November 25, 2010

The Effects of Age on L2 LearnersChristy Marscheider

Age Effects on Language Competence

Most studies are only focusing on the Grammatical Aspect

Age of Acquisition is a Factor in Ultimate Attainment

Later AoA= lower ultimate attainment capabilities

Is this due to biological factors, or can other factors come into play?

How do you factor in “talented learners”?

VS

Drop-off after Puberty

Steady Decline with Age

The Critical Period Debate

Advocates:

DeKeyser

Long

Opponents

Hakuta

Bialystok

Riechle

Brain Activity-Mark PatkowskiRight Hemisphere vs. Left Hemisphere- Older AoA have more RH activity

Three Different Ways to Interpret Ability

Self-Reporting Studies

Morphosyntactic Studies

Phonological Studies

Census Findings Do Not Indicate Critical Period

US Census 2000

Morphosyntactic Studies

Immersion in L2 can lead to native-like results, regardless of AoA

Mikulski

Riechle

Recognizing the Spanish Subjunctive

Correct: Marta exige que sus hijos limpien la cocina despues de la cena.

Incorrect: Marta exige que sus hijos limpian la cocina despues de la cena.

English: Marta demands that her children clean the kitchen after dinner.

Scores Results: Early Bilinguals= 18.6/24 Late Bilinguals= 19.3/24 Young Adult Bilinguals= 19.5/24

Conclusion: No Difference Found

Information Structure and AoA

C’est quoi qui se trouve sur la table? (What is on the table?)

C’est un marteau qui se trouve sur la table. (The hammer is on the table.)

*C’est sur la table que se trouve un marteau. (A hammer is on the table.)

Phonological Studies

Talented Learners-Adult AoA learners with Native-like abilities

Ioup

Rabia and Kehat

Baker

The Role of Cross-Language Similarity

Older learners try to correlate L2 sounds with their L1, while children are able to accept sounds on their own.

The closer the L1 and L2, the more native-like the pronunciation

Doesn’t address CP, but does note that age is a factor in achieving native-like pronunciation.

Case Study of Successful Adult SLA in Naturalistic Environment

Julie used copy book entries, error feedback, practice for mastery

Talent!!!!

Geschwind clusters: left-handedness, twinning and allergies in the family

Adults still need to pay attention to form, Julie had to work hard to acquire L2, did not use innate skills

Late Starters Who Achieved a Near Native-like Accent

Some of the ten NNS were assumed to be NS

Talent?

Geschwind Cluster-twins in the family, talent in one area, however all were right-handed.

Way of life and amount of practice are big contributors to near native-like ability

Robert DeKeyser

Native Russian Speakers learning Hebrew and English- scores decline after puberty AOA.

Fundamental Difference Hypothesis-Adults and children learn differently.

Different CPs for different competencies-the more salient in the language, the more likely to be learned without instruction.

“There really is a critical period...somewhere between the ages of 6-7 and 16-17, everybody loses the mental equipment required for the implicit induction of the abstract patterns underlying human language.”

Problems with Supposed Counter-Evidence to the CPH

Mike Long

Nine Types of Counter-Evidence to the CPH

Long feels that “only young starters can attain native-like proficiency levels with different domains being subject to sensitive periods with different off-set points”

Tying it all together

Age is a factor in second language acquisition

Age is not a huge determiner in ability to become proficient in grammar and syntax

Age is a determiner in pronunciation skills where native-like ability is a goal

Adults and children learn an L2 differently, these theories are important for an L2 teacher to consider