寄生草莓的英文俱樂部

As I mentioned earlier in one of the previous articles that there are advantages to learning English at an early age even though, except for pronunciation, children are not as good at learning languages as older learners. There are cognitive advantages to learning and knowing a second a language. Children who are bilingual do better on problem solving tasks than children who are not bilingual. 
　　如同我先前提到的，雖然提早學 習英語有許多好處，但除了發音可以從小學起之外，事實上當孩子的年紀大一點時，反而是更善於學習語言的。學習及認識第二語言，確實有利於心智方面的發展， 擁有雙語能力的孩子和單語能力的孩子相比，雙語能力的孩子在解決問題方面，有較優異的表現。
 
In the past, the Critical Age Hypothesis served as the rationale for very early introduction of English instruction. The Critical Age Hypothesis basically tells us that children must learn English before a certain age (the Critical Period) or they will not be as successful later on. This hypothesis has proven not to be true.  Individuals who study English at an older age are actually more efficient language learners, except in the area of pronunciation. For pronunciation there is a clear advantage for children to start learning English, or any other language, at a very young age. Children who start learning English when they are very young have less trouble learning to pronounce sounds which do not exist in their home or primary language.
　　在過去「語言學習關鍵期理論」被視為提前學習英語的基本理論，這個理論告 訴我們孩子必須在某個年紀（關鍵時期）之前學習英語，否則將來的學習成就有限，這個理論後來被證明並非事實。事實上，除了發音之外，比較有效的學習是在年 紀較長之後發生的。就發音而言，孩子提早學習對英語或其他語言的發音確實是有利的。從幼齡開始學習英語的孩子，比較容易發一些母語中不存在的音。

Children who have been in bilingual education programs often perform better on problem solving tasks than children who haven't been in bilingual programs.  Children who achieve a high level of proficiency in English, and can be classified as bilingual, have regions of the brain which are more developed than their monolingual peers. Children who are bilingual have been shown to have more cognitive elasticity.
　　接受雙語教育 的孩子往往比單一語言教育的孩子有解決問題的能力，那些英語學習成就高並在雙語教育下成長的孩子，他們腦部的某些區域，比單一語言教育的同儕更為發達，也 就是說，接受雙語教育的孩子腦部智力較有發展性。

In my opinion what matters the most is having teachers who understand the developmental and pedagogical needs of young learners. There are many native and non-native speakers who have received training and understand the needs of children.  These are the individuals who should be in children's classrooms. In addition, it is important that the teachers have a sufficient amount of English to be able to teach young children. However, it should be pointed out that research tells us that non native speakers of English are better teachers of English than native English speakers.
　　
　　我個人認為最重要的，是要選擇一位了解孩子學習發展與教學法的老師，有很多 英語系及非英語系的英文老師，受過足夠的師資訓練，也了解孩子的學習需求，他們才是孩子的英語教室裡所需要的人。此外，老師當然要有足夠的英語能力教導孩 子。不過，我還是強調研究報告顯示，與來自英語系國家的老師相比，非英語系國家的英語老師反而是比較好的老師。