What do some people worry about, according to the passage?

South Africa has twelve official languages, and many learners move between two or three of them during a single day. They may speak isiZulu at home, English in class and Afrikaans or Sesotho with friends. Some people worry that this mixture confuses young children. Researchers who study language learning disagree. They report that children who grow up with more than one language often become more skilled at switching attention between tasks and may find it easier to learn a further language later. The researchers add that the benefits depend on the child receiving enough support in each language, especially in the early school years. When a child is taught only in a language that is not spoken at home, understanding of new ideas can fall behind, because the child is learning the words and the subject at the same time. For this reason, many educators recommend teaching the first years of school in the home language while English is introduced gradually.

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: D. That using several languages confuses young children

  1. Step 1: The passage says some people worry that the mixture of languages confuses young children.
Answer
That using several languages confuses young children.
Why not the others: That too many languages are official in South Africa: the passage does not express this worry. That English is being taught too late: this is not the worry described. That children refuse to speak their home language: this is not mentioned.

Practise more Reading comprehension passages.

Free questions with an explanation for every one, and full timed National Benchmark Tests (NBT) mock tests.

All Reading comprehension passages questionsTake a mock test

More Reading comprehension passages questions