IULC Publications

In the Defense of Kindergarten Children as Learners of an Explicit Second Language Rule

By Maria Milagros Antonini-Boscan

This study investigates a discrepancy between claims in the field of second language learning and in the field of developmental psychology regarding the cognitive capacities attributed to the young child. While some researchers in second language learning regard the pre-pubescent child as non-analytic, incapable of abstract generalization, and lacking in metalinguistic awareness, other findings from developmental psychology seem to indicate that this is an underestimation of the young child's cognitive capacities. Dr. Antonini-Boscan reports on a study that tested the process of child second language learning outside the L2 environment in a formal, non-communicative, classroom context. Comparison of the children's performance with that of adults under similar conditions indicates that the young children are in fact capable of understanding and applying an explicit L2 rule and of taking language as an object of reflection.

115 pages
$5.00

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