Age and Second Language Acquisition

Slide 1: AGE AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Or to put it bluntly. . . am I past it?

Slide 2: CRITICAL PERIOD HYPOTHESIS Brown (2007) defines CPH as . . .  “a biological timetable during which, both first & second language is more successfully accomplished”. Ellis (1997) defines CPH as . . .  a period during which “target-language competence in an L2 can only be achieved if learning commences before a certain age is reached. (e.g. the onset of puberty)”

Slide 3: AM I PAST IT? If established theory states that L2 language acquisition is  not achievable beyond puberty, what’s the point in trying? If L2 is not achievable beyond puberty, how was I able to  learn my second language at the age of 34? Does Ellis’ (1997) definition hold the key, that  competence in L2 is what theorists are really arguing?

Slide 4: RESEARCH Age and Different aspects of SLA: morphosyntax. Singleton (1995)  The effect of age on SLA on the representations and processing of  second language words. Silverberg& Samuel (2004) Phonology & Accent:  Pronunciation revisited (Pennington, M & Richards J.C. (1986)   Phonological Basis of a Foreign Accent, a Hypothesis. (Flege, J.E. (1981)  On the adults ability to acquire phonology. (Neufeld, G.G. 1980) Is there an age factor in Universal Grammar? (Martohardjono, G &  Flynn, S. 1993)

Slide 5: FINDINGS 1 Mophosyntax:  (Morphosyntax covers the relationship between morphology and syntax, where morphology is the field within linguistics that studies the internal structure of words and syntax is the study of the rules that govern the structure of sentences).  during the initial stages of language acquisition, adults were quicker to develop syntactic and morphological understanding than children, and that older children were faster to develop syntactic and morphological understanding than younger children  However, in the long-run Krashen et al, found that learners who began their SLA as children achieved higher second language proficiency than those who started as adults.

Slide 6: FINDINGS 2 Representation and processing of second language words.  found that language learners who had acquired their L2 at an early  age showed a “robust effect of L2 primes that were linked to an L1 target word”. For early English bilinguals, the conceptual representations for words in both languages are shared, therefore supporting Ellis’ notion of L2 competence being gained during the critical period. Conceptual a small domesticated animal that has soft fur, sharp claws, pointed ears and a long furry tail. Lexical cat Constituent parts /kæt/ = activation of the phoneme /k/ (if spoken) + activation of the visual letter ‘c’ (if written)

Slide 7: FINDINGS 3 Phonology and Accent  Flege (1981) “the presence of foreign accent in the speech of  post-pubescent language learners has been specifically linked to neurophysiological maturation and the establishment of cerebral lateralization for language functions” Brown (2007) “neuromuscular plasticity of the muscles that  articulate speech and not lateralization of the brain limits the way in which we can create new sounds”. Singleton and Lengyel (1995) phonemic awareness has gained  importance in helping post-pubescent second language speakers be understood.

Slide 8: FINDINGS 4 Universal Grammar  Martohardjono & Flynn (1993) argued that Universal  Grammar is not subject to a critical period because of the “innate principles and parameters of universal grammar governing the acquisition of syntax”. Therefore if an adult L2 learner can access the  grammatical principles underlying their L1, they can acquire L2.

Slide 9: CONCLUSIONS Age is a factor to consider in second language acquisition.   Age should not be a deterrent to learning a second language.  Grammar, and its mastery, is possible in all languages and at all ages, but is more easily mastered during childhood.  Accent is the most prominent determiner of age of L2 acquisition.