Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence

By discussing commonly held myths and misconceptions, this paper attempts to clarify a number of important issues in the area of second language learning. These include the ease and rapidity with which children learn a second language, the optimal age at which to begin second language instruction, the importance of the extent of exposure to the second language, the relationship between oral communication skills and academic language skills, and cultural and individual differences in language learning styles.

Each myth presented in this paper is followed by a discussion of related research on second language learning and its implications for classroom teachers. It is important for the teachers of language minority students to understand that second language learning by school-aged children is a longer, harder, more complex process than most of them have been led to believe.