Greater sensitivity to communication partners’ perspectives in children learning a second language at school

Bibliographic Data

ID15087336
AuthorsAgostini (0000-0003-0314-2998, University of Birmingham, corresponding author), Ian A Apperly (0000-0001-9485-563X, University of Birmingham), Andrea Krott (0000-0002-1667-3424, University of Birmingham)
Year2025
Volume28
Issue5
Pages1304-1318
Publication date2025-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBilingualism Language and Cognition (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1366-7289 • E-ISSN: 1469-1841
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1366728925000069
OpenAlexW4407341980
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited72

Early learning of a second language at home has been found to be beneficial for children’s cognitive development, including their ability to ascribe mental states to others. We investigated whether second language learning in an educational setting can accelerate children’s sensitivity to a communication partner’s perspective and whether the amount of exposure to second language education makes a difference. We tested three groups of English monolingual four-five year old children with varying language exposure at the beginning of their first year at primary school and 24 weeks later. Children attending bilingual schools and children with weekly second language lessons exhibited similar accelerated development of communicative perspective-taking skills compared to children without second language provision. Such advances were not related to other cognitive advances. Thus, limited foreign language teaching might boost young children’s development in communicative perspective-taking skills, providing an enhanced basis for their social competence development

Cognition · Cognitive development · Communicative competence · Developmental psychology · Foreign language · Language acquisition · Language development · Mathematics education · Neuroscience of multilingualism · Pedagogy · Child and Animal Learning Development · Language Development and Disorders · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access