Oh wow. I’m teaching a class for grad students on second language acquisition this semester, and we start with a unit on first language teaching and learning. We only do a pretty basic intro to the topic since it’s a huge topic of course, and we need to get into the second language stuff quickly. But we were just talking about the critical period and impacts on language development when children don’t have normal contact and exposure to language as babies. Heretofore, research documentation of that kind of lack of exposure that primarily been in situations of abuse. So it’s kind of heartbreaking to read about something similar happening not in the context of abuse but because of pandemic lockdown.
I wonder what details in the US were different and what studies are being done in the U.S. now.
Somehow I’m remembering that US lockdowns weren’t as long or as strict, but is that accurate?
