Early learners' brains more efficient when learning English, researchers say

Thursday 06th November, 03:08 PM JST

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taiko666 at 07:27 AM JST - 7th November

I reckon young Japanese children, unlike adults, are able to enunciate 'roller', 'sea', 'squirrel' etc just by copying, and also learn not tag a vowel onto every consonant... however, if they get taught standard Japanese Engrish at an early age it may even be harder for them to unlearn it later.
jeffrey at 09:15 AM JST - 7th November

Good_Jorb at 06:16 AM JST - 7th November

I believe and someone correct me if I am wrong but the JET program requirements are a degree in anything and a written essay, I guess that proves they can at least write an essay, so I suppose that would be some what of a betterment over a private language teacher.

They are also interviewed by Japanese and American representatives of the program (in the U.S. anyway). This helps cut down on the lunatics and hopelessly socially inept that are fixtures at most private English schools.
RakishGadfly at 11:08 AM JST - 7th November

Disillusioned;

I think the same article was in the news 50 years ago when it was first discovered.

They had functional MRI 50 years ago? Gotta love that Japanese technology...
RakishGadfly at 11:11 AM JST - 7th November

As someone pointed out, this research shows the Why and the How of early language learning, regardless of whether it was already know to the eminently qualified armchair cognoscenti of JT. Yes, the sky is blue, but knowing why the sky is blue is a totally different matter.
Kameleon at 04:14 PM JST - 7th November

This news is WAY out of date.

This was proven MANY years ago!!!
gaijinstar at 10:56 PM JST - 7th November

****As well until Japan hires foriegn English teachers that can actually teach and are not the dregs of thier respective societies, nothing will ever change**

The Japanese government should pass a law to the effect that no-one can teach English in Japan unless they have a degree in TESOL

ahhhh...here we go again! a bunch of Foreigners thinking they know it all. I run into your kind everyday and it's sooo darn annoying. Good Jorb: I'm assuming your a Gaijin, which pretty much means you're the dregs of the Japanese society if at all you make it in the cup :-)
jeffrey at 01:38 AM JST - 8th November

RakishGadfly at 11:08 AM JST - 7th November They had functional MRI 50 years ago? Gotta love that Japanese technology...

No. It was established through simpler cognitive studies done by linguists. You don't need an MRI to understand that children's brains are more agile than those of adults.
Good_Jorb at 01:46 AM JST - 8th November

a bunch of Foreigners thinking they know it all

No one said they knew it all and God forbid someone make a suggestion about improving a broken system. If disagree, state why disagree and maybe what you think is the right thing to do.(What kind of people you run into aside). Dregs of the Japanese society (One perceives what they want to perceive).

The Company I work for granted my transfer(to Japan and more recently from Japan) based on my abilities not because I am white or solely on the fact that speak english as first language. I stand by my assertation that the reason Japan has such poor results when comes to learning English is that their hiring policies for English Teachers attracts people, 90% of the time, with no teaching ability that are the dregs of their respective societies.

if at all you make it in the cup

I make coffee, tea and sometimes hot chocolate in a cup, well being in the cup.
umbrella at 09:15 AM JST - 8th November

Amusing thread. Hell hath no fury like an english conversation teacher scorned!
jeancolmar at 12:23 PM JST - 8th November

I think this new scientific information confirming what has already been confirmed informally is not going to change English teaching in Japan until xenophobic attitudes die. The xenophobes, which, naturally, include English teachers, worry that early exposure to English will make children less Japanese. That has been the main problem all along. It has created another major problem. Few people in the elementary school are qualified to teach English (forgetting that lots of "qualified" Japanese English teachers don't know English) though the education ministry said that elementary schools should have started teaching English in 2002.

Chances are that English education will continue to start in junior high, when the xenophobes believe that children are Japanese enough to deal with a foreign language.
jonobugs at 01:23 PM JST - 8th November

After reading all the comments above, I'm wondering how many of you with glib comments actually read the article. Granted, it doesn't outline all the details of the study, or even point you to the study itself, but it does give some interesting insight into how the brain processes information.

For those of you who think that the study points out the obvious, the study was not to find out whether or not exposure to English at an earlier age results in better learning so much as to why and possibly how. It seems that there were at least two groups, and each group had equivalent English skills but the group of students who were exposed to English at an earlier age didn't have to "think" as hard to process the language.

In any case, there are a lot of studies going on to determine language acquisition and yes earlier exposure seems to increase abilities. I have seen and heard about how many Japanese parents go to great lengths to have their children exposed to English at earlier and earlier ages. I have even heard of parents taking pre-natal classes if you can believe that. Just hearsay, no actual proof. So, maybe this doesn't affect the whole of Japan, but it does seem that some people do listen and believe in these studies.

To all of the people who go on to complain or write about the educational system in Japan (which is NOT what this article is about btw) It's a simple matter of supply and demand that determines the wages, etc. Whether you feel people are paid too much or too little.

I really feel bad for those people that claim that 90% of teachers are the dregs of society. Since your claims are unsupported by any factual evidence, I'm assuming this statistic is just something you dragged out of your own personal experience. To think that of all the people teaching English you have met are, in your opinion, the dregs of society it seems that you really need to expand your social circle.
RakishGadfly at 09:18 PM JST - 8th November

jonobugs;

Good points - nobody who comments that this was already-known appears to understand the concept of peer-review wither, i.e. that those who reviewed this paper for publication would have not published it if it was so unoriginal and the information existed elsewhere, to say nothing of the authors being aware of such studies. Much easier for the glib commentators here to pigeonhole as another example of the silly Japanese re-stating what everyone already knows.
RakishGadfly at 09:19 PM JST - 8th November

jeancolmar;

The double-standard expressed in your post by the way you use "xenophobe" is pretty amusing.
rurika at 12:19 AM JST - 9th November

It's good for kids to learn a language that is very different in structure from their mother tongue as soon as possible. Then they'll be able to pick up other languages really quickly.

The drawback is that you shouldn't overdo it. I've seen it in families where the mother and father speak different languages and they raise children in a country with a third language. Some kids do well and pick up all three languages easily, others just can't cope and start doing badly at school. I feel some parents expect too much.

Don't assume all children will automatically be able to associate the correct words and grammar with the correct language as they grow up. Some young children can't cope with more than two languages and you shouldn't push them too much. They'll be able to pick up more languages when they're a little older.
jonnyboy at 06:52 PM JST - 12th November

english teaching fails in japan mostly because, as noborito points out, english study has little to do with actually acquiring any kind of ability in a foreign language and everything to do with appearances.