* Settings provide a comfortable atmosphere in which a young child is receptive to acquiring new language and later using it.
* Practitioners are trained to help children acquire language and are used to helping them by using 'parentese' or 'teacherese' techniques.
* Practitioners are used to planning language learning experiences in which adults relate to individual children, or small groups, scaffolding activities and structuring language.
* Early years programmes are oral-based and more flexible than most lower primary school programmes and so are more suitable for the introduction of a foreign language.
Gains
Children can gain enormously from learning a language in their early years.
* They can build up positive attitudes to a foreign language and culture in a caring, fun atmosphere where methods follow children's natural learning strategies and each child's foreign language attainment is closely monitored.
* They are still used to mimicking the pronunciation of new words and do so naturally with little trace of embarrassment. Their pronunciation and intonation patterns copy accurately those of the model speaker, and these skills are transferable to French.
* It is thought that European monolingual children who have not yet been exposed to learning a foreign language lose some of their skills to acquire language naturally and effectively by the age of eight.
* Lifelong attitudes are also thought to have been developed by the age of eight. If children have enjoyed and can speak some French in the early years, they are likely to have developed positive attitudes which can last for life.
* Learning a new language is an activity where monolingual native speakers and emergent bilinguals are on an equal footing, which may help the children to bond better.
* Finding out about another culture may promote greater understanding of multilingualism and multiculturalism within the setting and society in general.
* Looking at new ideas, places and pictures helps to develop creative thinking, which leads to lateral thinking as children get older.
Learning a foreign language
Each child's approach to learning is individual. Although researchers are not sure exactly how they learn a foreign language, young children appear to follow a pattern similar to first language learning, but more accelerated.
All children pass through a period similar to the silent period in the first years of their life, when they absorb language and work out internally how it functions.
Since children learning French already understand the mechanisms of speech, they soon work out how to break the silent period with some single words like 'bonjour', set phrases like 'non, merci' and very simple rhymes.
Beginning to construct their own phrases in French comes after a much greater and longer exposure to French.
To help their children adopt language effectively, parents, especially mothers, use 'parentese'. Most early years practitioners use some parentese techniques, often referred to as 'teacherese'. In beginning French, children appear to make quicker progress if the adult uses some parentese/teacherese techniques.
Programme
Many of the difficulties of learning a foreign language exist only in the minds of adults. Too often, adults underestimate young children's ability to acquire languages. Learning a foreign language for most young children will not be difficult if some of the same conditions and types of activities that proved successful in first-language learning are replicated. Through focused dialogues with an older person, centred on activities or experiences, children will pick up language.
The choice of the activity is important. If the activity or experience is something with which young children are already familiar, then they already understand the concept and activity and they can concentrate on listening to and learning the foreign language.
Since young children re-use the same skills and strategies they used in learning their first language, they need, in the initial stages, to be exposed to spoken language in French. Not until young children have begun to read and write in their school language will they be ready or express a desire to read and write in French.
In children's minds, learning a foreign language is not a subject like learning the piano; it is embedded and entwined in the daily life of the setting and it includes activities such as singing and mathematics which are inter-curricula.
Behind the programme it is important to have a 'hidden syllabus' which suggests language that is useful for young children in the early years. A 'hidden syllabus' also helps in monitoring work and planning future activities, some of which are teacher-led and others which are child-led or even parent-led.
Mistakes
Making mistakes is a natural aspect of early language learning and it can show us that the child is working out the way the language and sounds work.
Mistakes can be thought of in three categories:
* a misunderstanding of the language information
* an error in spoken language, which is part of the natural process of working out language strategies
* an error in pronunciation.
When responding to a mistake, practitioners should repeat what the child has said but in the correct form, so that the child can hear the difference. Children will self-correct as they are continually improving their own language until eventually it matches the adult's version.
Code switching
Children are happy to 'code switch' - changing from one language to another within an utterance. They use French where they know the word and fill in with English what they do not yet know in French. Encourage them and, if possible, repeat back, adding a little more French. A focused dialogue about something that interests the child is a natural way for the young child to pick up French.
Accent
Practitioners shouldn't worry about their accent. The first aim should be to help children communicate effectively in simple French. They can alter their accent later, as they have a remarkable ability to pick up different accents and use them in the appropriate places. Once children can communicate in French they will begin to alter their accent to match the present speaker.
Practitioners can improve their own accent by listening to recordings and practising themselves. However, avoid introducing rhymes through recordings, as there is no substitute for the warmth of a personal relationship in learning a new language in the early years. Once practitioners have introduced something themselves, they can support their accent by listening to a recording together with the young children on video or cassette.
French need not be taught by a native speaker. The method of introducing the language is more important than the accent, and if a native speaker has no early years training and teaches in too formal a way, the results can be demotivating. However, untrained native speakers can usefully team-teach with the practitioner acting as 'the voice' for rhymes and games and using parentese techniques in follow-up activities. Native speakers can also be invited from time to time as guests to do something pre-planned in French.
Culture
Language and culture are inter-related. It is arguable that no activity is culture-free and by participating in it a child unconsciously absorbs the culture. First impressions are important and lasting, so early exposure to a new culture needs to be planned carefully. Children who are exposed to new culture through fun activities and interesting experiences are likely to acquire positive attitudes to the culture. Hopefully, these attitudes will remain into adult life.
Stereotypes
Stereotypes are broad generalisations. They are useful in that they provide an essential, simplified form that can be immediately understood.
Stereotypes are like stepping stones that provide a way into a culture.
Whether it is good to use stereotypes or not is open to debate. However, they have their place, if they are used sensitively, are up to date and are not an over-exaggeration. It is important not to introduce children to out-of-date stereotypes that register what surprises rather than what is familiar. For example, few French men wear berets today. Many French children wear the same sort of clothes and trainers as English children - after all, many of the same chain stores sell in both countries, even if their merchandise may be slightly modified for the local market.
Motivation
The praise and admiration that young children get from adults, siblings and peers for their new language skills is crucial for self-motivation. At the end of each session it is vital that children:
* feel positive about French language and culture
* are capable of showing off some language skill or handwork
* want to learn more and look forward to the next session.
Boys and girls
When planning a French programme, take into account the differing learning stages and needs of boys and girls. Some points to remember, and to remind parents of, are that boys generally:
* have less sensitive hearing than girls, so position them closer to the model speaker
* are more boisterous, so need language learning opportunities that allow them to move
* tend to speak more loudly than girls, so appear to have less control of their voices than girls, who can modulate their voices more easily
* are conscious of the differences between them and girls, and find any comparison with girls difficult to accept. Some feel that they cannot reach the same standard as girls, which may lead to a loss of confidence in using language.
