Old Dogs and New Tricks: What About a Second Language?

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Recommended: Children's second language acquisition

The topic of a critical period for language learning is a hotbed of discussion; there is substantial evidence to support the idea that certain elements of language are “easier” (or even critical) for people to learn and master at younger ages, such as syntax and phonology, but the debate rages on as to whether this is evidence of a critical period of overall language learning, and whether the critical period applies to the learning of a second language (Newport, 2002). The implications of such research and assertions are vast: not only for parents of young children, who may want to provide every advantage to their children, but also for young adults and the elderly.

Pro Side

The idea that language learning is limited by biology is not a new one; Eric Lenneberg introduced the idea and made some then-radical assertions in 1967 (Newport, 2002). Since then, numerous studies have been performed, followed by countless publications, struggling to define and delineate the critical period. E. L. Newport (2002) discusses several of these research studies, pointing out, for example, that neuropsychological technologies, such as fMRIs, indicate that participants who learn their second language after the age of seven demonstrate more divided brain activity than bilingual participants who learned a second language at an earlier age. Additionally, more recent research performed by DeKeyser, Alfi-Shabtay and Ravid (2010) supports the theory of an early critical period for language learning in that their research reveals participants experience a dramatic decline in grammatical skill acquisition up to the age of 18, after which the decline becomes almost negligible through to age 40. Beyond age 40, they find that the results are confounded ...

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...y may be past the ideal learning period, adults can learn a second language with great proficiency if they come equipped with adequate education and are properly motivated to learn.

Works Cited

DeKeyser, R., Alfi-Shabtay, I. & Ravid, D. (2010). Cross-linguistic evidence for the nature of age effects in second language acquisition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 31 (3), 413-438.

Hakuta, K., Bialystok, E. & Wiley, E. (2003). Critical evidence: a test of the critical period hypothesis for second language acquisition. Psychological Science, 14 (1), 31-38.

Newport, E.L. (2002). Critical periods in language development. (2002). Encyclopedia of cognitive science. London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd./Nature Publishing Group.

Stevens, G. (2004). Using census data to test the critical-period hypothesis for second-language acquisition. Psychological Science, 15 (3), 215-216.

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