Review article
THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM: BILINGUAL PRESCHOOL EDUCATION IN GERMANY – A PSYCHOLINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE
Andreas ROHDE
Abstract
Bilingualism or multilingualism is not the aberration supposed
by those speaking a 'big language' but rather the default
situation for the majority of speech communities in the world
today. Based on this perspective, the psycholinguistic
foundations of second language acquisition are explored in the
first part of this paper and it is argued that bilingual education
in a monolingual society should start as early as preschool. It is
suggested that acquiring a second language does not represent
any additional burden for young children but that it rather
fosters cognitive development and flexibility. In the second part
of the paper I take a look at different preschool programmes in
Germany with a special focus on enrichment programmes. Two
German bilingual preschools (L1 German/L2 English and L1
German/L2 French) are introduced and their structures
discussed in some detail. It is argued that even in a situation
where the use of the L2 is limited to preschool contexts, the
children develop considerable linguistic skills in the new
language. These skills are evaluated and discussed with regard
to bilingual education in primary school. In conclusion, it is
suggested that a second language can be mastered in both
comprehension and production by the time it is traditionally
introduced, i.e. at age 10, so that a further language (L3) can
be introduced in advance.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
19885
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2001.
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