Early English Language Learning among Primary School Students: The Development of Self-Ego and Social Interaction

Learning a new language is a complex process that affects the entire person: physically, intellectually, and emotionally. This paper, drawing on Norton's (2010) conceptualization of language investment, investigated the effects of language exposure on the early foreign language learning of English in a Persian primary school. Using a sample of 40 Iranian children in a primary school, this study investigated how ECFLE (early childhood foreign language education) was related to children's self-ego and social interaction. A D International Institute's (2007) self-ego questionnaire and Medical Wellness and Life Balance Institute's (2016) social interaction questionnaire were used to examine participants' self-ego and social interaction at the beginning and end of the project. After six months of English language exposure, the results demonstrated that learning a foreign language can boost children's self-ego and social interaction development. Study findings revealed that exposure to a new language affects learners' self-development. Speaking an L2 often involves struggling to build a new identity. Instructing children in the English language led to a great deal of change in English language proficiency, the supremacy of self-ego, and the growth of social interaction.