The Effects of Age on Second Language Acquisition

1. The Effects of Age on Second Language Acquisition Vanessa Stratton

2. Introduction • Many languages in world • Many reasons to learn a second language • Factors that benefit language learners are important

3. Research Question Does age affect the ability to learn a second or foreign language? • Critical Period Hypothesis • Age at Time of Acquisition • Amount of Exposure to the Language

4. Literature Review • Critical Period Hypothesis (Tran, 2009) • Developed from studies: “window” and after very difficult for native-like proficiency. • Birdsong (1992) • 15 / 20 Adult French Learners “native like” proficiency • Bongaerts (1999) • Successful English Learners > Native Speakers Scores • Native Speakers Had Best Scores • Some Adult Learners Had Native Like Proficiency

5. Discussion • Critical Period Hypothesis • Varying results = No clear answer to validity • Adult learners achieved native like proficiency • Possibility: Easier/more likely for younger learners • Results: Does not prevent adult learners • Important to note: Results of High Scores = Exceptional and Successful Learners

6. Literature Review Krashen, Long and Scarcella (1979) • Younger arrivals = closest to native speech level Older = furthest • Correlation for accent and age of arrival • No correlation for accent and years in US

7. Literature Review • Bowers and Kennison, (2011) • 36 Spanish–English bilinguals • L1 to L2 and L2 to L1 • Quicker translation for words acquired early on

8. Literature Review • Huang and Jun (2011) • 3 groups of Mandarin-speaking immigrant with varying AoAin US • Native English speakers in control group • Participants read a paragraph in English • Results: Adult arrivals deviate most from native speakers, read slower than Native and Child Arrivals

9. Discussion • The amount of exposure was constant • Early AoA showed an ability for a higher proficiency in the second language • Efficiency in translation processing achieved by younger learners • Some studies show Adult learners have cognitive abilities over child learners. • Adult learners initially learned faster in structured learning setting

10. Conclusion • No clear evidence validating CPH • Suggestion: Modified to acknowledge abilities of adult learners • The evidence shows there is a benefit to younger second language acquirers. • The advantages of younger learners appear to be related most strongly to speed of processing, fluency, pronunciation and aural perception (Jarvis, 2009). • More research must be done to better understand the reasoning of this advantage and the extent of it.

11. References • Huang, Becky H.; Jun, Sun-Ah (2011, September). The Effect of Age on the Acquisition of Second Language Prosody. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.uconn.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid 9f935b5a-582a-4907-8c6c-1513cfa4ecc4%40sessionmgr4&vid=2&hid=13. • Muñoz, Carmen (2008, September) Age-related differences in foreign language learning. Revisiting the empirical evidence. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.uconn.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=d078 cc17-584f-416f-b3ee-eecd7200670d%40sessionmgr15&vid=21&hid=13 • Tran, Thu Hoang (2009). The Critical Period and Second Language Acquisition. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED507240.pdf • Bowers, J. Michael; Kennison, Shelia M. (2011, August). The role of age of Acquisition in bilingual word translation: Evidence from Spanish-English bilinguals. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com.ezproxy.lib.uconn.edu/content/y4316t6385184241/f ulltext.pdf • Jarvis, Scott. (2009, September) Review of 'Age and the rate of foreign language learning'. Retrieved from http://journals.cambridge.org.ezproxy.lib.uconn.edu/action/displayFulltext • Krashen, Stephen, D., Michael, H. Long, and Robin C. Scarcella (1979). Age, rate, and eventual attainment in second language acquisition. TESOL Quarterly 13 (4): 573–582. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lib.uconn.edu/stable/3586451