Zusammenfassung der Ressource
The role of age in L2 acquisition
- Intro
- SLA = Second Language Acquistion
- The process of L2 acquistion
- learning of a new lang after learning L1, irrespective of learning environment (naturalistic vs classroom based)
- Why study L2 acquisition?
- majority of world's pop speaks more than 1 lang. bilingualism - the norm
- common assumption: younger L2 learners generally do better than older L2 learners.
- if it can be shown older learners are different, case for early start in L2
acquisition + lang teachers - identify different approaches and techniques to
suit 2 types of leaners
- Critical Period Hyp intro
- many researchers explain child-adult diff in L2 acquisition by suggesting critical/sensitive period
- assumption: age = critical factor in successful L2 acquisition
- Lenneberg - CP hypothesis
- implicit learning not possible after critical period
- neurologically based period, ends around onset of puberty
- afterwards, complete mastery of L1/L2 impossible
- loss of neural plasticity suggested as primary cause
- Summarised by Birdsong
- limited devel period where it's possible to acquire L1/L2 to normal, native-like level
- once window of opportunity passed, ability to learn lang declines
- 2 ways to state:
- 1) The Exercise Hyp
- early in life, superior capacity for acquiring langs
- if capacity not exercised during this time, will decrease/disappear with maturation
- if exercised, further lang abilities remain intact throughout life
- as long as acquired L1 in childhood, ability to acquire lang can be used at any age
- according, L2 should be equivalent in children/adults, or even superior in adults due to higher skills in L1
- 2) The Maturational State Hyp
- early in life, superior capacity for acquiring langs
- this capacity declines/disappears with maturation
- predicts lang learning abilities decline with maturation, regardless of early ling experience
- children will be better in L2 as well as in L1 acquisition
- Bongaerts et al: learners who started to
acquire L2 before end of CP were
hypothesised to be able to achieve
native-like mastery, if continuously exposed
to sufficient input from natives
- Evidence for critical period in L1 devleopment
- Curtiss - Genie
- deprived of lang + social interaction until 13. lack of ling comp particularly in
syntax after 7yrs rehab. supports critical period hyp. but, did get lots of vocab -
colour terms. can communicate but v different to native.
- exposure = essential for L1 devel.
- X unsure if mental retardation / learning dis from birth?
- Seliger and Walsh + Diller
- suggest there's not 1 critical period affecting all
lang aspects at same time, but many critical
periods, each closing off different abilities. Ability to
master a native accent in foreign lang is first to be
lost, around onset of puberty
- Children's superiority due to other factors?
- Oyama
- addressed claimed whether children's superiority over adults in attainment due to other
factors than maturation, which happen to be correlated with age
- eg feeling more self-conscious about speaking, less cultural identification with L2 country, less
motivated than child to learn, feeling less able to achieve
- interivews + questionaires.
- correlations - good association between variables + test score. but removing effects of age of arrival = 0.
age of arrival, rather than attitudinal variables predicted lang performance
- Spoksy's general model of L2 acquisition
- SOCIAL CONTEXT leads to ATTITUDES which appears as MOTIVATION which joins PERSONALITY/ AGE/ PREVIOUS
KNOWLEDGE/ CAPABILITIES which explains USE OF AVAILABLE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
- attitudes - if required to learn lang + doesn't like speakers, may not help learning
- motivation - love sound of lang or need to know for job?
- personality - more outgoing = more opportunities to practice?
- capabilities - working memory
- previous knowledge - related langs?
- learning opportunities - formal/normal
- Critical period for word learning?
- probably not
- adults maintain an ability to rapidly learn novel words, even unintentionally = fast mapping. minimal exposure
- Carey + Bartlett
- 3 yr old children. "Give me the chromium tray, not the blue
one". Knows blue tray so must be other. Remembers new word
even 6 weeks later but not successful at producing it. =
difference between word-learning + fast-mapping - 2 distinct
but related processes. not just words, facts too. adaptive - don't
go to the tiger. no child-adult differences.