Article Preview
TopIntroduction
Early language learning has attracted a great deal of attention from academics and practitioners alike, particularly because of the impact of age on the formation of attitudes towards the foreign language (henceforth FL). The subject was already being addressed in the late 1960s and early 1970s (see Rivers, 1965; Jakobovits, 1970; Lambert, 1972). More recently, Cameron (2001, p. 1) claimed that foreign language teaching for young foreign language learners differs from teaching for adults or young people. Indeed, young learners are more enthusiastic and lively than learners, they will often engage in an activity even if they do not fully understand the aims, and they are more concerned about pleasing the teacher than their peers. In ideal case, effective learning will occur, if “a stimulating and rich linguistic environment is” provided (Winskel et al., 2017, p.142). Winskel et .al. further state that “children need to be given many opportunities to be actively engaged and interact with others. This can be quite a challenge in the foreign language classroom, as typically children learning in this context have little exposure to the language outside of the classroom.” (2017, ibid.). Young children may also be less self-conscious than older children and adolescents (Lightbown & Spada, 2006; Ellis, 1994). On the other hand, young learners tend to lose interest quickly and find it difficult to stay motivated and focused (ibid.), they also have fewer resources than adults and are less able to analyze language in an abstract way (Pinter, 2006, p. 17). Therefore, young learners are not as free as adult learners to make hypotheses about the characteristics of another language (Pinter, 2006, p. 18).
The early teaching of a foreign language is a complex psychological-pedagogical phenomenon, because it involves many factors of a positive learning outcome, including one of great importance, namely the learner's motivation to learn, if we mention only one of the indirectly important factors influencing the quality of foreign language competence (Brumen et al., 2015, p. 29). Moreover, we could state that "motivation is a factor that strongly influences all forms of learning" (Jazbec et al., 2016, p. 126). Other equally important factors are the richness, abundance and constant study of the language (Muñoz 2016). This is especially important in the first cycle of primary school (grades 1 to 3), as children begin their educational process as a kind of tabula rasa, which is completely contradictory to the facts. In fact, children enter the process of learning a foreign language with far more experience of life and the language they are learning (Smajla, 2014, p. 116). In addition, children have natural abilities that help them in learning in general and promote the process of learning the foreign language to which they have already adopted an attitude (Moon, 2005). Furthermore, MacIntyre et al. (2002, quoted in Mihaljević Djigunović, 2012, p. 57) believe that "young learners vary considerably in their motivation, positive attitude and in the presence or absence of learning difficulties". Teachers or other adults involved in the teaching process should take into account the specific behavior of children and their characteristics when choosing an appropriate teaching approach (Smajla, 2014, p. 119) or utilize age-appropriate methods and tools. The latter is even more important when we discuss the importance of using Information and Communication Technology (henceforth ICT) in the foreign language class. The topic is covered in the following section.