Posted 28 Sep 2009
TEFL teachers could be interested in new research claiming foreign languages are engraved deeper on people’s memories than previously believed.
Psychologists Jeffrey Bowers, Sven L Mattys, and Suzanne Gage from the University of Bristol carried out an investigation on a group of native English speakers but who had learned either Hindi or Zulu as children when living abroad.
They found that while most now professed little or no vocabulary knowledge, the subjects quickly relearned to distinguish between pairs of phonemes that started Hindi or Zulu words.
The authors concluded: "Even if the language is forgotten (or feels this way) after many years of disuse, leftover traces of the early exposure can manifest themselves as an improved ability to relearn the language."
Their findings appeared in a recent issue of Psychological Science.
In related news, TEFL and other jobs abroad could provide a good opportunity to boost language skills, an expert has suggested.
Alice Moran, press and marketing coordinator at CILT, the National Centre for Languages, added more young people should appreciate the value of a second language in terms of boosting their career prospects.
Category: Teaching and Learning
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