language for Russian adoptees

[Andrea Nelson]

Dear Emily and SEELANGERS:

I recently returned from Saint Petersburg via London.  On the airplane, actually
 on the bus from
Gatwick to Heathrow, I sat next to an American with two girls about the same age
 that you
mentioned in your email.  He didn't know Russian.  Well.  Just a few words.
 They didn't know
English.  The girls were charming and I asked if I could be of assistance.  The
 girls and I spoke
a bit.  But the group seemed to be doing fine on their own.  But I had the exact
 same lingering
concern.  How would they do once they arrived in San Diego, their final
 destination.  Especially
in terms of language.

As far as I know from the second language acquisition literature which relates
 specifically to
children, they should probably have some difficulty but adjust eventually.  We
 all learn our
native language almost completely by the age of 5.  However, the "critical
 period hypothesis,"
which has been proposed to address the issue of age and second language
 acquisition, proposes that
the preadolesent period is okay but after puberty things get a bit more
 difficult.  This is just
an hypothesis and there is no hard and fast theory let alone factors which may
 be said to be
implicated absolutely in second language acquisition in terms of age.  However,
 in my opinion,
these girls will be fine in terms of their acquisition of the English language.

I think more than anything it will probably be an issue of culture shock and the
 social adjustment
this will entail for these two orphaned girls being taken from the former Soviet
 Union to the
United States.  I'm not a social worker, but I think that, in contrast to a
 whole family who comes
to live in the United States together (as is the case with emigrees) these two
 girls are going to
have adjustments to make.  But bear in mind they also have each other!  However,
 once in a loving
home, they might teach their adoptive parents some Russian.  And most certainly
 once they are in
school and start making friends they will begin to learn English.  The peer
 group, as far as I
understand from the literature, is very important in this regard, especially
 with school-aged
children.

May I suggest that you post your question to the SLART-L?  This is a listserv
 connected to over
700 specialists in second language acquisition worldwide.  The acronym stands
 for the Second
Language Acquisition and Research on Teaching List.  If you look it up as an
 acronym on any
standard search engine you should find out either how to sign up or how to just
 post one message
to the list.  My area of specialization is Russian second language acquisition
 in adult learners,
and therefore I think you'll find more and perhaps more accurate information
 from someone on this
list than from me.

Best,

Andrea Nelson

--- Emily Tall <mllemily at acsu.buffalo.edu> wrote:
> A woman who is adopting two Russian girls, 6 and 7 years old, was
> wondering if she will be needing much (some? any?) Russian or if they will
> learn English so fast it won't be necessary. She's made some inquiries but
> it seems that most people adopt babies, so the problem doesn't arise. It
> seems to me that the kids would be much happier if they could speak
> Russian with someone in the beginning. On the other hand, I do know that
> kids that age learn a new language very quickly. Do any of you have any
> advice I could pass on to her? Thanks! (I'm sure if you said it was
> crucial that someone in the family speak Russian then she (or another
> family member) would put
> in the necessary effort. Emily Tall, SUNY/Buffalo
>

===
Andrea Nelson
800 Martin Avenue
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 USA
610-525-0541
email:   drannie_98 at yahoo.com
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