English learners are getting younger. A global
survey of English for young learners, undertaken by the British Council in 1999,
showed that the majority of countries in which English was taught in primary
schools had introduced the innovation in the 1990s. Since
then, the practice has become more widespread. In Europe, almost every country
documented in the 2005 Eurydice survey showed an increasing percentage of
primary pupils learning English during the years 1998-2002 (the most
recent year for which data was available). Since 2002, the trend has continued
apace. (a) One rationale for teaching languages to young
children is the idea that they find it easier to learn languages than older
students. (b) They are still developing physically and intellectually; their
emotional needs may be higher, they are less able to take responsibility for
their own learning. (c) One of the practical reasons for introducing English to
younger learner is to ensure that they have longer time in their school careers
to master the language; another is because the timetables in secondary schools
now have too many competing demands. (d) There are many hazards
attached to EYL, not least of which is that it requires teachers who are
proficient in English, have wider training in child development, and who are
able to motivate young children. Such teachers are in short supply in most
countries, but failure at this stage may be difficult to remedy
later. Translate the underlined part of the sentence in Paragraph 4 into Chinese.