Welcome to the presentation ‘ Does age affect L2 learning? ’ By Derek Cho

Reference H. Douglas Brown. ‘ Principal of Language Learning and Teaching ’. Pearson education Julia Herschensohn ‘ The Second time around Minimalism and L2 Acquisition. University of Washington. John Benjamins Publishing Company Rod Ellis ‘ The Study of Second Acquisition ’. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language publishing company Jacqueline S. Johnson and Elissa L.Newport. ‘ Critical period Effects in Second Language Learning: The influence of Maturational State on the Acquistion of English as a Second Language ’. Cognitive psychology 21: p.60-99

Critical period Hypothesis Definition: There is a fix span of years during which language learning can take place naturally and effortlessly and after which it ’ s not possible to be completely successful (Ellis, 1997). Definition: Child ’ s brain has a specified capacity for learning language – a capacity that decreases with the passages of years (Penfield and Robert, 1959)

Puberty Age Language Proficency Puberty Optimum Level 12-13

Neurological Development As the human matures, certain functions are assigned or ‘ laternalized ’ to either side of the brain.

Brain functions Brain functions

Viewpoint for the critical period hypothesis Scovel, Singleton:There is a critical period not only for first language but also second language acquisition. Scovel, Singleton:There is a critical period not only for first language but also second language acquisition. Implication: Children are better learners than adults. Implication: Children are better learners than adults.

Opposite Viewpoint for the critical period hypothesis Walsh and Diller Lower-order processes such as pronunciation are dependent on early maturing, making the foreign accents difficult to overcome after the childhood Higher-order language functions, such as semantic relations are more dependent on late maturing neural circuits.

Levels of thinking skills 1. Identification 2. Extracting information 3. Sequencing 4. Comparison 5. Analysis 6. Application

Version 1 The exercise hypothesis: Early in life, humans have a superior capacity for acquiring languages. If he capacity is not exercised during this time, it will disappear or decline with maturation. If the capacity is exercised, however, further language learning abilities will remain intact throughout life. The exercise hypothesis: Early in life, humans have a superior capacity for acquiring languages. If he capacity is not exercised during this time, it will disappear or decline with maturation. If the capacity is exercised, however, further language learning abilities will remain intact throughout life. Implication: Second language acquisition should be equivalent in children and adults. Implication: Second language acquisition should be equivalent in children and adults.

Version 2 The maturational state hypothesis : Early in life, humans have a superior capacity for acquiring languages abilities for acquiring languages. This capacity disappears or declines with maturation. The maturational state hypothesis : Early in life, humans have a superior capacity for acquiring languages abilities for acquiring languages. This capacity disappears or declines with maturation. Implication: Children will be better in second language learning as well as first. Implication: Children will be better in second language learning as well as first.

Types of Comparison and contrast C1A1 C2A2 ChildAdult L1 L2

Research Subjects: 46 subjects Subjects: 46 subjects Early arrivals 23 subjects, late arrivals: 23 arrivals Early arrivals 23 subjects, late arrivals: 23 arrivals 23 native speakers 23 native speakers

Rule Types Tested in the Task 1. Past tense2. Plural 3.Plural4. Present Progressive 5.Determiners6. Pronominalization 7. Particle movement 8. Subcateogoration 9. Auxillaries10. Yes/No questions 11. Wh-questions12. Word order

Examples The farmer bought two pigs at the market. The farmer bought two pigs at the market. The farmer bought two pig at the market. The farmer bought two pig at the market. The little boy is speaking to a policeman The little boy is speaking to a policeman The little boy is speak to a policeman The little boy is speak to a policeman Yesterday the hunter shot a deer. Yesterday the hunter shot a deer. Yesterday the hunter shoots a deer Yesterday the hunter shoots a deer

The relationship between age of arrival in the United States and the total score correct on the test of English grammar

Correlation between the age of arrival and test score

Mean percentage of errors on L2 types of English rules

Effects 1. Age of Acquisition and ultimate performance 1. Age of Acquisition and ultimate performance - Children have an advantage over adults in acquiring a second language. - Children have an advantage over adults in acquiring a second language. 2. The effects of age of acquisition before versus after puberty 2. The effects of age of acquisition before versus after puberty - Subjects who arrived in the United States after puberty performed more poorly than those who arrived earlier - Subjects who arrived in the United States after puberty performed more poorly than those who arrived earlier

Effect 3. Support the maturational state hypothesis 3. Support the maturational state hypothesis - the age effect is present during time of ongoing biological and cognitive maturation and absent after the maturation is complete - the age effect is present during time of ongoing biological and cognitive maturation and absent after the maturation is complete 4. Age of acquisition and rule type 4. Age of acquisition and rule type - unclear what part of sentence or grammar she/he is having problems with - unclear what part of sentence or grammar she/he is having problems with

Conclusion: Other factors affecting second language acquisition 1. Levels of thinking skills 1. Levels of thinking skills 2. Intervention of L1 2. Intervention of L1 3. Motivational factors 3. Motivational factors 4. Interlingual identification (Weinreich,1953) 4. Interlingual identification (Weinreich,1953) 5. Storage of L2 information 5. Storage of L2 information 6.Personality 6.Personality