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1.EarlyforeignlanguagelearninginEurope
1)Neuroscienceandpsychology–findingsinthesefieldssuggestthatearlystimula-
tion,e.g.insport,artsormusic,isgenerallybeneficialforthechild,sdevelopment;
2)SLAstudiesshowthatthelongertheexposuretothelanguage,thebetterthe
achievements,bothinchildrenandinadults;
3)schoolcurriculum–thisexpandsfast,sosomelanguageknowledgecanbeacqu-
iredstillattheprimarylevel,beforechildrenbecomeoccupiedwithlearningothersub-
jects;
4)earlyexposuretocultures–thisencouragespositiveattitudes,appreciationand
understandingofdifferentculturesandspeakersofotherlanguages;
5)cognitionandmetalinguisticawareness–bilingualstudiessuggestthatearly
secondlanguagelearningmaypositivelyinfluencethemothertonguethroughraising
awarenessandencouragingtheacquisitionofotherlanguages.
ForKomorowska(2008),amongthemanyimportantreasonsforanintroductionof
an‘earlystart,thereisasymbolicvaluethatlanguagelearningisgrantedbytheveryfact
thatitismadeaschoolsubject.Theotherreasonssherecognizesare:thefactorofthe
lengthofstudy,whichisensuredbyanearlystart,andthelearners,motivation,whichis
enhancedbytheteachingmethodsadoptedinprimaryclassesandwhichencouragelear-
ningthroughplay.Moreover,Komorowskapointsoutthatstartingforeignlanguagele-
arningatanearlyagepromotesattitudesoftolerancebeforestereotypeshavebeen
formed.Acrucialadvantageofan‘earlystart,isalsothedevelopmentoftransversal
competences.Thesearegenericskillswhichmakeitpossibleforpeoplewhospeak
differentlanguagestounderstandeachother.
Althoughtherearenumerousexamplesofresearchconductedonyounglanguagele-
arnersinanaturalisticenvironmentwhereEnglishislearntandacquiredinthetargetlan-
guagecountry,thisresearchisnotfullyapplicable.Therearevastdifferencesbetween
thecaseswheretheexposuretothesecondlanguageisalmostconstantandtheinstructed
contexts,wherethelearnersusuallyhaveverylimitedcontactwiththetargetlanguage,
mostoftenrestrictedtothelanguageclassroom.ResearchfromFLinstructedcontextsis
scarceandinconclusive.
Thediscussiononearlystartrevolvesaroundtheconceptofthecriticalperiodhypo-
thesis1.SingletonandRyan(2004)seeaconnectionbetweenthematurationalprocesses
ofthelanguageacquisitionandL2acquisition.Theystatethatthediscussionofthisrela-
tionshipmaybesummerizedinfiveproposals:
1)Youngerlearnersaremoreefficientthanolderlearners.
2)Teenageandyoungadultlearnersaremoreefficientandsuccessfulthanyounger
learners.
3)Learnerswhocommencelanguageexposureintheirchildhoodaremoreefficient
andsuccessfulinsomeareas.
4)Adolescentsandadultlearnersareinitiallymoreefficient,butultimatelythe
youngeralearnerstarts,thebettertheoutcomewillbe.
5)Afteracertainmaturationalpointlearningbecomesmorechallenging.
1Itstatesthatthereisanidealtimeforlanguageacquisitiontotakeplaceinalinguisticallyrichenvi-
ronment,afterwhichitisnolongerpossible.
