Age in Language Acquisition

Wichian SunithamPsycholinguistics # 002

http://drrajivdesaimd.com/?p=6134

CPH

CPH – Bridging the gap

Lenneberg

1967

Before puberty = best

Children with aphasia at a young age – slow in language learning

In developmental psychology and developmental biology, a critical period is a phase in the life span during which an organism has heightened sensitivity to exogenous stimuli that are compulsory for the development of a particular skill. If the organism does not receive the appropriate stimulus during this “critical period”, it may be difficult, ultimately less successful, or even impossible, to develop some functions later in life.

The critical period for language acquisition is the hypothesis that language is acquired best in early childhood and is more difficult to learn at older ages.

CPH

Wilder Penfield – superiority for language acquisition in young children due to neuroplasticity

(Penfield & Roberts, 1959)

CPH

Lenneberg (1967 – evidence from studies of brain growth and clinical studies of cases of brain damage, mental retardation, and deafness to support the hypothesis that there are age constraints on language acquisition caused by brain maturation.

CPH

CPHEric Lenneberg

“First language acquisition relies on brain plasticity and can no longer be accomplished once hemispheric development is complete. If language acquisition does not occur by puberty, some aspects of language can be learnt but full mastery cannot be achieved.”

“Brain lateralization at puberty is the mechanism which closes down the brain’s ability to acquire language.”

CPH(1) feral children and victims of child abuse who were reared without exposure to human language and thus were unable to fully acquire the ability to produce it; (2) deaf children who were unable to develop spoken language after puberty; (3) evidence that children with aphasia have a better chance at recovery than aphasiac adults. The critical hypothesis, Lenneberg (1967) states that the early-to-mid childhood (age 5 to puberty) constitutes the time during which language develops readily and after which language acquisition is much more difficult and ultimately less successful.

CPH

Genie, who was followed closely for a number ofyears after her discovery and placement in anormal linguistic environment at age 13 (Curtiss,1977). While Genie did successfully acquire someEnglish after puberty, her phonology was abnormal, and her control over English syntax andmorphology was limited to only the simplestaspects of the language.

Language Development, Critical Periods inEL Newport,University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USAFrom: http://www.bcs.rochester.edu/people/newport/newport-ecs-a0506.pdf

CPHA Research Question

A research question can be developed by following these steps:1. Choose a research topic that can be actually researched.2. List all of the questions that you want to answer about the topic. Your question must not be too broad or too narrow.3. Try answering the question(s). Your answer(s) serve(s) as the hypothesis (ses). 4. Evaluate your research question(s). Consult with / get feed back from your supervisor. Research question(s) can be changed many times until you are happy about it/them before the research begins.

CPHResearch reportSnow & Hoefnagel-Hohle (1978)

1. Research Question:

Which age group, among children (aged 3-10), adolescents (aged 12-17), and adults (aged 18-60), learns a second language (L2) at the fastest rate?

Possible hypotheses

H1: Children learn a second language (L2) at the fastest rate. Adolescents learn a second language (L2) at the fastest rate. Adults learn a second language (L2) at the fastest rate.

CPH1. What is the definition of a critical period as cited in this article? (1)

2. What are the two main hypotheses proposed by Lenneberg in his book Biological Foundations of Language? (2)

a maturational during which some crucial experience will have its peak effect on development or learning, resulting in normal behavior attuned to the particular environment to which the organism has been exposed. If the organism is not exposed to this experience until after this time period, the same experience will have only a reduced effect, or in extreme cases may have no effect at all.

1. human language acquisition was an example of biologically constrained learning, and that it was normally acquired during a critical period, beginning early in life and ending at puberty.

2. the critical period for language acquisition ended with the establishment of cortical lateralization of function, as the brain reached its mature organization in late puberty.

CPH

3. Which of the following linguistic aspects was NOT mentioned as to be fully acquired by Genei after her being put in proper linguistic environment at the age of 13 ? (0.5)

a. phonology b. morphology c. syntax d. semantics

While Genie did successfully acquire some English after puberty, her phonology was abnormal, and her control over English syntax and morphology was limited to only the simplest aspects of the language.

CPH4. Choose only TWO items below that are TRUE according to the article (2) (all two must be correct to receive the point)

a. Most research studies on normal people (people without limited linguistic learning environment) focus on the connection between the starting age of learning and the ability of the language learned. b. Brain is one of the most important factors focused in most research on normal people (people without limited linguistic learning environment). c. In the long term, adults are proved to be more efficient learners than children in acquiring vocabulary and syntax. d. In the long term, children develop greater proficiency than adults phonologically and syntactically. e. Those who begin to acquire language in early infancy prove to be only speakers with good accents, but not writers with good grammar and word choices.

studies of populations of normal individuals, one can systematically examine proficiency in relation to age of linguistic exposure without concern about the physical status of the learning brain. These studies show a strong relationship between the age of exposure to a language and the ultimate proficiency achieved in that language…. Learning during the first months or year of exposure may show an advantage for adult learners, particularly in the acquisition of vocabulary and the speed of using certain complex sentence forms; however, long-term outcome clearly favors those who start learning the language during childhood, Peak proficiency in the language, in control over the sound system as well as the grammatical structure, is displayed by those whose exposure to that language begins in infancy or very early childhood. Such early learners show not only flawless control over the accent and rhythm of the language but also full and productive control over the syntax and morphology.

CPH5. “According to one recent finding, even overhearing a language during early childhood, without producing it or hearing it again for many years, can result in learning to pronounce that language with a more native accent as an adult” What does this statement prove? (1.5)

a. Early beginning age of L1 is not significant for deaf people.b. Early beginning age of L1 affects learners performance of

the deaf or people who could hear the language alike.c. Early beginning age of L1 affects learners performance of

people who could hear the language alike, but not the deaf.d. Early beginning of L1 or L2 in any type of learners shows

all depends on the environment in which the language is learned.

This question has been examined by comparing hearing and deaf individuals' acquisition of English or American Sign Language as either a first or a second Ianguage, and (if as a second language) after early exposure to either a spoken or a signed language (Mayberry et al., 2002). The results show that age of first language onset has a significant effect, while language modality does not: late first language acquisition results in lower performance than does late second language acquisition, regardless of whether the languages in question were spoken or signed.

CPH6. Which of the following language properties disproves the fact that critical period does not play any significant role in language acquisition? (choose 2 to receive 1 point) a. phonology b. morphology c. semantics

d. basic word order e. complex grammar

The acquisition of vocabulary and semantic processing occur relatively normally in late learners. .. Late learners acquire the basic word order of a language relatively well, but more complex aspects of grammar show strong effect on…

CPH

Krashen, Scarcella, and Long (Eds) (1982)

Who, among adults, older children, and younger children, acquire the earlier stages of syntactic and morphological development in the earlier stages the fastest?

Formulating Research Questions

Patkowski (2006)

Which group of learners, between those exposed to a second language before the age of 15 years and adults, achieves higher syntactic proficiency in the target language?

CPH

Krashen, Scarcella, and Long (Eds) (1982)

Who, among adults, older children, and younger children, acquire the earlier stages of syntactic and morphological development in the earlier stages the fastest?

Formulating Research Questions

Patkowski (2006)

Which group of learners, between those exposed to a second language before the age of 15 years and adults, achieves higher syntactic proficiency in the target language?

CPHResearch summary

1. Research Question: Which group of learners, among children, adolescents, and adults, learn a second language at the fastest rate?

2. Proceduresa. Participants

- Children, aged 3-10, attending Dutch schools- Adolescents, aged 12-15 , attending Dutch schools- Adults, aged 18-60, either working in Dutch-speaking

places where most Dutch colleagues speak English well or parents with no work outside homes + less contact with Dutch

- All groups’ L1 = English

CPHResearch summary

2. Proceduresb. Language tasks employed

- Pronunciation - repeating after NSs immediately and a few mins later + tape-recorded and rated by NS

- Auditory discrimination – listening to minimal pairs and choosing pictures

- Morphology – adding correct grammatical markers- Sentence repetition – repeating 37 sentences of increasing

length and grammatical complexity- Sentence translation – translating 60 sentences from Engl

to Dutch- Sentence judgment – selecting grammatical sentences

from pairs- Peabody picture vocab – Choosing words that correspond

to pics- Story comprehension – retelling story heard in Dutch- Storytelling – telling story after looking at pic set

CPHResearch summary

3. Results3.1 Short run- Overall, adolescents = the most successful learners (better

than other groups in all tasks except pronunciation on first test session

- Adults > other groups on pronunciation + second best on other tests

3.2 Long run- Children > adults in many tasks- Adolescents = most successful learners in overall tasks

4. Conclusion:- Overall results disprove CPH- Some tasks = hard for children as they are not yet

cognitively ready- Adolescents & Adults > children in short run, but long run

children > adolescents & adults (more ling exposure)- Adolescents & adults master language with help of ling

contexts of use