Honestly, I'm not sure computer programming is even remotely related to language learning. If it were we would probably see more evidence. Anyway, I taught myself how to program while I was in high school, a few decades ago. Learning Spanish probably took me a decade and I never really got it until I immersed myself by studying in Guatemala for 10 weeks then backpacking to Argentina over the next several months. Actually, I considered myself good by Colombia. People didn't respond in English and I didn't have to repeat myself.
All human languages consist of syntax and phonetics. Programming languages act as an intermediary between human intelligence and machine intelligence. We almost always require the language aspect of programming to communicate with computer hardware. It is a link for compiling syntax between both the human mind and the computer mind. We need a common means to compile information, just like communicating ideas between people. Programming languages are exactly the same thing as traditional spoken language.
I'll argue that to parse any language requires a specific cognitive skill. Ever sentence diagram, look up a word in the dictionary, or look up what specific programming "words" do in a computer?
