The new political space shaped by the European Union has boosted the learning of foreign languages, however, the English language has acquired a higher profile than any other foreign language. The learning of English as the main foreign language in Spanish schools is overwhelming and since 1993, when the Educational Reform was passed, its learning has been established from the age of eight onwards. Thus, in the Spanish bilingual communities such as the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia students have to deal with a third language from a very early stage. However, despite the spread of this early teaching, there are very few studies available on its effectiveness in formal contexts. Thus, this paper analyzes the impact of early teaching on students' written production, the language skill that theoretically should benefit least from a methodology which is basically focused on oral production and comprehension. The results demonstrated that the early teaching has a positive effect on the communicative competence in writing shown by the experimental students (started at the age of 8) when compared with the control group (started at the age of 11). These results are explained in terms of Cummins's (1980) Common Underlying Proficiency model of bilingualism.
Arnold, R. (1991). Writing development. Philadelphia : Open University Press.
2.
Azpillaga, B., Arzamendi, J., Etxeberria, F., Garagorri, X., Lindsay, D., & Joaristi, L. (2001). Preliminary findings of a format-based foreign language teaching method for school children in the Basque Country. Applied Psycholinguistics, 22, 35-44.
3.
Baker, C., & Jones, S.P. (1998). Encyclopedia of bilingualism and bilingual education . Clevedon: Multilingual Matters .
Celaya, M.L., & Tragant, E. (1997). Adquisición de lengua: código escrito. In R. Ribé (Ed.), Tramas creativas y aprendizaje de lenguas. Prototipos de tareas de tercera generación (pp. 237-252). Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona.
6.
Cenoz, J. (1991). Enseñanza-aprendizaje del inglés como L2 o L3 . Leioa: Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea. Universidad del País Vasco.
7.
Cenoz, J. (2001). The effect of linguistic distance, L2 status and age on cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition. In J. Cenoz, B. Hufeisen & U. Jessner (Eds.), Cross-linguistic influence in third language acquisition: Psycholinguistic perspectives (pp. 8-20). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
8.
Cummins, J. (1980). The construct of language proficiency in bilingual education. In J. E. Alatis (Ed.), Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 1980. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
9.
Cummins, J., & Swain, M. (1986). Bilingualism in education: aspects of theory, research and practice. London: Longman.
10.
Cumming, A. (1994). Writing expertise and second-language learning proficiency. In A. Cumming (Ed.), Bilingual performance in reading and writing (pp. 173-221). Chicago: John Benjamins.
11.
Dulay, H., Burt, M., & Krashen, S. (1982). Language 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
James, C. (1998). Errors in language learning and use. Exploring error analysis. London: Longman .
14.
James, C., & Klein, K. (1994). Foreign language learners' spelling and proof-reading strategies. Papers and Studies in Contrastive Linguistics , 29, 31-46.
15.
Lasagabaster, D. (1998). Creatividad y conciencia metalingüística: Incidencia en el aprendizaje del inglés como L3. Leioa: University of the Basque Country.
16.
Lasagabaster, D. (1999). Typological relatedness, age and the learning of English as an L3. Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics , 14, 35-52.
17.
Lasagabaster, D. (2000). Three languages and three linguistic models in the Basque educational system. In J. Cenoz & U. Jessner (Eds.), English in Europe: The acquisition of a third language (pp. 179-197). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
18.
Lasagabaster, D. (2001). Bilingualism, immersion programs and language learning in the Basque Country. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 22, 401-425.
19.
Lasagabaster, D., & Doiz, A. (2003). Maturational constraints on foreign-language written production. In M. P. García Mayo & M. L. García Lecumberri (Eds.), Age and the acquisition of English as a foreign language (pp. 136-160). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
20.
Muñoz, C. (1999). The effects of age on instructed foreign language acquisition. In S. González, R. A. Valdeón, D. García , A. Ojanguren, M. Urdiales & A. Antón (Eds.), Essays in English language teaching. A review of the communicative approach (pp. 1-22). Oviedo: Universidad de Oviedo.
21.
Pennington, M.C., & So, S. (1993). Comparing writing process and product across two languages: A study of 6 Singaporean university student writers. Journal of Second Language Writing, 2, 41-63.
22.
Reichelt, M. (1999). Toward a more comprehensive view of L2 writing: Foreign language writing in the U.S. Journal of Second Language Writing, 8, 181-204.
23.
Sagasta, P. (2002). La producción escrita en euskara, castellano e inglés en el modelo D y en el modelo de immersión. Department of Educational Sciences. University of the Basque Country. Spain.
24.
Sagasta, P. (2003). Acquiring writing skills in a third language: The positive effects of bilingualism. International Journal of Bilingualism, 7, 27-42.
25.
Sasaki, M., & Hirose, K. (1996). Explanatory variables for EFL students' expository writing. Language Learning, 46, 137-174.
26.
Singleton, D. (1995). A critical look at the critical period hypothesis in second language acquisition research. In D. Singleton & Z. Lengyel (Eds.), The age factor in second language acquisition (pp. 1-29). Clevedon : Multilingual Matters.
27.
Singleton, D. (2003). Critical period or general age factor(s)? In M. P. García Mayo & M. L. García Lecumberri (Eds.), Age and the acquisition of English as a foreign language (pp. 3-22). Clevedon : Multilingual Matters.
28.
Taeschner, T. (1992). Insegnare la lingua straniera con il format. Roma: Edizioni Anicia.
29.
Torras, M.R., Tragant, E., & García, M.L. (1997). Croyances populaires sur l'apprentissage précoce d'une langue étrangère. AILE, 10, 127-157.
30.
Vendler, Z. (1967). Linguistics in Philosophy. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
31.
Wolfe-Quintero, K., Inagaki, S., & Kim, H-Y. (1998). Second language development in writing: Measures of fluency, accuracy and complexity. Hawai'i: University of Hawai'i.
