NEUROSCIENCE AND THE USE OF SECOND LANGUAGES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: SOME REFLECTIONS

Abstract

This bibliographical work proposes a reflection on neuroscience and bilingual education in early childhood education, based on ideas from Maria Montessori (2017) and Jean Piaget (1996), who emphasize the importance of respect, freedom, and stimulation for children’s physical and mental development. Awareness of the stages of development should inform activity proposals for this audience, which will contribute to meaningful and challenging learning, fully respecting the child. It is from this perspective that we propose rethinking bilingual education, increasingly widespread in Brazil, with proposals that aim for the child’s comprehensive development, combined with cognitive development in learning a second language. As a result, we understand that neuroscience reveals how language acquisition occurs naturally and unconsciously in childhood and that early bilingual education, when implemented correctly and aligned with the child’s individual capabilities, enriches early childhood education not only cognitively and linguistically, but also emotionally and socially.