Impact of reading aloud - should we be reading in ML too?
Oct 6, 2018 5:43:03 GMT 9
Post by Nellie on Oct 6, 2018 5:43:03 GMT 9
Patricia - I agree with Amy that your children will pick up pronunciation at school and that audiobooks are not ideal or necessary. I also think the main issue is for your children to develop a love of reading (which can happen through your ml).
I do think, however, that there is a big difference between a child who is learning in a language that they don't master in their early years of education, and the experience of a child who has a firm grounding in reading and schooling prior to acquiring the second and third languages (this was also my case). In my professional life, one of the areas that I work on is 'mother tongue' education (funny, huh, given my personal concerns?!). Basically, research shows very clearly that putting young children to learn in a language that they do not master, and expecting them to just 'pick up' the language without effort being put into actually teaching the language, results in lower learning achievements down the line. This is a big problem in many former colonies, where children turn up for their first day of school aged 6 or so, speaking their local language, and are suddenly plunged into an "elite language" environment with very little support. The educational consequences (across all areas, including things like maths that at first glance may not seem related) are disastrous. This is why many countries have moved to teaching children through the first years of school and learning to read in their native language, and gradually introducing and building up the number of hours in the "elite language". It's very different when a child is slightly older and has already acquired the basics.
I'm not saying this to scare you, as your situation (with a highly literate ml home environment) is quite different from that of an average family in a former colony. I also don't think you need to suddenly infuse your home with ML. But I do think it is important to do as much ml reading as possible (much of what is learnt will be transferable across the languages) and to ensure that if your children do fall significantly behind other children in ML development (which I actually think is pretty unlikely) that you find ways to address it. I think if there is a problem, the teachers will tell you very quickly, so if there isn't, there is no reason to worry!
I do think, however, that there is a big difference between a child who is learning in a language that they don't master in their early years of education, and the experience of a child who has a firm grounding in reading and schooling prior to acquiring the second and third languages (this was also my case). In my professional life, one of the areas that I work on is 'mother tongue' education (funny, huh, given my personal concerns?!). Basically, research shows very clearly that putting young children to learn in a language that they do not master, and expecting them to just 'pick up' the language without effort being put into actually teaching the language, results in lower learning achievements down the line. This is a big problem in many former colonies, where children turn up for their first day of school aged 6 or so, speaking their local language, and are suddenly plunged into an "elite language" environment with very little support. The educational consequences (across all areas, including things like maths that at first glance may not seem related) are disastrous. This is why many countries have moved to teaching children through the first years of school and learning to read in their native language, and gradually introducing and building up the number of hours in the "elite language". It's very different when a child is slightly older and has already acquired the basics.
I'm not saying this to scare you, as your situation (with a highly literate ml home environment) is quite different from that of an average family in a former colony. I also don't think you need to suddenly infuse your home with ML. But I do think it is important to do as much ml reading as possible (much of what is learnt will be transferable across the languages) and to ensure that if your children do fall significantly behind other children in ML development (which I actually think is pretty unlikely) that you find ways to address it. I think if there is a problem, the teachers will tell you very quickly, so if there isn't, there is no reason to worry!