Age Effects in Foreign Language Learning for Children in China

To know the age effects in foreign language learning for children in China, we made both qualitative survey on the English teachers, the students and their parents by means of questionnaire; and quantitative survey on the students’ scores from junior 1 to senior 2 (5 years) in the secondary school by analyses between those (over 30 students) who had learned English for 3 years in the elementary school and those (over 400 students) who hadn’t. Finally conclusions that “‘the younger, the better’ in FLL is doubted, FLES shouldn’t be done in lower grades of elementary school in China, qualified English teacher is the decisive factor on FLES” were drawn from the surveys on FLES in China.


Introduction
English has been taught in more and more elementary schools since the early 1990s, but offering English course in China is no easy task.The Chinese Ministry of Education made the decision of offering English course from grade 3 above county-level elementary schools in the fall of 2001, while that from grade 1 above township-level ones in the fall of 2002.This decision aroused debates among scholars in foreign language teaching and research nationwide.Some agreed to it, some disagreed, and some had an attitude of eclecticism by solving problems in the process of teaching.
In response, I made a survey on FLES (Foreign Languages in Elementary Schools) of over 30 pupils, starting English learning from grade 4 for 3 years in the Second Elementary School of Qinghai Oil Field in China.The survey was on their English scores from junior 1 to senior 2 in the secondary school, together with the attitudes on FLES from the students, their parents and their English teachers, both in elementary and secondary schools, by questionnaire.The aim is to draw some conclusions by analyzing the facts and figures collected and to test the previous studies in this field.

Three viewpoints on FLES in China
First: Many scholars say it's unnecessary to offer foreign language courses to children nationwide in a rigid and uniform manner without enough qualified teachers, suitable textbooks and other teaching equipment.They disagree to the idea "the younger, the better" in FLL (foreign language learning).The well-known professor Xu Guozhang, Gui Shichun, Zhang Zhengdong are among them.
Second: Among scholars in favor of the decision, professor Chen Lin is the chief representative.The ideas are based mainly on the conditions that there are qualified English teachers, suitable textbooks and good teaching equipment.
Third: Some scholars keep an attitude of eclecticism, whose viewpoint is solving the problems in the process of teaching and, professor Hu Zhuanglin is the main advocator.He suggested, no matter what kind of difficulties lying in front of us, we should offer the courses firstly in the places well-equipped, while the backward areas should do their best to catch up with the former gradually because we can't wait for better conditions.
Concerning the problem of starting age in FLL, there's been no agreement in the past 50 years in the world.Therefore, we should make people know that FLES has a very difficult situation worldwide.From the brief history of FLES in China, we are now repeating the same lesson taught in 1980s, especially in the backward areas, because of the same reason that lacks in qualified English teachers and the like.There are three kinds of viewpoints on FLES in China, but they agree on one point that qualified English teachers, suitable textbooks and adequate teaching equipment are the prerequisites in carrying out the decision, which are in great need in China now.0

FLES in China and its language environment
Many people think child's age in FLL is: "the younger, the better".In my understanding, there must be some special language environment.As is known, it's quite different for Chinese children and American minorities' to learn English.For example, if a Chinese couple moves to the USA, their children will have to learn English in school as the Americans do.These Chinese children have to face the natural language environment and culture of English and have enough chances to communicate with the people around them.Although English isn't their mother tongue, the Chinese children have to face everything encoded by it.Thus, they can think, speak and develop naturally in English.The natural language environment of English would assure them to master English naturally.But in China, children can't have such an environment, and there's no natural communication in English for them.Therefore, their only way is to listen more, speak more, and practise more, to recite new words, language structures and grammar rules in learning English.This means the children's English in China is not natural or real English, but the transition of understanding Chinese and knowing English.It's a mixture of comparison from the two languages.
Obviously, it's natural for Chinese children to learn English well as an L2 (second language) in the USA, and "the younger, the better".But in China English is a foreign language, so it's a different matter, and "the younger in age, the more difficult in learning".Therefore, it is evident that there's no "critical period" in TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) for children in China."Critical period hypothesis" only exists in natural language (mother tongue and L2) acquisition as E.Lenneberg raised it in 1967.But it doesn't mean children can't learn foreign languages.What we should do is to create a suitable bilingual environment, compile good textbooks, use proper teaching methods according to children's psychology and physiology, but above all, it's to train qualified foreign language teachers.

Analyses on the Results
The comments and views of the students, the parents and the teachers are originals from the answers to the questionnaires.From Table 1 we know the students' sense of superiority in FLL over those who hadn't learned English in elementary school lasts one year on average in junior secondary school.In question No.7, the 'positive effect' is chosen by 26 students, while the 'negative effect' by 0 and other choices by 6.On this point, whether the students or their parents (from the next questionnaire table), both of them agree to it, which is identical with the idea of most people in China for earlier start in FLL.From the personal experience, we know 23 students (71.88%) like FLES, while 9 (28.13%)dislike it.So we see most students like English, emphasizing much on the positive effect of fresh, interesting and active class atmosphere.

Analyses on the results of the questionnaires
As to the open questions on FLES, we've got both positive (14 pieces) and negative (9 pieces) comments.In the pupils' opinion, it's helpful in FLL whether for laying a solid foundation for their junior secondary school English or for broadening their horizons.However, some say teaching method should still be improved, more classes be added, while some think it better to start it from junior secondary school because it brings pride and sense of superiority to the students, which makes them stay behind in FLL in secondary school.
From the above, we see most pupils like FLES, and they want to get some improvement from teachers in FLL, though FLES will bring them negative effect to later FLL because of their pride and sense of superiority.No.8,13,15 and 19)

Comments
Most parents consider FLES positively.Children have mastered some knowledge by learning English and their interest has been developed in playing games, learning English expressions and songs.Having made a solid foundation for their English learning, the children are doing it in a relaxed environment from the beginning to the end, so it's better for them to learn it from an earlier age.While a few think it a kind of load, therefore they are not sure whether to say it positive or negative.As to optimal age in FLL, the ages are from 5 to 11, but most regard the ages from 9 to 10, which are in accordance with their choice of grade 3 on FLES, occupying 53.13%.

Views
Positive: It's obvious the final average score of the 46 students is 3. 21 (117.43-114.22= 3.21) points higher than that of the 390 students.The most obvious pair of scores is 139.7 to 130.49 in Junior1A, whose difference is over 9 points.This sum of scores indicates that the students who had learned English for 3 years in elementary school have more advantages than those who hadn't in learning English from junior one to three.
Analyses on the average scores of the students in senior 1-2: It's evident the final average score of the 33 students is 1.97 (78.93-76.96=1.97) points lower than that of the 448 students.The result is just upside-down compared with that of the junior students except for the scores of Senior2B.The most obvious pair of scores is 70.87 to 66.44 in Senior1A, whose difference is over 4 points.This sum of scores indicates that advantages are disappearing gradually as time goes on for those who had learned English for 3 years, finally disadvantages appear.It's clear the idea "the younger, the better" for children in FLL is doubted.
In sum, from Table 4, Table 5 and Figure 1, we see the students who had learned English in elementary school are superior to those who hadn't from their English exam results in junior secondary school, but gradually they are inferior to those who hadn't after getting into senior secondary school.This indicates the earlier beginner in FLL has less and less advantage as time goes on.In other words, the higher grade, the lower score is for those who had learned English for 3 years in elementary school when beginning to learn English from secondary school.This is in accordance with the theory of 'non-critical period' hypothesis raised by Snow in 1978.Therefore, the notion "the younger, the better" in FLL is doubted.

Descriptive statistics of the scores
Table 6 describes the general distributive tendency of the scores of junior 1-3 & senior 1-2.The four categories are of the two groups of students: those who had learned English in elementary school for 3 years (Jr. Av. 46Ss. & Sr. Av.33Ss.) and those who hadn't (Jr. Av. 390Ss. & Sr. Av. 448Ss.).Among them there are 11 kinds of statistical data described.It's clear that the mean of the 46 students in junior and 33 in senior secondary school falls from the highest (mean=117.4286)to the lowest (mean=76.9550) in the four groups, while the mean of those 390 students in junior and 448 in senior secondary school rises from a lower one (114.2200)compared with 117.4286 to a higher one (mean=78.9275)compared with 76.9550.It's a sharp contrast compared with each other, between those who had learned English earlier and those who hadn't.This brings us the findings that the idea "the younger, the better" is doubted in FLL, which is in accordance with the findings in the previous analyses.The values of Standard Deviation show that the smallest differences (Std.V. =6.71750) can be found in the group of SR.Av.448Ss.While the biggest differences (Std.V. =16.96582) can be identified in the group of Jr.Av.46Ss, it is more convincing to show the correctness and validity of the rational analyses in the previous findings.The rest of the descriptive statistics support the previous findings, too.

Paired samples test on the scores of junior 1-3 and senior 1-2
In this section the previous descriptive statistics of the scores will be tested by the paired samples T test with the help of SPSS 11.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) to see whether the findings are right or wrong.
In Table 7, it is obvious that all the figures are identical with those in Table 6.Hence, we know the statistics are proved to be true.
From Table 8, we see the correlation coefficients (r=0.977;r=0.935) and the figures of significant degree (p=0; p=0.065) tally with those in Table 6 and Table 7 totally.So they are of high validity and correctness proved by the figures in the chart of the paired samples correlations.
From Pair 1 in Table 9, we see the figures: t = -1.816,df = 6, so we check t value in the distribution table and find t = 3.707 at the level of a = 0.01 (in 2-tailed).It's clear that -1.816 is smaller than 3.707 (-1.816 < 3.707), so we should accept the hypothesis of the correlation coefficient as 0 and consider that there is no correlation between the two variables.In other words, there are no significant differences between the scores of the 46 students and those of the 380.Moreover, p = 0.119, and 0.119 > 0.01 (in 2-tailed), so it can be regarded that there are no significant differences between the two variables, too.
While in Pair 2, it is clear that t = 1.395, df = 3, so we check t value in the distribution table and find t = 5.841 at the level of a = 0.01 (in 2-tailed).It's clear that 1.395 < 5.841, so we should accept the hypothesis of the correlation coefficient as 0 and consider that there is no correlation between the two variables.In other words, there are no significant differences between the scores of the 33 students and those of the 448.Moreover, p = 0.257, and 0.257> 0.01 (in 2-tailed), therefore, it also can be considered that there are no significant differences between the two variables.As to the rest of the statistical data, there is no need to analyze them for their supporting evidence and validity.
From the findings in Table 9 and the explanations, we know there are no significant differences between the students' English scores of those who had learned English for 3 years in elementary school and those who hadn't both in junior and senior secondary schools.Therefore, there is no significant correlation between age and the English scores.From this T Test we can say the notion "the younger, the better" in FLL for children is doubted.

FLES shouldn't be done in lower grades of elementary school in China.
There is confusion among 26 English letters, 48 English phonetic symbols and 56 Chinese pinyin (altogether 130) for pupils in the beginning years in elementary school.The lower grades are the stage for pupils to lay a good foundation of their mother tongue.From the results of the questionnaires, most of the English teachers, the students, and the parents agree that children should begin FLL around the ages from 9 to 10, that is, from grade 3 in elementary school, which is identical with the idea of many scholars'.

Qualified English teacher is the decisive factor on FLES.
The important factors in FLL are qualified teachers, painstakingly designed courses, favorable language environment and the like.Moreover, interest and good learning habits are also among them.But qualified teacher is the decisive factor and this is what we need most at present.40% to 50% of English teachers in elementary schools are not English majors in China in 2007 according to the figures by the Chinese Ministry of Education.If we let unqualified teachers go to the posts, the result will be from bad to worse.Under the present unfavorable situation of the teaching system in China, the more strictly we abide by the decision of FLES, the more traps will be appearing in front of foreign language learners.This will lead to even greater losses in terms of inaccurate teaching and wasted resources.These losses will be irreparable.Facing such unfavorable realities, we should be circumspect in implementing FLES, especially in the backward areas in China at present.And this is in accordance with the research done previously in some other countries in 1970s.

5.3
The notion "the younger, the better" in FLL is doubted.
The scores of those who had learned English for 3 years in elementary school were higher than those who hadn't when starting to learn English in junior secondary school, but from senior elementary school their scores were decreasing semester by semester compared with those who hadn't, finally their advantages disappeared completely.From the findings in Table 9, we know there are no significant differences between the students' English scores of those who had learned English for 3 years in elementary school and those who hadn't both in junior and senior secondary schools.Therefore, there is no significant correlation between the starting age and the English learning result.From the result of the T Test we can say the notion "the younger, the better" in FLL for children is doubted.Therefore there is no "critical period" hypothesis in FLL, it may only exist in natural language learning as E. Lenneberg put it forward in 1967.
In sum, all the above results showed that the starting age in FLL isn't "the younger, the better".H. Stern's (1999, p.367) view that "a language can be taught from any age upwards" was proved to be true again in China.

Table 1 .
Statistics of the views on FLES by the 32 students (17 closed questions)

Table 2 .
Statistics of the views on FLES by the 32 parents (15 closed questions)

Table 3 .
Statistics of the views on FLES by the 31 teachers (24 closed questions) , 19, 22, 25 and 30 are questions for more choices, so the answer number is over 31.

Table 4 .
Average scores of the students in junior 1-3 (Total Score: 150)