The Beliefs of Teachers, Students, and Parents on the Importance of Learning Second Language at a Young Age

Abstract

There are so many factors which affect the learners when learning second language. Age, motivation of the learners, the ability to acquire language, cognitive development as the factors affect learning second language. When learners start at a young age the other factors are affected positively. The researcher aimed to search the importance of age when learning foreign language. She made a questionnaire with 52 volunteers; 26 of them are students at Foreign Language Department in Uludag University, 26 of them are parents. And she also interviewed with teachers. She carried out this study by collecting the qualitative and quantitative data. The research has shown that “Age” is important factor when learning second language. Person who learned second language at a young age has a lot of advantages in long term. The researcher chose this subject because she thought that learning second language at a young age is easier inasmuch as language acquisition is available. She wanted to learn thoughts of parents, students in Foreign Language Departments, teachers. She revealed the thought of “the younger the better” by making interview with teachers and making a questionnaire with parents and students in Foreign Language Departments. The researcher corroborate her theory by looking at these results.