Every pre-school child already succeeds at:

1. Second-language teaching is held to the criterion of universal success. 2. That means spontaneous and appropriate use of language for at least everyday purposes. 3. Every pre-school child achieves this in his or her own language(s). **Why not the others:** Essays, fluent reading and perfect spelling are later literacy skills, not what every pre-school child already shows. _Source: NCERT, Position Paper of the National Focus Group on Teaching of English (2006), section "2.1 Language acquisition inside and outside the classroom", PDF p. 13 (ncert.nic.in/pdf/focus-group/english.pdf)_