Learning English at Six Months
by Samuel Jones
"When my kid sees a table, he will say "table" instead of its Chinese name. Sometimes he will combine the Chinese with English, " said one parent.
Harking back to As You Like It, that makes for interesting reading in relation to the development of different Englishes, although this of course depends entirely upon further education.
A further quote from the article raises one of the main debates about the teaching of English, one that we will be looking at in this work. 'Early education experts', reads the article, 'say children just begin talking at six months of age, and are not yet speaking their mother tongue well. They say infant's words and sounds are just mimicking grown-ups, which may lead to confusion for bilingual study. The two language systems will cause confusion in the child's brain. Because when they speak, they'll find it hard to choose one language over another in order to communicate, " says Prof. Zhang Minghong of Dept. of Preschool Education, East China Normal University.
This pushes towards the problem outlined by, among others, Eddie Williams, which is the difference between teaching English as a Second language or as a 'medium of instruction'. The problem outlined by Prof. Zhang is one of switching or selection, but it relates to another issue which is that, as you learn a language which is not that spoken at home, or in the streets and playgrounds, then it is hard enough, without having to grapple with new concepts in general as well as new words and grammar.