TEXTO I

“By definition, all second language learners, regardless of age, have already acquired at least one language. This prior knowledge may be an advantage in the sense that they have an idea of how languages work. On the other hand, knowledge of other languages can lead learners to make incorrect guesses about how the second language works, and this may result in errors that first language learners would not make.

Very young language learners begin the task of first language acquisition without the cognitive maturity or metalinguistic awareness that older second language learners have. Although young second language learners have begun to develop these characteristics, they will still have far to go in these areas, as well as in the area of world knowledge, before they reach the levels already attained by adults and adolescents.”

Fonte: LIGHTBOWN, P. M.; SPADA, N. How languages are learned. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1993.