What are the connections between second language learning and literacy skills development?
Research demonstrates that learning a second language can significantly enhance literacy skills development. ‘Learning a new language teaches the learner something about the nature of language and languages, and this is knowledge that needs to be developed by a literate person’ ‘Language teachers do not only teach a language, they also teach about language as a concept, and about communication, context and culture.’ ‘Second language learning is therefore a resource for enhancing literacy, not a problem for acquiring literacy. It forms part of the whole package for learning about language as a part of schooling and provides additional insights into the nature of language that are not available to the monolingual learner’. (Liddicoat, A., Learning a language, learning about language, learning to be literate. Babel, Vol 35, Number 3, 2000-2001, p.15) Students learning another language develop understandings of language as a system by drawing on comparative language analysis.
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