SOME EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT IT IS BETTER FOR CHILDREN TO BEGIN LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AT PRIMARY SCHOOL RATHER THAN SECONDARY SCHOOL. DO THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS OUTWEIGH THE DISADVANTAGES?
In this day and age, a growing number of people believe that children should start learning a non-native language at primary school instead of secondary one. From my perspective, I strongly believe that the drawbacks overweight any potential merits, in light of the mental strength and the fascination of pupils.
First, pupils might do not have enough ability to learn a new language effectively. Owing to their cognitive and logical thinking have not developed as well as the adult, they could be overwhelming or even stressed when trying to acquire a new language. Take numerous primary schools in rural areas into consideration, the headmasters forced their students to learn English with a heavy workload but only based on theory, consequently many pupils covered a lot of ground in English, so that they did not have capability to have a good performance on other subjects and confused with their mother tongue as well.
Furthermore, they must have affinity for a particular language if they desire to master it. Nevertheless, pupils do not possess an abundance knowledge about the essential of a new language, especially at primary school, so it seems impossible for them to stay focused throughout lectures. The laziness, for instance, which is the norm among pupils at primary schools, may occurs when they feel exhausted during a lesson. As a result, they would not concentrate and simply give up.
In conclusion, it is not recommended for students to commence with a foreign language too early, particularly at primary school due to variety demerits they would suffer. Pupils should priority in becoming a bilingual or being fluent in another language until they come to secondary school or higher.
