Influences of early English language teaching on oral fluency

Elementary-level foreign language education is currently receiving a lot of attention in the literature on second language learning, and has emerged as an important educational policy issue. The present study aims to contribute to this discussion by focusing on the fluency benefits gained from early foreign language teaching. The participants were 23 early-start language learners and 29 late starters, all 10-12 years old and in the final grade of a Dutch elementary school (Year 8). A picture description task was used as a basis for comparing the fluency of the two groups. A questionnaire was also employed to investigate the influence of external factors such as motivation, attitude towards English, and exposure to English outside school. The present study found a marginal advantage for early starters in terms of oral fluency. Moreover, the results of this study show that exposure outside school has a greater impact on oral fluency than early language teaching alone.