Izvorni znanstveni članak
English as a Foreign Language at the Age of Eight
Mirjana Vilke
Sažetak
In the first part of the article we discuss the relevance of the
sources that have contributed insights into the process of learning a foreign language (in this case English) at the Piagetian "concretely operational level" of the child's cognitive development. In the second part, we review the first and second stages of the Zagreb research project on learning English at the age of eight, and the third stage of the Project is analysed - the focus of analysis being the motivation of the subjects and the sources of difficulties during the learning process. In the third part we discuss the advantages of an early start
in a. foreign language: the familiarization with the linguistic properties of the foreign idiom at an age when it is readily accepted; the beneficial effect upon the cognitive growth of the individual, and the prevention of the development of ethnocentric tendencies in later life. The conclusion we reach is that foreign language learning at
the age of eight is a "whole-person" process with distinctive
features of its own - it- is not a duplication of the process of
acquisition of a first language, nor is it identical to the acquisition
of a second language - although it resembles both processes
in certain aspects.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
121819
URI
Datum izdavanja:
26.2.1980.
Posjeta: 1.087 *