Diversity in Cognitive and Linguistic Development

As mentioned before about Piaget's Theory, it's not completely accurate but the rate of learning usually comes in those steps. There also may be intermediate stages such preoperational and concrete operational thinking occurring at the same time. Teachers need to tailor their teaching to the unique cognitive and linguistic abilities that exists. Mexican children may have exceptional conservation skills in the preoperational stage because at a young age they make pottery which includes making correct decisions with the various sizes and shapes to put water in. In some cultures science, math and literature are not important. Because of difference cultures in a country there are different speaking styles, dialects.

                                       

(The Tango is important in the culture of Argentina where it originated.

It is an amazing dance)

 Inner-city African Americans can have an advanced understanding of figurative language with its rich oral tradition. In one scenario when a child asks his Mom how the church service was she replied "Son, by the time the minister finished preaching, the men were crying and the women had passed out on the floor." As mentioned before, bilingual education should be used for those who are non-English speakers in an English area. Students should be eased into the English language. Incorporating students' culture boosts their academic success. Students with special needs need to be accommodated with. There's a great chart in here how to deal with this.

Learning a Second Language

We all know that knowledge of a second language is important because of globalization.  Despite the sensitive period for learning a language as mentioned before a person can become fluent young or old but it is better to start at a younger age.  People who learn at a younger age more often have positive attitudes towards those who speak a second language and are more likely to enroll in foreign language classes. At least half of the world is bilingual.  Wow I didn't know this statistic.  American Sign Language could be another foreign language addition to a person's language repertoire.

 

  (We are connected like never before.)

Being bilingual has many advantages as they appear to have a head start in their metalinguistic development. A higher level of this development may cause a student to have a head start in reading ability and perform better on intelligence and creativity tests. To teach a English-speaking native a foreign language they should be totally immersed in the language. They don't have many opportunities to speak it outside the classroom so they need all they can get in class. On the other hand, for a non English-speaking person in an English territory, they should receive bilingual education. With this a student would excel by having class instruction and work in their foreign language and then being taught English. If bilingual education is not done, they may lose their foreign language because of all the English that is spoken around them.

Because of all the advantages of learning a second language, teachers should really promote bilingualism for students.