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__[|Is younger better?]__ __Carol Read sees early learning as a way of opening windows of the mind.__ Read, C. (2003). Is younger better? //English Teaching Professional, 28//:5-7. The article shades new light on the topic of whether "younger is better" in language teaching. Read, the article's writer, describes the phenomena of the increasing number of children who start learning a foreign language at a young age worldwide. Read's aim is to find out if "younger" is actually better in formal learning of a foreign language or whether "younger is better" is a fallacy. She examines the topic by first presenting different research studies on the topic and then she presents her own perspective based on her own teaching experience. On one hand, Read starts with the "younger is better" proponents' perspective. She presents two ideas that lie behind the popular assumption that "younger is better". It is claimed that since children can learn their mother tongue quickly and effectively, it is believed that they can do so also with a foreign language. Second, the idea of [|"critical period"] indicates that after about the age of 12, the human's brain loses plasticity and t is not able to learn another language effectively. Therefore, according to the "critical period", learning a new language should be before the age 12. On the other hand, Read presents some evidence against the previous arguments and claims that the experience of learning a mother tongue is different than the experience of learning a language two times a week with an unknown teacher to the learners. Regarding the "critical period", she explains that there is no support for the idea of a "critical period" for foreign language learning. Read compares[| older learners with younger learners]. She refers to previous research studies which repeatedly show that older learners have better understanding of grammatical concepts in their mother tongue which they can transfer to foreign language learning. In addition, older learners have cognitive maturity and better developed learning strategies and skills. All this combined makes them much better and faster learners than children who learn more slowly and with greater effort. Read presents some researchers' point of view. For example, Sharpe (2001) suggests that there is no evidence that young learners' attainment would be different in secondary schools than learners who start learning a foreign language later. Ur (2001) raises a crucial point regarding investment and "returns". She suggests that the teaching hours investment should be with older learners since they are both faster and effective. Teaching older learners more hours will guarantee getting "returns" for the investment. Based on her own teaching experience, Read strongly believes that there are different advantages of learning a foreign language at a young age. She claims that it is necessary to move from the narrowly-defined "returns" to the intrinsic value of opening windows of the learners' minds. The potential of opening windows of the mind lies in three groups of: characteristics of young learners, potential benefits to the individual learners and the whole society and the learning context of primary schools. Read claims that young children have some characteristics which influence their learning. For example, openness to differences, plasticity of mind, flexible attitudes, ability to imitate sounds and that they are easier to motivate are characteristics of learners that support the idea that "younger is better". Furthermore, Read explains that starting learning a foreign language at a young age has some potential benefits to both the individual and society. Learners will have personal and academic benefits, such as developing metalinguistic skills, cognitive skills, socio-cultural awareness, identity and self-concept. Society will also benefit in terms of democracy, citizenship, tolerance and peace. In addition, Read suggests that primary schools provide an ideal context for learning which suits the learners' needs. In primary schools, learners learn by doing. This methodology contributes to gradually building language competence that can provide the basis for secondary schools. For "younger is better" to succeed Read emphasizes the importance of how learning is done and what happens after young learners start to learn the language. She explains that what happens inside the classroom is very crucial. She suggests a checklist that ensures that "younger is better". In the checklist, she suggests that learning should be natural and interesting, social and belongs to the child, learning is contextualized and part of a real event, learning has a purpose and builds on things the child knows, learning is multi-sensory, the learning atmosphere is relaxed and most importantly is that the child wants to learn. Regarding what happens after starting learning a foreign language in an early stage, Read explains the importance of having a coherent primary and secondary policies. The curriculum should include what primary school learners should know by the end of school. So that secondary schools can know where to start from, rather than starting from the beginning. Finally, Read concludes that there is a potential for "younger is better" to succeed. She is aware of the fact that fulfilling the potential depends on a range of factors. She emphasizes the importance of language learning in early stage which affects children's whole development and education. Long-term and drip-feed foreign language courses produce competent speakers and open windows of the mind. __My point of view__ Although learning a foreign language may open windows of the mind for learners and society, it is better to start learning a foreign language after learners have mastered their L1. In the Arab sector in Israel, I think that schools should start teaching English at the 4th grade. It is too much for an Arab learner to learn in the first grade the written Arabic, in the second or third grade to learn Hebrew and in the 3rd grade to learn 2 hours a week English. Learners will probably suffer from burden of new knowledge. In this case there is no efficient and effective "returns" for the different investments.

__ Summary __ == "Younger is better" was rejected by most students. There were various claims against it. First, it was claimed that it is essential for language learners to learn their mother tongue first. Having learnt their mother tongue, learners can transfer learning skills and knowledge from their mother tongue to the second language they are learning. Second, it was claimed that young learners who learn 2-3 hours a week would not benefit from learning. Third, learners' motivation has a crucial role in the learning process. Interestingly, some students suggested that learners and parents' attitudes towards the second language highly affect the learning process. So, a young learner with low motivation or with a negative attitude towards a language would not probably benefit a lot of learning at young age. Fourth, it was suggested that how to learn is more important than when to learn. In addition, it is important to have qualified teachers who know methodology. In short, there are some reservations regarding "younger is better". == == On the other hand, there were some students who believe that starting learning a second language at a young age is better. Some of the explanations were based on personal experience of learning a language at a young age compared with older learners learning the same language. Furthermore, it was suggested that learning a second language at a young age contributes to acquiring a foreign accent. In addition, some students claimed that stating learning a second language at an early age provides exposure to the language. == == Importantly, there were some necessary recommendations. One of the recommendations was having a continuous and coherent curriculum which connects elementary school with junior high schools. It was also recommended to transfer teaching hours from an elementary school to junior high school. Finally, the previous claims about when to start learning a second language is an invitation to curriculum writers to carefully reconsider when to start teaching a second language. ==