Early Predictors of Learning a Foreign Language in Pre-school – Polish as a First Language, English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

When a foreign language (FL) acquisition begins in preschool, at which time young learners are particularly linguistically sensitive, it allows for a higher FL competence in future. Moreover, a second language learning depends on a learner’s aptitude. The aim of our study was to assess the early predictors of learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Polish pre-school students who had not yet started formal literacy instruction, and to characterize the level of their oral receptive and active skills in English. 30 children aged between 3 years 5 months and 5 years 10 months who attended two private and one state kindergarten, participated in the study. All were native speakers of Polish, and apart from English classes, communicated in their first language at kindergarten and in their everyday life. Non-verbal intelligence, emerging literacy, phonological awareness in Polish, and knowledge of English were assessed. We found that in Polish pre-school children emerging letter identification from their first language alphabet, phonological awareness in their first language, and non-verbal intelligence were related to the achievements in learning EFL, despite the differences in transparency between the two languages. Moreover, the children’s passive color vocabulary was larger than their active vocabulary, and they were used to repetition tasks. The participants in our study attempted to communicate in English during the assessment, which suggests that even at a pre-school age they were able to differentiate between first language and FL discourse. We also identified some problems possibly stemming from linguistic transfer, like articles omissions. Therefore, teachers should pay more emphasis to the differences between the first and the second language, in terms of: syntax, morphology, phonetics, phonology, and orthography, to prevent later consolidation of early errors. The automatisation of correct linguistic habits in young learners would equip them with skills for their later FL educational success.

Exploring which test-taker characteristics predict young L2 learners’ performance on listening and reading comprehension tests

“…In order to test the interdependence of L1 and L2 competence, it may be necessary to gauge the early, developing L1 abilities of participants who have not had many years of formal schooling rather than measuring the L1 competence of older children who have had sufficient time to develop and consolidate their L1 scholastic skills; the former type of data may show a wider range of initial L1 processing abilities. Indeed, the majority of previous studies (Łockiewicz et al, 2018; Skehan & Ducroquet, 1988; Yeung & Chan, 2013) providing evidence of positive associations between L1 and L2 skills tested the beginning L1 abilities of young learners aged seven years or younger.…”

“…Similarly, longitudinal studies have also shown that L1 literacy skills in elementary school can predict L2 skills in high school (Kahn-Horwitz et al, 2012; Sparks et al, 2006). Moreover, studies with very young learners (at or under the age of six) have shown that a positive relationship between L1 and L2 competence is evident from as early as kindergarten (Łockiewicz et al, 2018; Yeung & Chan, 2013).…”

Effectiveness of a Motor Intervention Program on Motivation and Learning of English Vocabulary in Preschoolers: A Pilot Study

“…In addition, on a personal level, there is evidence of better communication, tolerance of other cultures, and higher self-esteem in general. In the specific learning of the language, young people have a greater capacity for listening and pronunciation, meaning they can bemore accurate and have better prospects for greater learning in the future [63]. Finally, in view of future employment and socioeconomic improvement possibilities, as our knowledge increases, the possibilities of professional opportunities and our potentialto obtain a decent job are broadened.…”

The effects of foreign language programmes in early childhood education and care: a systematic review

“…Older children showed larger learning gains during the study than younger children in English productions, which might be related to maturational differences in production, as the youngest children were barely 1 year old. Other studies on age were even harder to interpret, because a higher age was correlated with higher cumulative exposure (Hidaka et al, 2012;Łockiewicz et al, 2018). These studies showed higher foreign language test scoresin the older groups of children, but this could be due to both age-related cognitive development or higher cumulative input, as the authors also acknowledge.…”