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Holding on to childhood language memory.
Janet S Oh1, Sun-Ah Jun, Leah M Knightly
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA.
Cognition
|December 18, 2002
Summary
Childhood speaking experience offers lasting benefits for language learning, even if speaking decreases later. Early language exposure positively impacts later speech sound perception and production.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
- Second Language Acquisition
Background:
- Early language exposure is critical for phonological mastery.
- The long-term impact of reduced childhood speaking on language skills is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the lasting effects of early childhood Korean speaking experience on language memory.
- To compare Korean speech sound perception and production in childhood speakers, childhood hearers, and novice learners.
Main Methods:
- Participants included college students in first-year Korean classes: childhood speakers, childhood hearers, and novice learners.
- Speech sound perception and production abilities were assessed.
- Childhood speakers were also compared to native Korean speakers for proficiency.
Main Results:
- Childhood speakers demonstrated significant long-term benefits in Korean speech sound perception and production compared to other groups.
- Early speaking experience, even if reduced later, positively influences language acquisition outcomes.
- Childhood speakers showed a higher degree of native-like proficiency.
Conclusions:
- Speaking a language during childhood provides measurable, lasting advantages for later language learning.
- Early language experience is crucial, even when the quantity of speaking diminishes significantly after childhood.
- This highlights the enduring impact of early interactive language use on long-term linguistic abilities.