Age and Second Language Learning

THE NATIVIST VIEW Is it easier to learn a language as a child than as an adult? Is it ever too late to learn a language? If a child has not acquired a language by a certain age, is it possible that he or she will never master language? Do children learning a first language use different cognitive processes than adults do when they try to learn a second language? These questions are at the heart of the idea that there is a sensitive period for language acquisitionthat children must be exposed to language early in life if they are ever to master it. A sensitive period implies that the brains of children are specially suited to learning languageany languagebut with time, experience, and brain maturation, they lose their special knack for language learning, making it more difficult to learn a first or second language. This contention is consistent with a nativist perspective of language acquisition. (Bjorklund, David F. & Blasi, Carlos Hernndez, 2010, p. 351) learning a second language is easiest when one is young and becomes progressively more difficult with age. (Bjorklund, David F. & Blasi, Carlos Hernndez, 2010, p. 354) Peoples proficiency in a second language [depends on] the age at which they were first exposed to it and not the number of years they had been using the language. (Bjorklund, David F. & Blasi, Carlos Hernndez, 2010, p. 354) Evidences for a Sensitive Period for Language (Locke, 1993) 1. Children who experience social isolation during their childhoods rarely acquire more than a tentative mastery of language, especially grammar (Curtiss, 1977) 2. [From the] observation of people learning a second language, the later someone is exposed to a new language, the more difficult it is for him or her to acquire it, especially pronunciation and complex grammar (Locke, 1993) 3. [For children with hearing impairments] who were not exposed to any formal language, spoken or signed, until late childhood or adolescence [it is more difficult to learn a second language]. 4. [W]hen the language areas of the left hemisphere are damaged early in life, there is much plasticity (plasticityability of the brain to keep shape after change), with other areas of the brain taking over the language function of the destroyed areas. Although the language acquisition of young children with significant left-hemisphere damage may proceed slowly and may be somewhat impaired compared to typical children, they usually learn to speak, and their language may be indistinguishable from that of a child without brain damage to all but trained language professionals. As children age, their ability to recover from such brain damage decreases (Huttenlocher, 2002; Stiles, 2008; Witelson, 1987). It seems clear that learning a first or second language is easier for children than for adults, with childrens flexibility in learning a language beginning to decrease as they reach the school years and continuing to decrease into adolescence. In other words, childrens neuronal and cognitive systems appear to be especially geared for learning both a first and second language. This does not mean that a second language cannot be learned after early childhood, but the effort required is greater, and the results, especially in pronunciation and grammar, may not be as good compared to those who learned a second language in early childhood. (Bjorklund, David F. & Blasi, Carlos Hernndez, 2010, p. 355)

SOURCE: Saville-Troike, Muriel. (2006). Introducing Second Language Acquisition (p. 82).

It is argued that children are better language learners than adults despite their limited cognitive abilities (e.g., Newport, 1990). Some have suggested one reason for this is because of their early sensitivity to the prosody of language (Jusczyk, 1997). Cutler, Anne (ed.). (2005). Twenty-First Century Psycholinguistics: Four Cornerstones (p. 195).USA: Laurence Erlbaum Associates.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bjorklund, David F. & Blasi, Carlos Hernndez. (2012). Is There a Sensitive Period for Acquiring Language?. Child and Adolescent Development: An Integrated Approach (pp. 351-356). Canada: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. How Children Acquire Language (pp. 348-359) Nativist Theories of Language Development (pp. 349-356) The Social-Interactionist Perspective of Language Development (pp. 356-359) Saville-Troike, Muriel. (2006). Age. Introducing Second Language Acquisition (pp. 82-84). UK: Cambridge University Press.