What Neuroscientists and Linguists Have To Say About Immersion Learning in Early Childhood:
The research on language development in early childhood shows that the young brain has an astounding capacity to acquire language. Linguists agree that foreign languages are best taught in the earliest years, and language immersion is the single most effective method for learning and teaching a new language. Scholars have documented increased academic performance in reading, reasoning, and math in elementary students who have acquired dual-language fluency. They even score higher on SATs. The ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) has summarized the following research:
What Does Immersion Look LIke in Practice? An early childhood immersion program looks just like any other nursery or pre-school program. There's no difference between immersion and what goes on in any child-centered and nurturing, child-care or pre-school, except, the caregivers and teachers play with the children, speak to the children, and read to the children in the target language. Using 100% immersion with toddlers, within a few months children understand the language, and by the end of a year, language-ready children are speaking it. Not because any special language training techniques are used, but because that's the way the early childhood brain works. When they reach kindergarten, kindergarteners begin learning to read, write, and do arithmetic in two languages because teachers teach them in both languages. By the time they reach high school, they are not just fluent, but literate in two languages. They speak the target language without an accent - a huge advantage in diplomacy, business, and relationships.
