Age Factors in Second Language AcquisitionWord文档下载推荐.docx

Age Factors in Second Language AcquisitionWord文档下载推荐.docx

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Thispaperwillexplorethesequestion.

KeyWords:

CriticalPeriodHypothesis;

LanguageAcquisition;

AgeFactors

1.Introduction:

Sincesecondlanguagelearnersbeginacquiringthelanguageatalateragethandofirstlanguagelearners,agehasbeenoftenconsideredamajor,ifnottheprimary,factordeterminingsuccessinlearningasecondorforeignlanguage.Childrenaregenerallyconsideredcapableofacquiringanewlanguagerapidly.

ThisissupportedbytheCriticalPeriodHypothesis（CPHhenceforth）,accordingtowhichthereisafixedspanofyearsduringwhichlanguagelearningcantakeplacenaturallyandeffortlessly,andafterwhichitisnotpossibletobecompletelysuccessful.WhenCPHwasimpliedinsecondlanguageacquisitionresearch（SLAhenceforth）,agreatdealof

controversywasgenerated.

Althoughtherehaven’tanyconclusiveevidenceswhetherthereexistsaCPHintheSLA,thefollowingphenomenaarises:

manyparentsareenthusiasticaboutenrollingtheirchildrenforEnglishtraining;

theEducationAuthorityhasrecentlyemphasizedthenecessityforelementaryschoolstogiveEnglishteachingifconditionsarepermitted.

Theseissuesareworthconsidering,thispapertrytoexploreit,whichmainlyconsistsoftwoparts.ThefirstpartwillreviewtheCPH.ThesecondpartwilldiscusstheagefactorsinSLA.

2.CriticalPeriodandCPH

2.1BasicInformationaboutCriticalPeriod

TheCriticalPeriod（CPhenceforth）,accordingtothebiologicalidea,isaperiodoftimeinanorganism’slifespanwhenitismoresensitivetoenvironmentalinfluenceorstimulationthanatanyotherperiodoftimeinitslife.ItisPenfield,afamousneurosurgeon,whoproposedthisviewwithRobertsforthefirsttimein1959.In1967,LennebergfirstproposedtheCriticalPeriodHypothesis（CPH）.

Eachlinguist,withdifferentscientificandculturalbackgrounds,hashisownunderstandingofCP.Themostrepresentativeonesareasfollows:

CPis“aperiodoftimeduringthelifecirclewhenthereisgreatersensitivitytocertaintypesofenvironmentalstimulithanatothertime”.

ThereisalimiteddevelopmentalperiodduringwhichitispossibletoacquireaLanguage,“oncethisperiodoftimeispassed,however,theabilitytolearnlanguagedeclines”.

“Innatebehaviorsareoftendistinguishedbytheexistenceofacriticalperiodduringwhichtheabilitytoacquirethecompetencereachesitspeak,thereafter,theabilitytoacquirethatcompetencedeclines”.（HarleyandHart,1997:

163）

Often,the“periodoftime”,mentionedinthethreedefinitionabove,referto“periodfrombirthtopuberty”.Puberty,inthedictionary,isdefinedas:

Thestageofadolescenceinwhichanindividualbecomesphysiologicallycapableofsexualreproduction（Generally,maleisabout14yearsoldandthefemaleis12yearsold）orthetendencyfortheleftsideandtherightsideofthebrainandthebodytodevelopdifferentfunctions.

2.2LennerbergandCriticalPeriodhypothesis（CPH）

In1967,afterexaminingalargequantityofexamplesofbrainchangesinearlylife,LenneberglinkedCPtomaturationalchilddevelopment,especiallytothedevelopmentofspeechandlanguage.Hesuggestedthatpubertywasthestop-pointofageforcompletelysuccessfulprimarylanguageacquisitionanditwasalsotheagewhenforeignaccentappeared.ThenhepostulatedaCPforlanguageacquisition,andthisistheCritical

PeriodHypothesis（CPH）.InhisfamousworkBiologicalFoundationofLanguage,wasformulatedasfollows:

“Thuswemayspeakofacriticalperiodforlanguageacquisition.Atthebeginningitislimitedbylackofmaturation.Itsterminationseemstoberelatedtoalossofadaptabilityandinabilityforreorganizationinthebrain,particularlywith

respecttothetopographicalextentofneuropsychologicalprocesses......Thelimitationinmanmaywellbeconnectedwiththepeculiarphenomenonofcerebrallateralizationoffunction,whichonlybecomesirreversibleaftercerebralgrowthphenomenacometoConclusion.”（Lenneberg1967,179）

Lennebergtheorizedthattheacquisitionoflanguageisaninnateprocessdeterminedbybiologicalfactors,whichlimitthecriticalperiodfortheacquisitionofalanguagefromroughlytheageoftwotopuberty.Lennebergbelievedthatafterlateralizationorpuberty（aprocessbywhichtheleftandtherightsidesofthebraindevelopspecializedfunctions）,thebrainlosesplasticity.Lennebergclaimedthatlateralizationofthelanguagefunctionisnormallycompletedatpuberty,makingpost-adolescentlanguageacquisitiondifficult.CPHthuswonthefirstplaceofthemostsignificanttopicsinthelinguisticfield.

3.DiscussiononageFactorsinLanguageAcquisition

IsthereacriticalperiodforSLA?

Whataretherelationshipsamongbeginningage,lengthoflearningandsecondlanguagelearning?

Experimentsshowthatatthebeginningoflanguagedevelopment,bothhemispheresareequallyinvolvedinlanguagelearning.Thedominancephenomenonseemstocome

aboutthroughaprogressivedecreaseininvolvementoftherighthemisphereandthelefthemispherebecomesthemajorbeareroflanguagefunctions.Butduringthisepipotentialperiod,therighthemisphereisalsoabletotakeonspeechandlanguagefunctions.

Hemispherectomydatashowthatifachildhadalesioninhisbrainbeforetheageof10,regardlessofthehemisphere,speechfunctionwaseventuallyconfinedtothehealthyhemisphere,sothatwhenthediseasedhemispherehadtoberemovedlaterinlife,itcausednoaphasia.

Sotheacquisitionoflanguageisaninnateprocessdeterminedbybiologicalfactorswhichlimitthecriticalperiodforacquisitionofalanguagefromroughlytwoyearsofagetopuberty.Then,thebrainlosesplasticity.

Sothereisdefinitelyacriticalperiodinlanguageacquisition.Adolescentsandadultsmaylearnfasterontheearlystagesbecauseoftheirwell-developedcognitionandsomeusefultransfersfromtheirfirstlanguage.Butyoungerlearnerseventuallycatchupandsurpassthembytheendofthepuberty.

Afindingsofage-relatedL2researchhasbeentheideathatchildrenandadultsmayhavefundamentallydifferentprocessingmechanismsattheirdisposal.In1997,HarleyandHartinvestigatedtheroleofdifferentaspectsoflanguageaptitudeintwogroupsofAnglophonesecondaryschoolstudentswhohadenteredFrenchimmersionprogramsatdifferentpoints,inGradeIandGrade7,respectively.Theresultsrevealedthat“earlyimmersionstudents”outcomesweremuchmorelikelytobeassociatedwithamemorymeasurethanwithameasureoflanguageability,whereastheoppositewasthecaseforthelateimmersionstudents”（HarleyandHart,1997:

395）

Athome,asearlyasin1992,ProfessorGuiShichunquestionedthepopularconceptof“theyounger,thebetter”.Heclaimedthatthemythwasjustahypothesiswithoutenoughtheoreticalandpracticalproofinformalschoolcontextandthuscannotbeappliedtopolicymaking.Hefurtherproposedthatwithoutqualification,Englishlearninginprimaryschoolswasnotrecommended.

TheacademicianYangXiongli,basedonrecentimportantadvancesinbrainresearches,includingcriticalperiodsduringbraindevelopment,plasticityofbrainstructureandfunctions,andintelligencedevelopmentofchildren,suggestedin2002thatchildrenshouldfirstgrasptheirmothertongueandthenstarttheirEnglishlearning.

ProfessorHuZhuanglinalsoquestionedthepracticeofextendingtheEnglishteachingprogramsfromthethirdgradetothefirstgradein2002.HewonderedwhetherchildrenwouldbeoverburdenediftheylearnedtwodifferentsemioticsystemssimultaneouslyandhowwecansolvetheproblemoftheshortageofqualifiedEnglishteachersinprimaryschools.

In2003,basedonanempiricalresearchofthequalificationofEnglishteachersinGuangdongprovince,ProfessorDongYanpingproposedthatitwasnotnecessarytostartEnglishteachingprogramsforyoungchildreninkindergartensandGrade1ofprimaryschools,andourmainconcernshouldbetheteacherstrainingprogramsinstead.

LuXiaoyongcarriedoutasmall-scaleempiricalresearchonthisissue.Heinvestigated2classesofpostgraduatestudentsonthecorrelationoftheageofinitialexposuretoEnglishprogramsandthelanguageproficiency.HisresultssuggestthattheinitialEnglishprogramshouldbegininelementaryschoolsratherthaninjuniorhigh,andthattheoptimaltimingfortheintroductionofEnglishprogramsisnot“theearlythebetter”,Grade3isapossiblestartingpoint,butGrade4or5maybemorepreferable.

Fromthediscussionabove,wecangeneralizethat:

1）AdolescentandyoungadultL2learnersproceedthroughearlystagesofmorphologicalandsyntacticdevelopmentfasterthanchildren;

2）Withcontinuedexposure,uptooneyeartothreeyears,childlearnerswillcatchupandoutperformtheiroldercounterpartsandachieveahigherlevelinaL2leaming;

3）Childstartersoutperformadultstartersinthelongrun;

4）individuallearnersmaydepartfromthesegeneralizations（e.g.someolderlearnersmaybeslowerthanyoungchildrenintheearlystages,someelderlearnersmayultimatelybecomeassuccessfulaschildlearners,andsoon）;

5）Lossofsensitivitytolinguisticmaterialisnotsudden,butprogressivelydeclineswithage,

6）Inaformalclassroomsetting,however,olderlearnerswereconsistentlymoreefficientintheini