Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 631

Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Social Development and Media Communication (SDMC 2021)

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Learning a

Second Language Early
Chenxu Zhang*
No.99 South Third Ring Road (Donghu Campus), Changshu 215500, Jiangsu, China
*
Corresponding author. Email: z07119221@cslg.edu.cn

ABSTRACT
With the accelerating of the worldwide favor of learning a second language, this article illustrates the advantages and
disadvantages of learning a second language early by analysing relevant research and articles. The advantages of
learning a second language are based on the prefrontal cortex in the brain that can help promote the cognitive
development like attentional ability, memory and creativity. The acquisition of a second language can in fact benefit
from the cognitive development and the academic development. In contrast, learning a second language too early can
lead to a loss of the native language and the inadequate mastery of native language makes it more difficult to learn a
foreign language. Academic burden and external factor such as the lack of proper education can hinder the second-
language-process as well.

Keywords: cognitive development, influence of age, academic performance, effect of native language,
uneven education.

1. INTRODUCTION increase your international trade opportunities.

Languages are an essential aspect of the 21st century
As time goes on, globalization will continue to skill set in an increasingly multicultural and
accelerate the intensification of worldwide social multilingual employment environment [4]. Language
relations which link distant localities in such a way that abilities may not guarantee employment in itself, but
local happenings are shaped by events occurring many they can give you an edge over a monolingual candidate.
miles away and vice versa [1]. Language is important in 4) If you’re looking to buy something, English is good,
globalization because it serves as a channel for but it might not be the best language to use if you want
interactions between people and spaces while it is also to sell anything [5]. According to government statistics,
influenced by global influences. Hence, to integrate into the UK loses roughly 3.5 percent of its GDP each year
the globalization process, there is a boom in learning a due to a lack of language skills in the workforce. In a
new language today to communicate with people in globalized economy, other countries, on the other hand,
different countries and areas. There are many can use their multilingualism as a resource with
advantages for people to be bilingual or multilingual: 1) exchange value. The economic worth of multilingualism
Switching between languages is essentially a form of in Switzerland, for example, is estimated to gain 10% of
brain training. Mentally regulating two or more GDP because many Swiss enterprises can readily
languages gives the brain cognitive benefits and leads to operate in multiple languages [6]. With so many
higher degree of metalinguistic awareness, similar to advantages, learning a second language has become a
how regular physical training improves the body popular option for many people and families.
medically [2]. 2) Language learning can also make you In a case of learning a second language, however,
a better person. Language learning improves one’s recently the issue that should students learn a second
ability to empathize, or see a situation from another’s language at a young age has attracted people. For
point of view, according to social studies. When you example, there are numerous advantages and
learn a new language, you not only pick up new words disadvantages that children have when learning English
and sounds, but you also pick up new thoughts. It’s as if as a foreign language in order to become bilinguals [7].
you’re looking at the world through various lenses [3]. 3) Some people think that learning a second language has a
Language abilities might also help you get work and significant advantage in that it teaches youngsters to

Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license -http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. 32
 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 631

focus their attention on the important variables in the analyse the advantages and disadvantages of learning a
context, including ambiguous or contradictory second language early by reviewing relevant articles and
information. Increased cognitive capacities may aid in research in recent years.
the development of the skills thought to be involved in
effective communication in youngsters. Knowing two 2. ADVANTAGES
words that describe the same notion, such as “good” and
“great,” for example, can help children realize that an 2.1. Brain and cognitive development
object or event can be described in multiple ways,
which can aid their understanding of other people’s There are many theories that second language
viewpoints. “Research has proven that the brain learning is closely related to the brain especially in the
interprets language differently after 10 or 12 years old early stage. The prefrontal cortex in the brain plays an
since it is constantly building neural connections till important role in it. Precisely, the development of
then. The frontal lobe of the brain is where we process prefrontal cortex is related to the cognitive development
language as children. When we acquire a language as a which is fundamental to the acquisition of language and
teenager or adult. However, the brain has to ‘scramble’ other skills. According to Piaget [10], this ability
to locate new storage space. In basic terms, when you develops in a predictable pattern through a sequence of
learn a language as a youngster, your brain absorbs it well-defined phases and milestones. The kid, between
quickly; after that, it takes a lot more effort” [8]. Plus, the ages of 2 and 7, enters a representational stage of
learning a second language early can help students have extended verbal symbolism after a first stage of
better academic development. On standardized tests rudimentary sensory-motor integration and primitive
administered in English, students who speak a second symbolization. External feedback, such as language
language perform statistically better. The College from other people, gradually gets more complex and
Entrance Examination Board reported in its 1992 report- regulated. The youngster develops the ability to
College Bound Seniors: the 1992 Profile of SAT and postpone gratification. From the ages of 7 to 11,
Achievement Test Takers, that students who had studied language and behavior become more structured, less
a foreign language for four years or more scored higher reliant on external stimuli, and more inventive. Enter
on the verbal section of the SAT than students who had games, sports, erector sets, and problem-solving. These
studied four years or more in any other subject area. two stages in the Stage Theory shows us how the
Furthermore, the average mathematics score for people language learning other abilities improve as the
who had studied a foreign language for four years or development of cognition.
more was the same as for people who had studied
mathematics for the same amount of years. In contrast, 2.2. Additional control ability
the other ones think that learning a second language has
disadvantages for children. Bilingual children face Plus, the cognitive development can also be affected
several disadvantages when learning English as a by the language acquisition. Children’s frontal lobe
foreign language. If children have been exposed to functioning for controlling attention is affected by it too.
different languages since birth, they may begin speaking The development of children’s cognitive and
three to six months later than children who are raised in neurological systems is influenced in part by their daily
a monolingual environment will temporally mix learning experiences, which include language
languages [9]. Rehman says that “You can expect your acquisition. Children face a variety of linguistic and
bilingual child to begin speaking about 3-6 months later socio-linguistic circumstances during the course of
than his/her monolingual peers.” Another significant language acquisition, all of which necessitate some form
disadvantage of learning a foreign language at a young of conflict resolution, for example, adjudicate the
age is that children will mix languages for a period of meanings of similar sounding words like “I” and “eye”
time. Another significant disadvantage of learning a [11]. The doubling of these conflicting contexts that are
foreign language at a young age is that children will mix typical of bilingual language acquisition (e.g.,
languages for a period of time. “It is normal for bi- increasing the number of possible homophones) and the
/multilingual children to mix up languages until about unique need to selectively attend to one language while
the age of 4. If children are lacking the right word in suppressing the other, according to theories of bilingual
language A, they will borrow it from language B to cognitive development, may alter bilinguals’ attentional
communicate their message”. According to Rehman, it control mechanisms [12][13][14][15]. The ability to
implies that individuals may mix languages at any time, deliberately focus and shift attention is known as
influencing how they connect with others and transmit attentional control [16]. In a standard word-image
their ideas or messages. matching test, for example, participants take longer to
choose a picture when they encounter photos with
The impact of ages on learning a second language is similar initial sounds such as “card” and “cart,” versus
still not clear and convictive. To make it completer and “card” and “lion” [17]. Participants are faced with
more comprehensive, the purpose of this article is to verbal interference throughout this exercise, which

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forces them to ignore the competing distractor. discovered that bilingual children grasped the broad
Importantly, bilingual participants’ performance in this symbolic representation of print better than monolingual
task can be influenced by both within-language and children [22]. Another study examined achievement test
cross-language distractors. These findings demonstrate results from kids in Fairfax County, Virginia, who had
not only the attentional difficulties of language engaged in immersion, the most intensive sort of foreign
processing, but also the broader assumption that language program, for five years. The study concluded
bilinguals’ languages are frequently co-active [18][19]. that those students outperformed all comparison groups
The higher requirement for attentional control across on achievement assessments and remained strong
various contexts of bilingual language usage, from word academic performers throughout their schooling [23].
recognition to discourse, is hypothesized to result from Finally, a study conducted in Louisiana in the 1980s
such continual co-activation of bilinguals’ two found that, regardless of race, gender, or academic level,
languages [15]. Thus, theories of bilingual development students who received daily instruction in a foreign
propose that early childhood bilingual exposure during language (taught as a separate subject rather than
periods of rapid brain development may result in early- through immersion) outperformed those who did not on
emerging and lifetime modifications in children’s the third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade language arts sections
attentional control abilities [20]. of Louisiana’s Basic Skills tests [24].
All of these results suggest that second language
2.3. Other cognitive performances study helps enhance English (native language) and other
Besides the improvement of attentional control academic skills. According to several research, students
abilities, learning a second language can help children who acquire foreign languages perform statistically
strengthen their memory, creativity and other cognitive better on standardized college entrance examinations
performance. In contrast to the mixture between native than those who do not. For example, the College
language and second language, children can Entrance Examination Board reported that students who
differentiate two different languages within the first had averaged four or more years of foreign language
weeks of life. “Learning another language actually study outperformed those who had studied four or more
enhances a child’s overall verbal development,” says years of any other topic on the verbal component of the
Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, author of How Babies Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) [25].
Talk. The study goes on to show that acquiring a second
language at a young age has a number of other cognitive 3. DISADVANTAGES
benefits. Children who study a foreign language
outperform their peers in terms of overall basic skills in 3.1. The influence of native language on the
elementary school. They go on to score higher on SATs, second language learning
according to the College Entrance Examination Board.
Children who learn a foreign language at an early age It can be learned from the above that age plays a key
have greater problem-solving abilities, improved spatial role in second language learning and younger language
linkages, and increased creativity. learners have many benefits from the acquisition of a
second language. But whether learning a second
Learning a second language at a young age promotes language early facilitates the learning process remains
flexible thinking and communication skills, allowing unknown. As old as primary school and middle school
youngsters to approach challenges from multiple students who have mastered their first language can do
perspectives. Furthermore, studies demonstrate that better in the acquisition of the second language. For
multilinguals have better memory, planning, and example, Lightbown and Spada cite research conducted
multitasking abilities. When learning many languages as by Snow and Hoefnagel-Hohle on a group of English
a child, the brain is educated to pay attention to key speakers learning Dutch as a second language [26]. This
information and ignore irrelevant information, a skill research was enlightening shed light on very useful
that subsequently enables improved focus, memory, because it included students of different ages, ranging
planning, and multitasking abilities. According to from six to sixty years old. Surprisingly, this research
research, multilinguals employ more of their brains than found that teenagers, not children or adults, were by far
monolinguals and outperform monolinguals in creativity the most successful learners. Snow and Hoefnagel-
tests [21]. Hohle discovered that young learners struggled with
activities that were beyond their cognitive maturity, but
2.4. Academic development adolescents acquired more quickly in the early phases of
second language development. The study concludes that
Another advantage of learning a second language when adults and adolescents used their original
early is that it can help kids obtain academic language on a daily basis in social, professional, and
development. Recent research of the reading abilities of academic interactions, they were able to make
134 four- and five-year-old children, for example, significant progress in native language learning [27].

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According to the research, learners who have excellent 3.4 External factors impede the process of
academic skills in their home language will learn a learning a foreign language
second language faster than those who do not have
similar skills in their native language. In other words, Furthermore, a variety of factors, including the
effective first-language acquisition is critical for circumstances in which the languages are learned, might
learning a second language. According to the research, influence the outcome of multilingual development. The
learners who have excellent academic skills in their context or environment is very crucial in the learning
home language will learn a second language faster than process of children. Furthermore, children should use
those who do not have similar skills in their native every resource in their environment as a tool to benefit
language. from and readily learn the language. Parents (family)
and school are the most essential factors within the
3.2. Learning a second language means child’s setting for success in becoming a bilingual child.
impairing the use of the first one However, there are a number of variables at school and
at home that impede the process of learning a foreign
“Subtractive Bilingualism,” the name given the language, such as ineffective attempts at integration into
problem by Wallace Lambert who first discussed it in society, a shortage of teachers, a lack of classrooms,
relation to French-Canadian and Canadian immigrant parents and teachers fluency in the foreign language,
children whose acquisition of English in school resulted and so on. (www.everythingesl.net). 1) Unsuccessful
not in bilingualism, but in the erosion or loss of their attempts at integration into Society are one of the most
primary languages [28-30]. The phenomeon is well- serious issues confronting bilingual education in the
known in the United States. It is the narrative of United States. “Bilingual education was thought vital
numerous American immigrant and native children and since it was meant to better integrate the children of
adults who have lost their ethnic languages as a result of immigrants and minorities into society,” writes Aparna
linguistic assimilating into the English-speaking Iyer. The bilingual education system required distinct
environment of school and culture. Even if it was the teachers and classrooms and believed in gradual
only language they spoke when they first started school, integration into society by allowing children to receive
few American-born children of immigrant parents are instruction in their home language for three or more
totally skilled in the ethnic language. Once young years.” 2) The unavailability of teachers is also a factor
children have learned English, they are less likely to which blocks the second language learning process on
retain or develop the language spoken at home, even if it kids. For example, In El Salvador, public schools have
is the only language their parents know. This has been only one English teacher for the entire student body.
the tale of previous immigrant groups, and it is the story Furthermore, some teachers are not allocated in their
of today. The only difference is that the process appears area of specialization. An English instructor, for
to be moving much faster today [31]. example, may be appointed to teach science or another
topic, or vice versa. As a result, children are not
3.3. Learning a second language exerts receiving enough English education to become fluent in
pressure on kids and parents the language. It means that public schools are not
interested in helping their children become multilingual,
Another disadvantage is that bilingual children will which is a significant disadvantage. Just as Aparna Lyer
have to deal with the additional academic load that says that “Bilingual education requires a number of
comes with learning to read and write in another trained teachers who are proficient in both English and
language on top of the first; this means that they will their native language, assuming that Spanish is one of
have to work twice as hard. If parents want their the mediums of instruction” [32].
children to not only speak another language but also
read and write it, they will need to provide extra 4. CONCLUSION
instruction outside of regular school hours. Silke
Rehman believes “Organizing language lessons requires In this article, advantages and disadvantages of
considerable effort, both financially and in terms of time. learning a second language are argued systematically.
However, all parents would agree that the advantages First of all, advantages of learning a second language
outweigh the effort.” An additional academic burden or are that the development of the prefrontal cortex is
supplementary tuition, on the other hand, becomes related to the cognitive language which can actually be
boring and difficult for children. As a result, they prefer beneficial to the acquisition of a second language.
to engage in other types of activities, such as sports, and Secondly, cognitive development is also affected by the
as a result, they decide to discontinue their bilingual process of learning a second language such as
education. attentional ability, memory and creativity which is
increased as continuation of the second-language-
learning process. Thirdly, learning a second language
helps kids obtain academic development to outperform

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