Learning English in China: The Earlier, the Better?

ABSTRACT This study examined the relationship of university students’ English proficiency to the age at which they started learning English in mainland China. With the data collected from 4530 students in 50 universities in 24 different provinces or municipalities, we employed a multiple regression model to investigate (a) whether the tested English score in the national entrance exam was predicted by the age at which the students started learning English and (b) whether the start age of English learning influences the association between time invested and learning outcome. Our results found that students who began learning English in third grade predicted significantly lower scores than those who started in kindergarten. However, no such significance of “advantage” was observed in earlier starts from kindergarten over Grade 1. Although the main effect of total learning duration was not significant, its interaction effect suggests that students who start learning later benefit more from longer durations of English input and tend to catch up quickly and show faster growth. These findings conflict with the ‘the earlier, the better’ assumption in language learning and further raise the question to what degree foreign language education should prioritize starting early versus focusing on quality and positive affect.