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What does the critical period really mean?
... What accounts for the age-attainment difference between younger learners and older learners? More than 4 decades of research on CPH/L2A-from [16] to [17] to [18]-have, in the main, found an inverse correlation between the age of acquisition (AoA) and the level of grammatical attainment (see also [19], for a meta-analysis); "the age of acquisition is strongly negatively correlated with ultimate second language proficiency for grammar as well as for pronunciation" ( [20], p. 88). ...
... Leaving aside the vexed issue of nativelikeness, 1 Birdsong [58], among others, postulated that CPH/L2A must ultimately pass geometric tests: if studies comparing younger learners and older learners yield the geometry of a "stretched Z" for the age-attainment function, that would prove the validity of CPH/L2A, or falsify it, if otherwise. The stretched Z or inverted S [20] references a bounded period in which the organism exhibits heightened neural plasticity and sensitivity to linguistic stimuli from the environment. This period has certain temporal and geometric features. ...
... Interpreting the same study, other researchers such as [20] did not set their sights as much on the random distribution of the performance scores among the late learners as on the discontinuity between the early AoA and late AoA groups, arguing that the qualitative difference is sufficient evidence of CPH/L2A. ...
One of the most fascinating, consequential, and far-reaching debates that have occurred in second language acquisition research concerns the Critical Period Hypothesis [ 1 ]. Although the hypothesis is generally accepted for first language acquisition, it has been hotly debated on theoretical, methodological, and practical grounds for second language acquisition, fueling studies reporting contradictory findings and setting off competing explanations. The central questions are: Are the observed age effects in ultimate attainment confined to a bounded period, and if they are, are they biologically determined or maturationally constrained? In this article, we take a sui generis , interdisciplinary approach that leverages our understanding of second language acquisition and of physics laws of energy conservation and angular momentum conservation, mathematically deriving the age-attainment geometry. The theoretical lens, termed Energy Conservation Theory for Second Language Acquisition, provides a macroscopic perspective on the second language learning trajectory across the human lifespan.
... This presents a paradox, since adults' general cognitive and language abilities are superior to children, leading one to expect that adults would be better at language learning than children. Subsequently, the hypothesis of a biological sensitive period for L2 learning emerged: nativelike L2 proficiency is feasible when learned within a specific age range [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. L2 learning ability generally declines between late childhood and late adolescence [4,6,7,11]. ...
... Subsequently, the hypothesis of a biological sensitive period for L2 learning emerged: nativelike L2 proficiency is feasible when learned within a specific age range [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. L2 learning ability generally declines between late childhood and late adolescence [4,6,7,11]. Although children are slower in the initial stage of L2 learning compared to adults, children more often reach native-like proficiency in their L2, which is seldom observed for adult learners [5,7,12,13]. For grammar learning, a recent large-scale study observed a strong decline in L2 attainment starting from the age of 17 years [11]. ...
... For L2 grammar learning, however, it has been proposed that children and adults might use different memory processes [29]. Children use their earlymaturated procedural memory, while adults are thought to rely more on their declarative memory abilities [5,[30][31][32][33]. The model aligns with the developmental trajectories of the two memory systems: procedural learning abilities mature much earlier-prepubertally-in comparison to declarative learning abilities and working memory that both have a prolonged maturation trajectory into young adulthood [34][35][36][37]. ...
Background
While it is well established that second language (L2) learning success changes with age and across individuals, the underlying neural mechanisms responsible for this developmental shift and these individual differences are largely unknown. We will study the behavioral and neural factors that subserve new grammar and word learning in a large cross-sectional developmental sample. This study falls under the NWO (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [Dutch Research Council]) Language in Interaction consortium (website: https://www.languageininteraction.nl/).
Methods
We will sample 360 healthy individuals across a broad age range between 8 and 25 years. In this paper, we describe the study design and protocol, which involves multiple study visits covering a comprehensive behavioral battery and extensive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols. On the basis of these measures, we will create behavioral and neural fingerprints that capture age-based and individual variability in new language learning. The behavioral fingerprint will be based on first and second language proficiency, memory systems, and executive functioning. We will map the neural fingerprint for each participant using the following MRI modalities: T1‐weighted, diffusion-weighted, resting-state functional MRI, and multiple functional-MRI paradigms. With respect to the functional MRI measures, half of the sample will learn grammatical features and half will learn words of a new language. Combining all individual fingerprints allows us to explore the neural maturation effects on grammar and word learning.
Discussion
This will be one of the largest neuroimaging studies to date that investigates the developmental shift in L2 learning covering preadolescence to adulthood. Our comprehensive approach of combining behavioral and neuroimaging data will contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms influencing this developmental shift and individual differences in new language learning. We aim to answer: (I) do these fingerprints differ according to age and can these explain the age-related differences observed in new language learning? And (II) which aspects of the behavioral and neural fingerprints explain individual differences (across and within ages) in grammar and word learning? The results of this study provide a unique opportunity to understand how the development of brain structure and function influence new language learning success.
... The rapid progress older learners make has been attributed to their more advanced L1 reading and writing skills (Cummins & Swain, 1986;Lapkin et al., 1980), higher levels of cognitive maturity (Harley, 1986;Muñoz, 2006), and the focus on explicit teaching approaches (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005). More explicitly focused language teaching relies on students' knowledge about grammatical structures in their L1 or contrasting them with the L2, which allows them to progress faster. ...
... One of the central promises of an early start to language learning is better language proficiency (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005). However, very few studies have investigated learners' L2 proficiency development through middle or high school. ...
... Language classrooms were possibly more attuned to the LS age with a stronger focus on explicit language learning, i.e., teachers may not have been ready for students transitioning with a higher language proficiency from elementary school. The potential lack of changes to the Year 5 curriculum may have been unsupportive to the ES and thus may have benefited LS in Year 7 (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;Jaekel et al., 2017;Muñoz, 2006). However, little evidence supports the theory of an abrupt shift to explicitly focused teaching strategies (Pfenninger & Singleton, 2019). ...
Early foreign language instruction has become the norm across Europe. Expected benefits for students include linguistic advantages and ease of learning the second language (L2). However, research rarely supports these assertions. The present study investigated the receptive skills of two cohorts of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in Years 5, 7, and 9 in Germany. The cohorts differed in their age of EFL onset in elementary school and, consequently, in the amount of exposure before secondary school. Linear mixed model analyses were employed to account for the hierarchical structure of the data. Learners with an earlier start performed better in Years 5 and 9 than late starters, suggesting possible long-term benefits of an earlier start. In Year 7, late starters scored higher on the proficiency assessment. Across the Year 5–9 span, the effects of learner characteristics’ on English proficiency remained stable for gender, L1, grades, cognitive abilities, and cultural capital.
... Lichtman (2016) summarizes the idea that children and adults make use of different learning mechanisms in the form of the 'maturational hypothesis': both children and adults are maturationally constrained to using particular learning mechanisms. She also observes that some scholars take a fairly radical position with regard to this hypothesis by claiming children learn grammatical rules using implicit learning mechanisms only (Bialystok, 1994;DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;Paradis, 2004Paradis, , 2009. This is perhaps best illustrated by Bialystok (1994) who posits "Rules make sense to adults; they make little difference to young children" (p. ...
... Do young children benefit from explicit instruction, or does it make no difference whatsoever? To answer to this question, we will delve deeper into this issue and challenge claims as put forward by Bialystok (1994), which others followed up upon (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;Paradis, 2004Paradis, , 2009, that children learn grammatical regularities only implicitly, and do not make use of explicit learning mechanisms. Using a miniature language learning experiment, we investigated whether young learners who receive exposure and explicit instruction are better able to learn a morpho-syntactic element than young learners who receive the same amount of exposure but without explicit instruction. ...
... Ellis, , 2009Paradis, 2004Paradis, , 2009Ullman, 2001), whereas children would only use implicit learning mechanisms. This implies that children do not learn grammar explicitly, and that explicit instruction about the grammatical regularities in the target language does not enhance learning (Bialystok, 1994;DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;Paradis, 2004Paradis, , 2009. The goal of this paper was to investigate whether children indeed do not learn grammatical structures explicitly, by testing the effect of explicit instruction on the acquisition of a morphosyntactic element in kindergartners. ...
Research consistently shows that adults engaged in tutored acquisition benefit from explicit instruction in several linguistic domains. For preschool children, it is often assumed that such explicit instruction does not make a difference. In the present study, we investigated whether explicit instruction affected young learners in acquiring a morpho-syntactic element. A total of 103 Dutch-speaking kindergartners (M = 5;7) received training in a miniature language to learn a meaningful agreement marker. Results from a picture matching task, during which eye movements were recorded, provided no evidence that explicit instruction led to higher accuracy rates, but suggest that it did lead to earlier predictive eye movements. These data seem incompatible with the idea that explicit instruction does not make a difference when kindergartners learn a grammatical element, and tentatively suggest that explicit instruction has a different effect on explicit knowledge than on implicit knowledge in this age group.
... The stretched Z or inverted S (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005) derives from the interpretation of the CPH as positing a bounded period in which the organism exhibits heightened neural plasticity and sensitivity to linguistic stimuli in the environment. This period has certain temporal and geometric features. ...
... … language learning abilities decline with maturation" (Newport, 1991, p. 64). Yet, a lingering challenge for this account has been to tie specific neurological changes to language learning abilities (Birdsong, 2005b;DeKeyser, 2012;DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005). This challenge is significantly alleviated by ECT-L2A. ...
... 109). But then, he identified methodological variability across the studies, such as the types of statistical analysis adopted, as a major threat to the reliability of the findings (see also DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;Qureshi, 2016). As mentioned earlier, we believe that methodological repairs may reasonably help expand the empirical findings but may not necessarily lead to a better understanding of CPH/L2A. ...
The critical period (CP) phenomenon in language development ranks among the 125 conundrums facing scientists in the 21st century, according to Science. While the phenomenon itself has been noncontroversial in first language acquisition, it still warrants an adequate explanation. Predicated on language acquisition as a complex process, questions among the first to be raised include: How do children accomplish this remarkable feat in such a short amount of time? And how do nature and nurture come together to influence language learning? In second language acquisition, however, both the notion of CP, albeit popular, and its empirical evidence have remained contested to this date - among the questions, whether the observed evidence counts as CP-specific and/or whether or not it warrants an isomorphic attribution to maturational constraints. Entwined in this debate are two well-established facets of inter-learner differential attainment. The first is that there exists a stark difference in ultimate attainment between younger and older learners. A second facet is the vast differences in ultimate attainment among older learners. In this article, adopting a social physics approach, we mathematically establish both the relationship between nature and nurture contributions and the presence of a critical period, and, at once, tender a parsimonious and probable theory for the twin phenomena of inter-learner differential attainment.
... Those who immigrated in childhood demonstrated greater second language (L2) knowledge than those who immigrated in adulthood (Johnson & Newport, 1989;DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;. This data was long viewed as strong support for puberty as marking the end of a critical period for language learning. ...
... Consistent with this proposal is the wide variability in outcomes during the teen years and beyond. This is especially apparent in the North American study reported by DeKeyser and Larson-Hall (2005) and in results from census data (Chiswick & Miller, 2008;Hakuta et al., 2003). ...
In 2005, Science magazine designated the problem of accounting for difficulties in L2 (second language) learning as one of the 125 outstanding challenges facing scientific research. A maturationally-based sensitive period has long been the favorite explanation for why ultimate foreign language attainment declines with age-of-acquisition. However, no genetic or neurobiological mechanisms for limiting language learning have yet been identified. At the same time, we know that cognitive, social, and motivational factors change in complex ways across the human lifespan. Emergentist theory provides a framework for relating these changes to variation in the success of L2 learning. The great variability in patterns of learning, attainment, and loss across ages, social groups, and linguistic levels provides the core motivation for the emergentist approach. Our synthesis incorporates three groups of factors which change systematically with age: environmental supports, cognitive abilities, and motivation for language learning. This extended emergentist account explains why and when second language succeeds for some children and adults and fails for others.
... AoA is often understood as the age at which a child is immersed in the L2 context (Birdsong, 2006). Studies of the impact of AoA have often targeted bilingual adults, for whom late AoA and the level of later second language skills are negatively correlated (Birdsong, 2005;DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005). A critical onset of AoA has been suggested as the reason for why adults struggle to obtain language levels similar to those of their majority native language-speaking peers (DeKeyser, 2013;DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005). ...
... Studies of the impact of AoA have often targeted bilingual adults, for whom late AoA and the level of later second language skills are negatively correlated (Birdsong, 2005;DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005). A critical onset of AoA has been suggested as the reason for why adults struggle to obtain language levels similar to those of their majority native language-speaking peers (DeKeyser, 2013;DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005). However, the cut-off age for this alleged critical period varies: some researchers suggest that the cut-off age is adolescence, middle school age, preschool age and even infancy (Nicoladis, 2018). ...
The overall aim of this study is, as suggested by Bialystok (2009), to investigate whether bilingual learners have an advantage in executive functions and a disadvantage in language compared to monolingual learners. In addition, the thesis examines whether the theory holds true for different groups of bilingual learners and different aspects of language and cognitive domains. The study has a multi-method approach. It consists of a meta-analysis investigating the bilingual advantage theory in executive functions (EF) and two studies based on data from the longitudinal study The Stavanger Project—The Learning Child (The Stavanger Project). Study 2 uses data from the first wave of The Stavanger Project. The study investigates Norwegian language comprehension in a monolingual control group and three different groups of bilingual children at 2 years and 9 months. The three bilingual groups had different amounts of exposure to Norwegian. The third article is based on data from the fourth wave of The Stavanger Project and investigates different aspects of Norwegian language and reading skills across bilingual learners and a monolingual control group of 5th graders. The sample in Study 3 is a subsample of the participants in Study 2; thus, the bilingual learners had been systematically exposed to Norwegian by early childhood education and care (ECEC) attendance and schools from at least the age of 2. The thesis contributes three main findings. The first article provides little support for a bilingual advantage in overall EF. Moderator analysis targeting sample characteristics of bilingual subgroups that are theorized to have the largest bilingual advantage in EF shows no relation to the overall outcome of the analysis of differences in executive functions between bilingual and monolingual learners. Furthermore, there is limited evidence for a bilingual advantage in any EF domain. There is an advantage in switching, but not for all populations of bilingual learners. he second article shows that bilingual toddlers have weaker second language comprehension skills than monolingual toddlers, but the differences in second language skills between different groups of bilingual learners are not fully explained by the time on task hypothesis. Bilingual children with mostly first language (L1) input at home had poorer Norwegian language comprehension than the two other bilingual groups. Bilingual toddlers with both first and second language input at home and bilingual toddlers with mostly second language input at home had equivalent second language skills. It therefore seems likely that a threshold value exists for the amount of second language input necessary to develop good second language skills rather than a direct relationship between the amount of input and language skills. The third article shows that even after long and massive exposure to the second language, early bilingual 5th graders have lower vocabulary depth, listening comprehension and reading comprehension in their second language than their monolingual peers. The difference cannot be explained by differences in socioeconomic status (SES). Their decoding and text cohesion vocabulary skills are equal to those of monolingual learners. In contrast to some other studies, the strength of the predictive path between different aspects of language skills and reading comprehension was found to be equal across language groups. In total, these findings contribute to the knowledge base of what is typical development of language, reading skills and executive functions for different groups of bilingual learners. Without information of what is typical development for different bilingual groups, it is difficult to identify atypical development. Hence, the knowledge this thesis provides can support educators in identifying bilingual learners with learning disabilities earlier and with greater certainty, thereby reducing the risk of both over- and under-identifying bilingual learners in need of special needs education.
... 2 Age effects in second language acquisition One of the basic facts of second language acquisition is that the probability of nativelike outcomes in L2 decreases with the progression of age at which learning begins (Birdsong, 2005;Long, 1990). This observation is so well attested that there is virtually no disagreement about this point (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;Long, 2007). The main source of contention in the field concerns the question of why this is the case, a question that is fundamental for understanding the mechanisms of language learning (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005), but one that is far from being resolved. ...
... This observation is so well attested that there is virtually no disagreement about this point (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;Long, 2007). The main source of contention in the field concerns the question of why this is the case, a question that is fundamental for understanding the mechanisms of language learning (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005), but one that is far from being resolved. One reason for the lack of agreement comes from the fact that research into age effects on second language acquisition is, by and large, is conducted on bilinguals, which means that the question of age is confounded with other factors that are related to bilingual language use. ...
This thesis investigates the influence of age of acquisition on the long-term second language development of international adoptees. Because age of acquisition typically coincides with the onset of bilingualism, the study of maturational age effects in second language acquisition has been empirically and conceptually entangled with changes in language input and use. For international adoptees, however, because the adoptive language is acquired under similar linguistic conditions as non-adopted peers – albeit at a later age of acquisition – questions of age and second language acquisition can be investigated without confounding influences of bilingualism. Study I presents the theoretical argument that, because of the delay in acquisition, the language development of international adoptees should be regarded as a special case of second language acquisition. Furthermore, consistent with the contemporary study of second language acquisition, the effects of this delay should be investigated through ultimate attainment observed in adults. Study II shows that adults in Sweden who had been adopted from Spanish-speaking countries, and Spanish-Swedish bilinguals with the same age of acquisition (3-8 years), have greater difficulty in perceiving Swedish vowel distinctions that do not exist in Spanish compared to native Swedish speakers. This suggests that age of acquisition is a decisive factor for speech perception in a second language. In Study III, Chinese-Swedish adoptees are found to deviate from native Swedish speakers in their production of Swedish vowels that are phonologically identical in Chinese, but not in vowels that are distinctive in both languages. While these results are consistent with predictions based on assumptions of transfer and interference in bilingual speakers, they cannot be explained based on these premises. Instead, the results suggest that early language-specific experiences will affect the pronunciation of vowels in the second language regardless of whether the native language is in use or not. In Study IV, the neural underpinnings of the behavioral results are investigated electrophysiologically, using EEG. This study shows that adult adoptees retain increased neural sensitivity to a native Chinese lexical tone contrast without any exposure to the language for over 15 years. This is reflected in a fast neural response stemming from the auditory cortex and is indexed by the mismatch negativity event-related potential. This suggests that native language sensitivity is not only retained, but is continuously involved in the moment-to-moment processing of speech sounds. Neural oscillations furthermore reveal the involvement of inhibitory processes to attenuate this sensitivity. Finally, positive correlations between neural responses to the native and the adoptive language show that native language retention is not in itself an impediment for second language acquisition. The results from these three studies show how language-specific experiences lead to irreversible specialization in the brain, which will affect the long-term acquisition of a second language. This finding invites a re-evaluation of the hypothesis of a critical period for second language acquisition, based on the notions of probabilistic epigenesis and flexible behavioral adaptation following experience-based functional neural reorganization in early childhood.
... Additionally, study of Nikolov and Djigunovic (2006) revealed that not all children are ready for learning languages at 6 years old because of their lack of specific cognitive abilities and affective stability. Regarding research on the relationship between Age of Acquisition (AoA) and Ultimate Attainment (UA), AoA is revealed to be a strong predictive indicator of UA across dozens of studies (Birdsong, 2005;DeKeyser and Larson-Hall, 2005). This means that the earlier the learners immerse in the target language speaking environment, the more L2 proficient they will be. ...
Age is an influential factor in the Second Language Acquisition (SLA). The debate on whether young learners are more successful than older learners has been going on for more than half of a century, starting from the Critical Period Hypothesis, which is based on brain structure. This study examines a range of studies revolving around the Critical Period Hypothesis in the past several decades to analyze the common SLA belief ‘Younger learners are more skillful than older learners in acquiring second language.’ The study disagrees that all younger learners are more advantageous than older learners in all areas of SLA. In fact, learners from different age categories have unique advantages and disadvantages in SLA. Moreover, the study approves a more holistic perspective on a wider range of non-biological factors that impact the success of SLA. At the end, the study puts forward a diversity of instructional methods that suit children and adolescents specifically in Vietnamese English Education context.
... Based on such research, Brumen et al. (2017) list some relevant findings when comparing children who have learnt a foreign language in comparison to those who have not. According to the research, children who have learnt a foreign language, because of their natural language learning ability, excel in native-like pronunciation (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall 2005;Uylings 2006) and show greater cognitive ability in areas of mental flexibility, creativity, and divergent thinking (Stewart, 2005). Also, children who have learnt a foreign language reinforce vocabulary and con-cepts already known in the first language (King & Mackey 2007). ...
... While the CPH remains a topic of ongoing debate, there are supporting [88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95], opposing [96][97][98], and neutral [99][100][101] views on its validity. The consensus on the CPH does not overwhelmingly favor any single perspective. ...
This study explores the challenge of differentiating autism spectrum (AS) from non-AS conditions in adolescents and adults, particularly considering the heterogeneity of AS and the limitations ofssss diagnostic tools like the ADOS-2. In response, we advocate a multidimensional approach and highlight lexicogrammatical analysis as a key component to improve diagnostic accuracy. From a corpus of spoken language we developed, interviews and story-recounting texts were extracted for 64 individuals diagnosed with AS and 71 non-AS individuals, all aged 14 and above. Utilizing machine learning techniques, we analyzed the lexicogrammatical choices in both interviews and story-recounting tasks. Our approach led to the formulation of two diagnostic models: the first based on annotated linguistic tags, and the second combining these tags with textual analysis. The combined model demonstrated high diagnostic effectiveness, achieving an accuracy of 80%, precision of 82%, sensitivity of 73%, and specificity of 87%. Notably, our analysis revealed that interview-based texts were more diagnostically effective than story-recounting texts. This underscores the altered social language use in individuals with AS, a csrucial aspect in distinguishing AS from non-AS conditions. Our findings demonstrate that lexicogrammatical analysis is a promising addition to traditional AS diagnostic methods. This approach suggests the possibility of using natural language processing to detect distinctive linguistic patterns in AS, aiming to enhance diagnostic accuracy for differentiating AS from non-AS in adolescents and adults.
... En revanche, de nombreuses études (Birdsong, 2005(Birdsong, , 2018DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005) ont démontré que plus l'apprenant était jeune, plus il développait, en milieu naturel, un niveau de compétence élevée en langue étrangère, notamment dans le domaine de la morphosyntaxe et de la prononciation. Il faut noter que ces recherches ne se focalisent pas sur le rythme d'acquisition mais seulement sur le stade final d'acquisition en comparant les locuteurs nonnatifs avec des locuteurs natifs. ...
Alors que les recherches concernant l’influence de l’âge et de la durée de résidence sur le développement linguistique en langues étrangères et secondes abondent, il reste toujours difficile de faire émerger des tendances générales. Les études sur ces facteurs sont relativement rares concernant les publics d’adultes migrants et notamment ceux inscrits dans des dispositifs de formation intensive à visée professionnelle. Notre recherche s’est appuyée sur une collecte de données quantitatives et qualitatives auprès de plus de 70 stagiaires de niveau A0 qui ont suivi une formation longue (448 heures) pendant 16 semaines dans un centre de langues de la CCI Campus Alsace avec pour objectif principal l’accès à l’emploi (partenariat avec Pôle Emploi). Les analyses montrent que le facteur âge affecte très faiblement le niveau final en fin de formation (en moyenne A2+). La durée de résidence (jusqu’à 8 ans sur le territoire français avant le début de la formation) n’a aucun impact sur le développement linguistique. L’exploration des profils des stagiaires ne permet pas de faire émerger des facteurs explicatifs traditionnellement mobilisés dans les études sur l’âge et la durée de résidence (langue première, vieillissement cognitif, affiliation, niveau de scolarisation). Il est donc recommandé aux responsables de formation d’inclure dans les formations intensives à visée professionnelle des stagiaires de tout âge indépendamment de leur temps de présence sur le territoire français.
... DeKeyser and Larson-Hall (2005) describe it as the "the younger, the better" phenomenon, which continues to captivate experts due to practical and theoretical considerations. They note that some authors prefer terms like "sensitive" or "optimal" over "critical." ...
By presenting the theoretical framework and several examples of relevant studies regarding very early foreign language acquisition in the world and in Croatia, the aim of the paper is to raise awareness of the positive effects of learning English in pre-primary education. The theoretical background for early foreign language learning and acquisition is provided and complemented by descriptions of contemporary teaching methods which are based on play, environment, literature, and culture (as the key components).
The paper further offers an overview of research, encompassing eight recent studies on early language acquisition in pre-primary education. The primary focus is on exploring the sample of participants, research methodology, and findings of these studies. The selection criteria for these studies are based on their relevance to the language learning domains outlined in the theory section. Through analysis, it becomes evident that researchers employ a combination of age-appropriate and child-friendly quantitative and qualitative methods. Although the studies may not support generalization due to small sample sizes, their results consistently demonstrate a positive impact of Total Physical Response (TPR), music, literature, integrated and project-based learning, as well as digitalization on vocabulary acquisition and the emergent literacy skills of pre-primary children.
... While this may not align with all previous definitions, Carroll (2017: 4) highlights that 'there is no consensus on the right word to describe the learner's interactions with the environment'. Despite L2 input being considered an important factor in studies of L2 speech learning and SLA research more broadly, difficulties have arisen in its examination because of a well-known confound with Age of Arrival (AoA) (DeKeyser and Larson-Hall, 2005;Flege and Wayland, 2019;Mayberry and Kluender, 2018;Moyer, 2008;Muñoz, 2006;Slabakova, 2013;Trofimovich, 2011). Indeed, these authors highlight that learners who move to an L2 environment and learn the second language at a younger age are also likely to have learnt the language for a longer period of time, and potentially, therefore, also accumulated more -and possibly even better -L2 input than individuals who move to the L2 environment in adulthood. ...
This study analyses the production of French /y/ and /u/ by 42 native English learners of French (ELoF) at the start and end of a Residence Abroad (RA) in a French-speaking country. As an approximation of both phonological and phonetic development, categorical change is teased apart from gradient change using k-medoid clustering of acoustic data and different input measures are tested as predictors of both types of development. Results of the phonological analysis reveal that while no change occurs for /y/, the proportion that learners correctly use their back vowel in /u/ contexts increases over the RA. The quantity of French input declared over the RA is a significant predictor of this categorical change, especially the amount of auditory and visual engagement (e.g. listening and reading in French). Results of the phonetic analysis indicate, instead, that /y/ becomes more target-like over the RA, while /u/ makes less progress, suggesting a partial mismatch between the phonological and phonetic levels. Nevertheless, the phonetic development of /u/ is more substantial for individuals who: (1) have been learning French longer, (2) have yet to experience naturalistic exposure by the start of the RA, and (3) are English language teachers over the RA rather than students at a foreign institution. Taken together, these results have implications for the link between second language (L2) input and L2 production, the assumptions of L2 speech models, and the relationship between different levels of linguistic representation in L2 speech learning.
... The viewpoint that L2 learners' lack the capability of mastering native-like pronunciation was also discussed in the Critical Period Hypothesis (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005), which states that the acquisition of L2 input occurs only in the early stages of L2 immersion and that it is nearly impossible for late L2 learners to gain access to the presumed automatic language learning mechanism that early language learners have (DeKeyser, 2007;Granena & Long, 2013). According to the SLM, age-related effects in L2 speech learning result from a decrease in neurocognitive plasticity, making it increasingly hard for L2 learners to acquire elaborate phonetic-level information about L2 speech sounds (Flege, 1995, p. 266), but this does not necessarily preclude learners from improving their L2 phonetic skills. ...
The current study examined the role of English-speaking instruction and motivation in learners' development of L2 speech comprehensibility and accentedess, over the course of an academic semester. Eighty-three college students enrolled in English classes in China completed a sentence reading task and a picture description task twice (pre-test and post-test), as well as a questionnaire for measuring their future selves (Papi et al., 2019). The collected speech samples were coded for comprehensibility and accentedness. t-test results indicated that after one semester of English-speaking instruction, the learners made statistically significant gains in both L2 speech measures. Hierarchical multiple regression results showed that Ideal L2 Self/Own positively predicted speech comprehensibility, and Ideal L2 Self/Other negatively predicted L2 speech accentedness. The results suggest that learners' future L2 selves influence how they take advantage of instructional opportunities to improve their L2 speech in qualitatively different manners. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
... Most language researchers assume that the acquisition of the grammar of one's native language (L1) relies almost entirely on implicit learning mechanisms (DeKeyser et al. 2010;DeKeyser and Larson-Hall 2005;Ellis 1996;Kidd 2012;Kidd and Arciuli 2016;Montrul 2008;Ullman 2001). This is because the rules and principles underlying our linguistic knowledge are thought to be complex and highly abstract, yet children master them relatively quickly and apparently effortlessly and unintentionally: that is to say, they acquire the grammar of their language simply by engaging in communicationwithout trying to learn anything. ...
Language aptitude is known to be a strong predictor of success in late second-language (L2) learning in instructional settings but is generally assumed to be irrelevant for native language (L1) acquisition. We investigated the relationship between language aptitude and L1 grammatical proficiency in the two studies reported here. Language aptitude was measured by means of a newly-developed test of grammatical sensitivity (Studies 1 and 2) and the Language Analysis subtest of the Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery (Study 1), whereas grammatical proficiency was assessed by a grammaticality judgment task in Study 1 and a picture selection task in Study 2. The results of the two studies reveal a robust relationship between language aptitude and L1 grammatical proficiency that is remarkably consistent across different measures for both variables and appears to hold across the board for a variety of grammatical structures. These results fit well with the proposal that explicit learning may play an important role not only in adult L2 learning but also in L1 acquisition and raises questions about the validity of arguments for a fundamental difference between L1 and L2 acquisition based on the premise that only the latter is related to aptitude.
... Other views countered CPH by opposing its premise of lateralization (Dekeyser & Larson, 2005;Krashen, 1973) with reference to aphasia studies (Alajouanine & Lhermitte, 1965;Fedio & Mirsky, 1969;McCarthey 1963), to dichotic listening studies (Berlin et al., 1973;Krashen, 1972;Krashen & Harshman, 1972), or to transfer and cerebral plasticity studies (Basser, 1962;Lansdell, 1969;White, 1961). Other views opposed the CPH relying on data with reference to the myelination process according to which, contrary to other claims, the information is transmitted in a more efficient way due to the myelin substance which, in turn, results in an improved learning process (Sowell et al., 2003). ...
It is widely documented that L2 learners, particularly late learners, find difficulties in acquiring and appropriately using L2 in a comparable proficiency to L1 (S. Segalowitz et al., 1998). It has further been documented that even advanced learners may face difficulties in producing target-like word combinations and phrases (Yusuf, 2017). To account for these difficulties and to facilitate L2 acquisition, this research proposes a neuroeducational model (LIRRA) for improving L2 proficiency in late learners. The neuroeducational model rests primarily on five key brain-adaptive features as evidenced in the literature viz. exposure to L2 lexical phrases, implicit learning of L2, reiterative exposure to L2 phrases, a rewarding/motivating learning environment, and an attentional-stimulating learning setting. From this perspective, this paper first introduces neuroeducation; then sheds light on some of the misconceptions pertaining to L2 learning particularly for late learners. Following this, the paper provides in-depth illustration of the brain-adaptive features and provides the rationale behind proposing a neuroeducational model on the premise thereof. Furthermore, this paper argues in support of the integration of this neuroeducational model in neuroeducation programs for L2 acquisition in late learners and provides recommendations therein.
... The role of age-related effects has been examined extensively in research on second language acquisition (see Birdsong 2005;DeKeyser and Larson-Hall 2005;Johnson and Newport 1989). The role of language experience in L2 acquisition has been examined using multiple metrics including age of arrival and age of acquisition, as well as language dominance. ...
Although age of acquisition (AoA) is frequently used when examining the endpoint of second language (L2) learning, it is rarely used to examine the initial phases of L2 acquisition. The present study provided a unique look at the role of AoA in early language and literacy acquisition in the L2 by a priori selecting two groups of Arabic-English speakers based on their ages, 6–8-year-olds (N = 43) and 9–13-year-olds (N = 53). These Syrian refugees were matched on English experience, having immigrated to Canada and having learned English for two years or less. Raw scores on language and literacy measures were compared across groups. The older group had higher scores on all first language (L1) variables. The groups did not differ on most L2 variables except for English word reading. Additionally, L1 and L2 variables were examined in relation to English word and pseudoword reading with different patterns of relations found for the two groups. For the younger group, phonological awareness and vocabulary were related to reading, while for the older group phonological awareness and morphological awareness were key predictors. These finding points to the unique relations among age, age of acquisition, L1 skills, and L2 language and literacy skills.
... The extensive research on both animals and human beings confirm that one can learn a language relatively easily and achieve native-like fluency during a critical period (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005). Perhaps more importantly, infants, who did not have the chance to learn their first language, can never master any standard language fully regardless of their cognitive abilities. ...
This linguistic case study research investigates the process stages of a language learner’s pronunciation errors through speech analysis detection techniques. The purpose of this study is to detect and analyze the pronunciation errors for internalizing the unique and individual pronunciation error patterns that vary from one individual to the next. A speech analysis technique, a method of applied linguistics, is used in combination with the case study method reveals a thorough evaluation map for the language learner’s pronunciation error characteristics. In this case study, the participant of the study is a native Chinese speaker. Within the scope of this research study, both the theoretical literature review and the data collection process uncover that pronunciation, unlike other domains of language teaching areas, requires specific and individualized attention for effective teaching and learning strategies. The data collected in this research study is analyzed in terms of phonetic linguistic features, and a personalized pronunciation improvement plan is proposed based on the linguistic features and characteristics of the research participant’s errors. A larger scale research study can be conducted for future research by verifying the findings of this research study with more language-specific research participants in order to develop individualized and learning-style focused pronunciation lesson plans for larger learning groups.
... According to the original formulation of the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis (FDH; Bley-Vroman, 1989), learning a language in adulthood is different from child language acquisition because adults no longer have (full) access to Universal Grammar. More recently, the hypothesis has been reformulated in terms of explicit and implicit learning mechanisms: Children acquire the grammatical rules of their language effortlessly and without any conscious effort by relying on (possibly language specific) implicit learning mechanisms (Ullman, 2001;DeKeyser and Larson-Hall, 2005;Montrul, 2008;Kidd, 2012;Kidd and Arciuli, 2016), whereas adults need to rely, at least partly, on domain general explicit learning mechanisms. This is because implicit learning abilities are thought to decrease as a function of age (Ullman, 2001;Paradis, 2011;Granena and Long, 2013); because of this, adults have to resort to explicit learning strategies to compensate (Norris and Ortega, 2001;DeKeyser et al., 2010;Spada and Tomita, 2010). ...
It has been shown that individuals exhibit great variability in second language (L2) ultimate attainment. Some speakers reach native-like proficiency, others only achieve a rudimentary command and many lie in the middle. Individual differences research has partly attributed different degrees of L2 attainment to (language) aptitude. Initially considered irrelevant for first language (L1) acquisition, aptitude was viewed as a compensatory ability for adults’ disadvantage in L2 learning. In this line of thought, adults and children are viewed as fundamentally different and rely on different language learning mechanisms. However, aptitude might not be so irrelevant for the L1. Together with input the two factors are found to account for individual differences not only in L2 but also L1 development. Recent research has specifically shown that native grammatical attainment may be modulated by aptitude and input. In this respect, the aim of the current study is to examine the effects of these two predictors (namely input and aptitude) on both L1 and L2 grammatical attainment in the same speakers. Our participants (N = 75) were all native speakers of Greek who learned English as a foreign language in their home country and immigrated to the United Kingdom in adulthood (mean age of arrival = 27.3, SD = 6.4). Grammatical proficiency was measured through a grammaticality judgement task administered in both the L1 and the L2. Aptitude was measured through the Sentence Pairs task (based on the Words In Sentences test from the MLAT battery). Amount of input was measured using the traditional measure, length of residence (LoR) and a new cumulative measure that spanned across the participants’ life. The two measures were pitted against each other in the analysis. We found robust effects of aptitude in both the L1 and the L2, with the effect being even stronger for the L1. As expected, our new cumulative measure of exposure proved to be a better predictor of individual differences in grammatical proficiency. Last but not least, the effects of input were larger for the L2 than the L1.
... An investigation into whether AOA affects spoken vocabulary attainment in late bilinguals is especially important as it may help resolve a long-held debate between two opposing schools of thought, that is, maturation (e.g., DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005) versus nonmaturation accounts (e.g., Birdsong, 2005). While there have been a number of similar large-scale AOA studies in L2 phonological attainment (e.g., Derwing & Munro, 2013;Flege et al., 2006;Hopp & Schmidt, 2013;Saito, 2015), the current project was the first investigation into AOA effects in L2 vocabulary attainment. ...
The current study set out to examine to what degree age of acquisition (AOA), defined as a learner’s first intensive exposure to a second language (L2) environment, mediates the final state of post-pubertal, spoken vocabulary attainment. In Study 1, spontaneous speech samples were elicited from experienced Japanese users of English (n = 41) using story-telling and interview tasks. The samples were analyzed using a range of corpus- and rater-based lexical measures, and compared to the speech of inexperienced Japanese speakers (n = 40) and native speakers of English (n = 10). The results showed that most experienced L2 learners tended to demonstrate nativelike proficiency for relatively easy lexical dimensions of speech (i.e., richness), but that AOA appeared to play a key role in predicting the ultimate attainment of relatively difficult lexical dimensions (i.e., appropriateness). In Study 2, the findings were successfully replicated with experienced L1 Polish users of English (n = 50).
... The Critical Period hypothesis assumes a critical cut off point mainly around puberty in which language learning becomes a more laborious effort (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall 2005;Johnson & Newport 1989;Lenneberg 1967). Although the hypothesis has proven to be quite controversial and sparked quite the debate amongst many opposers (Birdsong 2005;Singleton 2003;, it sheds light on the importance of age of acquisition as a variable in language acquisition research. ...
Can the learning of another language influence the way we interpret and describe emotional situations? Following previous research on emotions and crosslinguistic influence (Jarvis & Pavlenko 2010; Pavlenko 2002b; 2008d; 2014; Pavlenko & Driagina 2007), this thesis examines whether the learning of emotion words in English as a foreign language (L2) can influence the way Arabic speaking learners interpret emotions when there are no translation equivalents for a given emotional concept in their first language (L1). By examining English language learners from different foreign language learning contexts in Kuwait, i.e. immersion and non-immersion, this thesis examines whether the learning of another language might affect their lexical choices when describing the same emotional situation in their L1 Arabic. It also examines whether or not possible differences in their identification and expression of emotion in the two different languages can be attributed to crosslinguistic influence. This study focuses on the emotion words excitement/excited/exciting and frustration/frustrated/frustrating, as these emotions depicted by these English emotion words differ in the way they are encoded and conceptualized both in meaning and in emotional weight in Arabic. The study adopts multiple methodologies such as narrative elicitation via film recall as well as one-on-one interviews to supplement the data. The data revealed evidence of L2 influence on the types of emotion words used in the L1, as well as an L2 influence on the L1 descriptions of emotional states in the immersion learners’ data. There was also an influence of the L1 on the use of L2 emotion words and descriptions of emotional states in the non- immersion learners’ data. The results suggest that foreign language immersion contexts can facilitate the internalization of L2 conceptual emotion categories in nonequivalent and partially equivalent L2 emotion words.
... Length of exposure to the L2 positively correlates with L2 performance, even though this effect is more robust in child than adult learners 1 Other proposals have also been put forward to account for RIs in L1 French, such as the assumption of a null modal (Ferdinand, 1996) and the underspecification of the number feature (Hoekstra & Hyams, 1998 (Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2003 for adult learners; Unsworth, 2016 for child learners). Age effects have been extensively investigated in L2 acquisition studies, which have mainly focused on the debate about the role of a biologically based critical period (Birdsong, 2018;DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;Hakuta, Bialystok & Wiley, 2003;Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2003;Johnson & Newport, 1989, a.o.). Although there is little consensus about what age constitutes a critical turning point, accumulated evidence shows that learning a second language becomes compromised with age (Birdsong, 2018;Hartshorne, Tenenbaum & Pinker, 2018). ...
This study reports data on 47 Tigrinya speaking Eritrean refugees learning French. L2 French proficiency is assessed through the placement test Ev@lang, a standardized grammar test, and fine corpus analyses. Analysis of individual factors shows that, whereas school education, number of years in Switzerland, and French classes attended play no role in proficiency, age penalizes learning and, critically, multilingualism facilitates it. Corpus analyses replicate difficulties commonly reported in the literature with root infinitives, determiner omission and gender errors. Productions also depart from previous reports as we observed a low rate of subject drop, a high rate of gender errors involving animate nouns, and the overuse of the feminine, in line with Tigrinya grammar. Finally, our data provide preliminary evidence of the validity of Ev@lang in assessing French proficiency in refugees, an issue which is becoming critical with the increased role of language skills in European asylum policies.
... A commonality across Europe is the limited time for ELL of between 1-2 lessons per week, often taught by generalist teachers (Edelenbos, Johnstone, and Kubanek 2006). An increase in lessons to allow more exposure is warranted by SLA research (DeKeyser and Larson-Hall 2005). However, it is pragmatically problematic, as curriculum and policymakers tend to avoid these recommendations on the grounds of time constraints and therefore may ignore recommendations from SLA research. ...
With the rapid implementation of early foreign language programmes in the state of North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, first for Grade 3 (ages 8–9 years) in 2003 and then from Grade 1 (ages 6–7 years) in 2008, primary school teachers had to adapt to teaching a foreign language in Grade 1 quickly. Teachers had little experience with language teaching to very young learners, and curricula and materials had not been tested prior to implementation. This study investigates the development of receptive English proficiency across three large cohorts (N = 7,289) . The first cohort started in Grade 3 , the second cohort was the first to start in Grade 1, and the third cohort started in Grade 1, six years after the initial implementation. Propensity scores were used to compare sampling weights of cohorts without the influence of confounding variables. Results confirmed a slight advantage for an earlier start in primary school for students’ receptive proficiency in Grade 5. The results further indicate that proficiency scores did not improve from the first cohort of students starting in Grade 1 to one six years later. Systemic changes in teacher education for language specialists in primary education may not yet have been able to affect student outcomes.
... (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;Vandergrift & Baker, 2015;Güvendir & Hardacre, 2018;Pei & Qin, 2019). ...
Research background: The development of listening comprehension in a foreign language is a complex process, interrelated with the progress in other language skills, and could be affected by numerous variables, including age. This study responds to middle-aged adults’ complaints about their difficulties in listening comprehension in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) by examining the relationship between the success in listening comprehension in EFL and age.Gap in knowledge and Purpose of the study: Although age is considered a crucial factor in language acquisition, there is a lack of studies providing evidence on the relationship between age and listening comprehension achievement in a foreign language in adult learners. This study aimed to find out whether age is one of the significant factors affecting listening comprehension in relation to other language skills.Methods: Quantitative data analysis was used to determine the relationship between the success in listening comprehension in EFL and age in 1,323 Czech adults. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the success in listening in three age groups, tested within five academic years. Then a generalized linear model was used to assess the relationship between the success in listening and age.Findings and Value added: The analysis of variance has shown that the age group 21—30 achieved significantly better results in listening than the age group 41—60 at p < .05. The logistic regression curve has illustrated a gradual increase in the percentage of ‘unsuccessful listeners’ aged 25 to 52 in relation to age. Thus, the study offers empirical evidence that there is a negative correlation between the success in listening comprehension in a foreign language and age. Educators should assist adult learners in developing knowledge, skills and strategies to overcome listening comprehension difficulties with respect to increasing age.
... Estas consideraciones llevan a destacar las necesidades y motivaciones de cada uno (Krashen, 1982;Skehan, 1989;Dornyei, 2006;Brown, 1994). Tampoco debemos pasar por alto el tipo de aporte que es diferente en la adquisición y el aprendizaje de lenguas (Wells, 1981;Bruner, 1983;Krashen, 1982), y los estilos de los alumnos difieren de los de los niños, por ejemplo en cuanto a las reformulaciones o las estrategias aplicadas (Long, 1996;DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;Krashen, 1985). Desde este punto de vista, la Zona de Desarrollo Próximo no puede ser utilizada de la misma manera en el aprendizaje de lenguas (Lantolf, 2000). ...
This research addresses the interest of the dialogue between language acquisition and language learning through the example of French in a Spanish-speaking context. Language learning has developed as a scientific discipline by drawing on theories and methods of language acquisition. However, in view of the important differences that have come to light over time, the dialogue has been reduced to a few attempts, and the two disciplines have ended up having an increasingly distinct evolution. Yet, new discoveries in language acquisition allow us to formulate the hypothesis that more frequent dialogue between both fields would benefit language learning, for example in terms of the notion of error. In order to verify this hypothesis, this work is based on two aspects: the first is an empirical research showing the importance of complexity theory in the acquisition of French as a mother tongue; the second is an action research carried out in French phonetics in a Spanish-speaking context to show that the contributions of acquisition allow us to refine the categorization of error and to improve didactic perspectives.
... Schmidt (1990) states that for adults, considering linguistic structure is important for language learning success, but according to DeKeyser (2000), children never notice language structure or at least it can be said that they don't consider structure constantly. Then it can be claimed that if adults in attaining in learning a language by paying attention to verbal ability and awareness of grammatical structures while children do not so, a significant difference between adults and children can be supported (Bley-Vroman, 1990;2009;DeKeyser and Larson-Hall, 2005). It is true that children are better in pronunciation because of their abilities at mimicking new sounds. ...
This study evaluated the age effects on foreign language pronunciation and grammatical rules learning due to a difference between adults and children as English language learners in terms of the perspective of interaction theory. The participants were 10 Iranian university students studying in the field of English language translation and 10 elementary school students who were passed English language as a general course of study. Both groups were taught during 3 months general English focusing on pronunciation and grammatical rules of English language. After this period, both groups were measured and compared at the end of the teaching sessions. The obtained results revealed that the children had higher scores on the given test in pronunciation parts of test in comparison with the adults while adults got higher scores on the part of the test consisting of grammatical questions than children after analyzing and measuring t-test as the statistical measurement. INTRODUCTION A lot of research has been done to test the language learning ability of adults and children as foreign English language learners to find out the differences between them. Due to some ideas and findings, it seems that children have an easier time picking up foreign languages, although some other researchers showed that but there are ways that adults can be as strong, or stronger, than children. Linguistic researchers have found that adults under controlled conditions can learn English as a foreign language better. They believe that adults have pre-existing language knowledge, then they have a more developing of how language works as well as the more advanced elements of grammar, how to build a sentence and a good sense of punctuation and spelling. While children are still learning the mechanics of their own first language and these skills in children are still developing. Schmidt (1990) states that for adults, considering linguistic structure is important for language learning success, but according to DeKeyser (2000), children never notice language structure or at least it can be said that they don't consider structure constantly. Then it can be claimed that if adults in attaining in learning a language by paying attention to verbal ability and awareness of grammatical structures while children do not so, a significant difference between adults and children can be supported (Bley-Vroman, 1990; 2009; DeKeyser and Larson-Hall, 2005). It is true that children are better in pronunciation because of their abilities at mimicking new sounds. Biologically, a child's brain is more open to new sounds and patterns in pre-adolescence, but it is not true for older language learners, so it is very difficult for them to speak without an accent. Krashen et al., (1979) state that some studies about comparing how children and adults learn a second language showed although it's true children achieve native-like fluency in the long run, adults actually learn languages more quickly than children in the early stages. The ways adults and children learn a foreign language is measured differently. Because children use smaller vocabularies and simpler syntax than adults, then it leads to less standard of fluency for children, while adult communication is more complicated because they need language for broader range of settings, then they need to know more vocabulary and language competence in order to be considered fluent.
... Curtiss 1977;Patkowski 1980;Newport 1990;Mayberry 1993; for overviews of age effects in L2, see, e.g. Hyltenstam and Abrahamsson 2003;Birdsong 2005;DeKeyser and Larson-Hall 2005;Birdsong 2006;Mayberry and Kluender 2018). In particular, LANs appeared as ideal markers for nativelikeness because their functional interpretations-reflecting early, fast, automatic, etc. processes-overlap with processes that are assumed to be affected more profoundly by brain maturation (e.g. ...
In most event-related potential (ERP) studies on the second language (L2) processing , the native speaker (L1) control group's grand average ERP pattern serves as the 'gold standard' that the L2 group has to reach to be labeled 'native-like'. This relies on the assumption that the grand average is representative of all or most individuals in a group. Recent research, however, has shown that there can be considerable systematic qualitative variability between individuals even in coherent L1 samples, especially in studies on morphosyntactic processing. We discuss how these qualitative individual differences can undermine previous findings from the gold standard paradigm, and critically assess the main ERP components used as markers for nativelike grammatical processing, namely the left-anterior negativity and the P600. We argue that qualitative variation reflects the dynamics characteristic of nativelike grammatical processing and propose a model for experimental designs that can capture these processing dynamics and, thereby, has the potential to provide a more fine-grained understanding of nativelike attainment in an L2.
... In L2 acquisition studies, some evidence from studies using the ERP technique has indicated differences between early and late language learners, showing that their neural organization is different (Neville, 1995). There have also been many second language studies using other techniques supporting the CPH (Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, 2009;DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;Pakulak & Neville, 2011;Sebastian-Galles, Rodriguez-Fornells, de Diego-Balaguer, & Diaz, 2006). However, divergent results have also been found (Barbeau et al., 2017;Bongaerts et al., 1995;Nikolov & Djigunovic, 2006;Patton et al., 2019). ...
... Las primeras dos generalizaciones se refieren solo al aprendizaje sintáctico y morfológico y no lo examinan de manera longitudinal. La supremacía inicial de aprendientes mayores se puede atribuir también al uso de mecanismos de aprendizaje explícitos de esos sujetos, que son más rápidos que los mecanismos implícitos que usan los niños pequeños (Dekeyser y Larson-Hall 2005). Cummins (1980) y Cummins y Swain (1986) argumentan que los aprendientes mayores adquieren mejor las destrezas cognitivas o académicas (entre ellas también el vocabulario) porque se parecen a las destrezas que desarrollan en el proceso de alfabetización en L1. ...
https://cvc.cervantes.es/ensenanza/biblioteca_ele/asele/vol_01.htm
Este volumen, que lleva por título Léxico y cultura en LE/L2: corpus y diccionarios, re copila una serie de estudios teóricos y prácticos sobre cuestiones relacionadas con el tratamiento del léxico en LE/L2 en los manuales, así como sobre la adquisición y enseñanza del vocabulario. También se incluyen trabajos sobre las diversas facetas del componente cultural en LE/L2 y sobre la presencia de dicho componente en los materiales que utilizan los aprendices y el profesorado en las aulas. El análisis de corpus y diccionarios en relación con el aprendizaje y la enseñanza de la lengua, entendidos ambos como recursos que facilitan el aprendizaje de una lengua, constituye asimismo uno de los focos de los capítulos que contiene esta obra.
No es necesario insistir, en la primera década del siglo XXI, en la importancia del léxico, puesto que ha quedado ampliamente demostrado que constituye uno de los ejes fundamentales de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de lenguas desde un punto de vista comunicativo. En esta tarea de adquirir una nueva lengua, en la que se pretende alcanzar el uso real, es preciso incluir el conocimiento de su cultura al formar parte, de manera indisoluble, de lo que se transmite a través de ella. No se concibe, hoy en día, el aprendizaje de una lengua sin contemplar la competencia cultural asociada a esta. Estos dos aspectos, léxico y cultura, se reúnen en un instrumento fundamental de recopilación y síntesis de carácter didáctico: los diccionarios. La evolución que estos están experimentando en los últimos años han de permitir poner al alcance de los aprendices unas herramientas que, además de proporcionar datos lingüísticos, integren los datos culturales que se precisan a la hora de aprender una nueva lengua. Las nuevas tecnologías facilitan enormemente tales posibilidades, así como el acceso a los datos. En este sentido, la lingüística de corpus ha desarrollado en las últimas décadas un conjunto muy importante de aplicaciones posibles a la enseñanza de lenguas que comprenden, entre otros aspectos, la interlengua y el análisis de errores, el uso de corpus como recurso para extraer input, la consulta de datos para solucionar dudas u observar las variedades de una lengua o para la confección de pruebas de evaluación, etc.
En conjunto, los diversos aspectos que se tratan en este volumen permiten una aproximación a la investigación que se realiza en la actualidad sobre uno de los ámbitos más complejos, pero al mismo tiempo más interesantes sobre LE/L2.
Queremos manifestar nuestro agradecimiento a todas las personas que han colaborado con sus estudios en la confección de este volumen, así como a Ángel Huete García y a Damián Morales Sánchez por su cuidada revisión de los textos. En fin, la colaboración de ASELE y la Universitat Rovira i Virgili nos ha permitido llevar a cabo la publicación de esta obra.
... One hypothesis concerns procedural differences between adults and children. According to this view of maturational constraints on language learning, children can acquire languages implicitly, while adults need more explicit teaching and learning to develop proficiency because their implicit learning ability is diminished (DeKeyser, 1994(DeKeyser, , 2008(DeKeyser, , 2019DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005;Ellis, 2005Ellis, , 2014. Since a greater amount of exposure is needed to acquire regularities without explicit teaching, the use of implicit learning skills could explain the disadvantage of children over adults at the beginning stage of L2 acquisition. ...
The Language Aptitude Outside the Classroom (LAOC) study investigates the factors that contribute to successful English-learning among newly arrived parent-child immigrants. Two types of factors are considered: cognitive abilities (aptitude measured with the LLAMA tests and working memory) and contextual-affective factors (exposure and anxiety). Participants are pairs of Spanish-speaking immigrants in the US. Each pair consists of a parent and their child aged 7–16. Their English proficiency is measured longitudinally during a one-year period using a listening comprehension test, a verbal fluency test, and an oral narrative (frog story). This contribution focuses on the lexical diversity of the oral narratives (Guiraud Index). Linear mixed models were run on the entire sample and on adults and children separately using time, aptitude, working memory, exposure to English, and anxiety as predictors of lexical diversity of the oral narratives (random effect = dyad, random slope = time). The results show that the development of lexical diversity over a one-year period is predicted by exposure to the language (and, for the children, anxiety). Two subtests of the LLAMA aptitude battery are also significant predictors when the entire sample is considered, but this effect nevertheless disappears for the adults when modeled separately from the children.
... The ability to make effective use of ambient language phonetic input is the acknowledged prerequisite for L1 speech acquisition (e.g., Kuhl, 2000). According to a "cognitive change" hypothesis (DeKeyser & Larson-Hall, 2005), late learners fare well in early stages of L2 learning through use of explicit learning mechanisms, but such mechanisms are not well suited for the slow process of attunement to the languagespecific details defining L2 sounds and their differences from L1 sounds. Early learners, on the other hand, learn L2 phonetic details well but slowly via implicit learning mechanisms. ...
The revised Speech learning model (SLM-r) is an individual differences model which aims to account for how phonetic systems reorganize over the life span in response to the phonetic input received during naturalistic second language (L2) learning. We first review research leading to the formulation of Speech Learning Model, or SLM (Flege, 1995), before presenting a synthesis of that model and then its revision. The SLM-r proposes that the mechanisms and processes needed for native language (L1) acquisition remain accessible for use in L2 learning, without change or exception, across the life span. By hypothesis, the formation or non-formation of new phonetic categories for L2 sounds will depend on the precision of L1 categories at the time L2 learning begins, the perceived phonetic dissimilarity of an L2 sound from the closest L1 sound, and the quantity and quality of L2 input that has been received. The phonetic categories making up the L1 and L2 phonetic subsystems interact with one another dynamically and are updated whenever the statistical properties of the input distributions defining L1, L2, and composite L1-L2 categories (diaphones) change.
b>Wprowadzenie . W Polsce wśród dzieci potrzebujących dodatkowego wsparcia edukacyjnego znajdują się dzieci imigrantów, uchodźców, reemigrantów, dzieci pochodzące z rodzin dwukulturowych, z mniejszości narodowych i etnicznych. Do najczęściej występujących problemów, z którymi mierzą się najmłodsi migranci, należą bariery językowe. Język polski jest obcy dla dzieci porozumiewających się w środowisku domowym innym językiem. Cel badań . W literaturze brakuje badań dotyczących komunikacji z małym dzieckiem w języku innym niż domowy. Istniejące badania i opracowania odnoszą się do edukacji w zakresie języka obcego dzieci starszych. Celem badań jest zatem weryfikacja sposobu postrzegania komunikacji z małym dzieckiem otoczonym w środowisku domowym językiem innym niż język polski przez osoby pracujące w żłobkach. Celem jest także próba określenia, jakie są sposoby udzielania wsparcia w komunikacji w języku innym niż język domowy dziecka. Metody . Autorki wybrały metodę sondażu diagnostycznego. Badanie sondażowe zrealizowano przed wybuchem pandemii COVID-19, przy wykorzystaniu kwestionariusza ankiety. Wzięło w nim udział 136 nauczycielek zatrudnionych w żłobkach. Reprezentowane były wszystkie żłobki publiczne z terenu Poznania. Wyniki . W wyniku przeprowadzonego badania określono, jakie trudności w procesie komunikacji z dzieckiem funkcjonującym w środowisku domowym w języku innym niż język polski wskazują osoby zatrudnione w żłobkach. Ustalono także, że opiekunki porozumiewają się z dziećmi przede wszystkim w języku polskim, a stosowane przez nie rozwiązania są w dużej mierze intuicyjne. Wnioski . Wśród wniosków należy przede wszystkim wskazać, że nie ma do tej pory rozwiązań systemowych dotyczących wspierania rozwoju komunikacji dzieci do trzeciego roku życia pochodzących z innych obszarów kulturowych. Opiekunki, w trosce o dobro dzieci, poszukują samodzielnie różnorodnych rozwiązań, są one jednak często doraźne i niewystarczające.
For more than a decade, linguistics has moved increasingly away from evaluating language as an autonomous phenomenon, towards analysing it 'in use', and showing how its function within its social and interactional context plays an important role in shaping in its form. Bringing together state-of-the-art research from some of the most influential scholars in linguistics today, this Handbook presents an extensive picture of the study of language as it used 'in context' across a number of key linguistic subfields and frameworks. Organised into five thematic parts, the volume covers a range of theoretical perspectives, with each chapter surveying the latest work from areas as diverse as syntax, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, applied linguistics, conversational analysis, multimodality, and computer-mediated communication. Comprehensive, yet wide-ranging, the Handbook presents a full description of how the theory of context has revolutionised linguistics, and how its renewed study is crucial in an ever-changing world.
There are a number of factors that influence the second language acquisition of a learner. This paper aims to investigate the most influential factors affecting SLA among English education students at the University of Lampung. The participants are 117 English education department students from batches 2018, 2019, and 2020 enrolled at the University of Lampung. The study employed a qualitative methodological approach. The data were descriptively analysed, which denotes that the data analysis took the form of a direct description of the data. The most influential factors in SLA, according to the findings, are internal motivation and instruction. In order for EFL learners to effectively acquire a language during the process of language acquisition, the educator plays a crucial role in assisting and facilitating them. Future research is suggested to investigate the causes of the differences in people's perceptions of the most influential factors in SLA, as well as the disparities in culture and educational level.
Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is an innovative approach to language teaching which emphasises the importance of engaging learners' natural abilities for acquiring language incidentally. The speed with which the field is expanding makes it difficult to keep up with recent developments, for novices and experienced researchers alike. This handbook meets that need, providing a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the field, written by a stellar line-up of leading international experts. Chapters are divided into five thematic areas, and as well as covering theory, also contain case studies to show how TBLT can be implemented in practice, in a range of global contexts, as well as questions for discussion, and suggested further readings. Comprehensive in its coverage, and written in an accessible style, it will appeal to a wide readership, not only researchers and graduate students, but also classroom teachers working in a variety of educational and cultural contexts around the world.
Drawing on methodological insights from psycholinguistic research protocols, the present study employed a structural equation modelling approach to examine whether explicit and implicit grammatical knowledge of English language learners would be influenced by their onset age of language learning and hours of exposure to language instruction; and if so, in what way? The present study further examined how the hypothesized causal effects might be mediated by explicit and implicit grammatical knowledge. The results showed that while early onset appeared to exert a facilitative effect on the participants’ implicit grammatical attainment, the role of exposure to instructed input was more relevant to their explicit grammatical attainment. Importantly, early onset facilitated the participants’ implicit grammatical attainment more than their explicit grammatical attainment, most likely because early learners’ analytical learning mechanism was still immature. Notably, while superior implicit grammatical attainment was conducive to the participants’ explicit grammatical attainment, their better explicit grammatical attainment did not necessarily facilitate their implicit attainment. The insights of this study shed light on the necessity of implementing early foreign language education when the curriculum goal concerns developing learners’ intuition regarding the FL, and provides empirical evidence of the need to adjust current instructional hours and foci in school.
The present study investigated whether age of acquisition (AOA) is a significant predictor of the extent to which Korean learners of English perceive and produce two nonnative vowels and the extent to which their speech perception and production accuracy are linked. A total of 100 Korean learners of English with a varying range of AOA participated in the study by completing perception and production measurement tasks. Overall, there were significant AOA effects found in the case of Korean participants who moved to Canada before the age breakpoint range of 17.0 to 25.5, after which AOA failed to be a significant predictor of their perception and production accuracy. In addition, compared to late second language (L2) learners, early L2 learners more consistently demonstrated instances of significant perception-production correlation. This study concludes by highlighting the role of AOA in L2 speech acquisition, supporting the existence of a critical period for intelligible L2 pronunciation.
Call for Papers and Special Issue Proposals
Aims and Scope
Journal of Language Teaching and Research (JLTR) is a scholarly peer-reviewed international scientific journal published bimonthly, focusing on
theories, methods, and materials in language teaching, study and research. It provides a high profile, leading edge forum for academics, professionals,
consultants, educators, practitioners and students in the field to contribute and disseminate innovative new work on language teaching and research.
JLTR invites original, previously unpublished, research and survey articles, plus research-in-progress reports and short research notes, on both
practical and theoretical aspects of language teaching, learning, and research. These areas include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
• Language teaching methodologies
• Pedagogical techniques
• Teaching and curricular practices
• Curriculum development and teaching methods
• Programme, syllabus, and materials design
• Second and foreign language teaching and learning
• Classroom-centered research
• Literacy
• Language education
• Teacher education and professional development
• Teacher training
• Cross-cultural studies
• Child, second, and foreign language acquisition
• Bilingual and multilingual education
• Translation
• Teaching of specific skills
• Language teaching for specific purposes
• New technologies in language teaching
• Testing and evaluation
• Language representation
• Language planning
• Literature, language, and linguistics
• Applied linguistics
• Phonetics, phonology, and morphology
• Syntax and semantics
• Sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and neurolinguistics
• Discourse analysis
• Stylistics
• Language and culture, cognition, and pragmatics
• Language teaching and psychology, anthropology, sociology
• Theories and practice in related fields
Special Issue Guidelines
Special issues feature specifically aimed and targeted topics of interest contributed by authors responding to a particular Call for Papers or by
invitation, edited by guest editor(s). We encourage you to submit proposals for creating special issues in areas that are of interest to the Journal.
Preference will be given to proposals that cover some unique aspect of the technology and ones that include subjects that are timely and useful to the
readers of the Journal. A Special Issue is typically made of 15 to 30 papers, with each paper 8 to 12 pages of length.
A special issue can also be proposed for selected top papers of a conference/workshop. In this case, the special issue is usually released in
association with the committee members of the conference/workshop like general chairs and/or program chairs who are appointed as the Guest
Editors of the Special Issue.
The following information should be included as part of the proposal:
• Proposed title for the Special Issue
• Description of the topic area to be focused upon and justification
• Review process for the selection and rejection of papers
• Name, contact, position, affiliation, and biography of the Guest Editor(s)
• List of potential reviewers if available
• Potential authors to the issue if available
• Estimated number of papers to accept to the special issue
• Tentative time-table for the call for papers and reviews, including
o Submission of extended version
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o Final submission due
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If the proposal is for selected papers of a conference/workshop, the following information should be included as part of the proposal as well:
• The name of the conference/workshop, and the URL of the event.
• A brief description of the technical issues that the conference/workshop addresses, highlighting the relevance for the journal.
• A brief description of the event, including: number of submitted and accepted papers, and number of attendees. If these numbers are not
yet available, please refer to previous events. First time conference/workshops, please report the estimated figures.
• Publisher and indexing of the conference proceedings.
If a proposal is accepted, the guest editor will be responsible for:
• Preparing the “Call for Papers” to be included on the Journal’s Web site.
• Distribution of the Call for Papers broadly to various mailing lists and sites.
• Getting submissions, arranging review process, making decisions, and carrying out all correspondence with the authors. Authors should
be informed the Author Guide.
• Providing us the completed and approved final versions of the papers formatted in the Journal’s style, together with all authors’ contact
information.
• Writing a one- or two-page introductory editorial to be published in the Special Issue.
This chapter sets the scene for early language learning policy in the twenty-first century. It underscores the ideological contestation underpinning early language learning policy. It shows how early language learning policies are so inherently embedded within educational systems around the world that any theoretical assertions against them will be to no avail. This chapter argues that the field of language policy would be more progressive if it stimulated research into creating conditions that could help teachers and early language learners to succeed, rather than dwelling on academic debates on early second language acquisition. The second section of the chapter shows that all chapters contained in this volume aim to promote conditions that help teachers and early language learners. Further, the section outlines the aims and rationale for the volume while highlighting its significance. Moving on to the third section, the chapter provides an overview of the volume. It summarises all chapters included in the volume, identifying main issues against the backdrop of the linguistic ecology that situates the discussion in each chapter.
В сборнике собраны труды участников Седьмой Международной научно-теоретической конференции «Образование и наука в третьем тысячелетии», которая проходила 21-23 марта 2013 г. в г. Барнауле. Представленные работы посвящены традиционным проблемам конференций этой серии. Сборник адресован научным сотрудникам, преподавателям, аспирантам и студентам, также всем, кто интересуется проблемами современной науки, высшего и среднего образования.
сборнике собраны труды участников Седьмой Международной научно-теоретической конференции «Образование и наука в третьем тысячелетии», которая проходила 21-23 марта 2013 г. в г. Барнауле. Представленные работы посвящены традиционным проблемам конференций этой серии. Сборник адресован научным сотрудникам, преподавателям, аспирантам и студентам, также всем, кто интересуется проблемами современной науки, высшего и среднего образования.
Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is one of the debatable topics regarding to speed and effectiveness in adults or children foreign language learning. There have been several researches to solve the issue; however, the results are different and contradicting. In this research two volunteers participated in three staged survey which showed children’s priority in acquiring foreign language in a short period of time.
This book analyzes the construct of advanced proficiency in second language learning by bringing together empirical research from numerous linguistic domains and methodological traditions. Focusing on the dynamic nature of language use, the volume explores diverse manifestations of high-level second language Spanish, including performance on standardized proficiency assessments, acquisition of late-acquired linguistic structures, sophisticated language use in context, and individual differences. Chapters relate empirical findings to current definitions of advancedness, challenging scholars and practitioners to re-consider existing conceptualizations, and propose possible directions for future research and teaching with second language speakers of Spanish. By addressing larger issues in the field of second language learning, the volume is a valuable reference for language teachers, scholars, professionals and students with an interest in second language acquisition generally, and second language Spanish, more specifically.
El objetivo de este estudio es analizar y evaluar el efecto que un entrenamiento para la mejora de la pronunciación, basado en gestos articulatorios, tiene en la pronunciación de los fonemas ingleses /tʰ/, /kʰ/ y /pʰ/ en estudiantes mexicanos de inglés como lengua extranjera.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.