The Suitable Age for Second Language Acquisition - Annotated Bibliography Example

Second Language Acquisition Annotated Bibliography on ‘The Suitable Age for Second Language Acquisition” Second Language Acquisition Introduction Second language (L2) acquisition has always been a highly debated topic in the field of education because it has become quite a necessity for children to learn a second language which is one of the requirements for education at all levels. Therefore acquiring a second language is highly important to children in order to meet the high level of Academic standards. However, age seems to be a related factor and hence the ‘age factor’ seems to be the key point that is highly debated. While one group of people feels that it is better to catch children when young to learn a language, there are others who feel that it is not necessary to rush them into learning a second language. Understanding the importance of this topic had made me choose it for a study. Learning any foreign language when children are very small is very advantageous as children pick up the nuances, phonetics and words quite easily. An older school of thought discriminates children based on their age because they feel that cramming the child with new thoughts and ideas is not the right thing to do. This topic kindled my curiosity and since I wanted to find out more about it, I began doing a research on the subject. References 1. Stephen D. Krashen, (1981) Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. The Center for Language and Linguistics, Pergamon Press Inc. Second Language Acquisition In his book titled ‘Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning’ Stephen D. Krashen speaks about the importance of language acquisition by children and the impact it has on the academic front. Speaking on the importance of language acquisition Brown and Hanlon and Brown Cazden and Bellugi feel that language acquisition does not require correction or any rules to be taught. When teaching a second language, native speakers can correct or modify their speech as it helps the acquisition process. Snow and Ferguson On the other hand, Krashen and Seliger, hold and opinion that ‘Conscious Language Learning’ requires error correction as well as rules in order for children to acquire the second language in the right manner for proper linguistic generalizations. According to Krashen, conscious language learning is based on the Monitor Theory where learning appears to be a Monitor to the learner. 2. Jenifer Larson-Hall, (2007) Weighing the benefits of studying a foreign language at a younger starting age in a minimal input situation, Second Language Research 24,1 (2008); pp. 35–63. In lieu of learning a second language, Hall examines the advantages and disadvantages of beginning when children are quite young. In a study that was carried out on Japanese children who had begun learning a second language when they were about 3 years old, and when compared to their peers who had begun learning at age 12, it was found that children who had started learning at a very young age were at a better Second Language Acquisition advantage than their other peers. However, according to theory, if there is very minimal input during the early language learning years, then the early beginners would not gain such an advantage over the late starters. According to Koike and Tanaka parents in Japan spend huge sums of money to send their children to private language schools. Butler highlights this fact when he states that all elementary schools have made English language learning compulsory as they recognize it is important for future success. 2. Sieneke Goorhuis and Kees de Bot, (2010) “Impact of early English language teaching on L1 and L2 development in children in Dutch Schools”, International Journal on Bilingualism, Vol. 14, No: 3, Pgs. 289 – 302 Sieneke Goorhuis and Kees de Bot in their study of “Impact of early English language teaching on L1 and L2 development in children in Dutch Schools” states how Dutch children are initiated into learning English by age 4. In a cohort study evaluating early English language teaching (EELT) it was found that all children whether native or not acquired foundation skills in English. Through the Reynell tests used for language development and testing, it was found that the first language (L1) was not hindered or affected by the EELT program. In a European context, multi- lingualism is promoted by the European Commission because it understands and realizes its importance of increasing the knowledge of other cultures in addition to building a strong common understanding between different cultures around the globe. However, on the other hand, Second Language Acquisition the early learning of English is considered to be a threat because of its high popularity in the Dutch society with regard to their language and culture. 3. Arturo E. Hernandez and Ping Li, (2007) Age of Acquisition: It’s Neural and Computational Mechanisms, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 133, No: 4, pgs. 638 – 650. Age of Acquisition (AoA) is considered to be exceptionally important to Linguists, Cognitive scientists and Psychologists as scientific evidence has proved it to be so. In the broader picture, the AoA depicts the period during which a child tends to acquire certain concepts or skills. According to Hernandez and Ping Li, the AoA has a great impact on a child’s learning abilities. This article highlights the neural and computational mechanisms that have an impact on children’s early learning of a second language. Even in non- linguistic domains, the impact of AoA is found. For example, if a child in the early years is not exposed to good sensory output, then its sensory output would be definitely be impaired. According to Brainard & Knudsen, auditory maps are calibrated through visual input. Brainard & Doupe, tells us that there are generally three phases of learning which include sensory, sensory motor and crystallization. During the critical learning period if a child is not given exposure to any of the above, then learning is slow and very gradual. On the other hand, if a lot of exposure is provided to the child at a young age, then learning is much faster because of the constant practice. Second Language Acquisition 4. Giesela Jia & Akiko Fuse, (2007) Acquisition of English Grammatical Morphology by Native Mandarin Speaking Children and Adolescents. Age – related differences. Journal of Speech language and Hearing research. • Vol. 50 • 1280–1299 • In a five year longitudinal study, six English grammatical morphemes which included a regular and irregular past – tense, third person singular, Progressive aspect –ing, copula BE, and auxiliary DO in both adolescents as well as children between the ages of 5 and 16 years. This study made an attempt to gauge their level of mastery over the different morphemes and by comparing them to the various trajectories, they were able to identify their age- related differences. Making use of spontaneous speech they attempted to identify their level of morphological proficiency. Results showed that different participants showed different levels of acquisition based and influenced by their age of arrival (AoAr) in the United States. Results also proved that earlier arrivals achieved far better proficiency than those who were late arrivals. However, the results did not show that there were differences in the acquisition of tenses due to age related factors. The findings of this study support that second- language acquisition is not entirely age – related but mostly relies on Environmental factors. Looking at it from a linguistic angle, researchers like (Wexler, 1998) state that especially children who are monolingual with SLI have their limitations in connecting the abstract tenses with its morphological forms. 6. David Michael Singleton & Zsolt Lengyel, (1995) The Age Factor in Second Language Acquisition. Multilingual Matters. Pgs. 160 Second Language Acquisition The European Second Language Association (EUROSLA) conducted a high level seminar on the age related factors of Second language acquisition with an aim to draw together the separated areas of the continent and foster the channels of language learning and teaching and thereby encouraging communication between different cultures. The fact that age is or is not related to the acquisition of a new language has always been a highly debated topic for linguists and language researchers. The reasons for this topic being quite popular in debating circles are not only theoretical but also have practical reasons such as when is the right time for a child to be initiated towards learning a second language. Singleton tells us that some are of the view that children are faster learners of a second language than the adults, while the other view is the exact opposite of this which has that adults learn faster than children. With regard to the ‘Consensus view’ (Cook, Ellis, Harley and Long hold the opinion that an early exposure to the target language in naturalistic’ situations, helps children learn faster in terms of long term outcomes. Results from the findings in this study also showed that students who are exposed to early language learning have an advantage over their peers who are beginning to learn the second language in High School for only a short period of time. Stern and Singleton are of the opinion that this is attributed to a blurring effect which occurs by mixing the beginners with the non- beginners. 7. Muñoz, Carmen (2006b). The effects of age on foreign language learning: The BAF project. In Age and the Rate of Foreign Language Learning, Carmen Muñoz (ed.), 1–40 Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Second Language Acquisition Carmen Munoz in his empirical study in the field of second language acquisition in relation to age has come out with facts which he highlights in his research study. The study also addressed the important issue of age on learning of a second language in relation to the formulation of the ‘Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) Long argues that the differences in age- related outcomes is highly crucial to the construction of the L2 Theory of learning. Munoz tells us that there are two distinct age –related advantages when comparing younger early learners with that of the adolescent or older learner who has a much faster rate of learning. The research findings show that the adolescent learner makes rapid progress during the initial stages of L2 acquisition, but in the long run, the younger L2 learner is more successful because he attains the high standard of a native speaker. Hence the results of these findings have proved that an early start on L2 acquisition in a naturalistic surrounding produces a higher standard of performance due to the association of its native-likeness. However, Birdsong opines that neither of the languages used by that of a bilingual can be compared to the native language because of the influences and interactions of the L1 on the L2 and vice versa. 8. Myra A. Fernandes & Cheryl Grady (2008) Experimental Aging Research, No. 34: pgs. 297 – 322. The chief premise of this study examined by authors Myra A. Fernandes and Cheryl Grady was focused on the division of attention (DA) and aging and the effect it Second Language Acquisition had on memory and organizational strategies that were made use of during retrieval. This study made use of younger and older people who had to study a list of items that were unrelated or categorized, rendered to them auditorily under full attention and after sometime had to recall the same under full attention while being distracted by either a word or digital monitoring task. Results showed that during the retrieval of words that were unrelated, age did not interfere with memory. But on the other hand, when it came to categorized words, the older people suffered from greater memory interference when compared to the younger people in both the DA conditions. In both the DA conditions, the words in each category were reduced for both age groups. However, when it came to total recall, the score of semantic clustering was more in the adults than in the younger group proving that older individuals are unable to make use of strategies to trigger their memory when compared to the younger people because of amplified memory interference. 9. David Birdsong, Age and Second Language Acquisition and Processing: A Selective Overview David Birdsong and his group of researchers carried out a study in order to understand the different sources of age related problems in the acquiring of L2. From their observations they found that the acquisition of second language (L2) by adults is different in many respects when compared to younger children in the acquisition of a first language. (L1) This study involves theoretical facts in relation to neuro-cognitive development and cognitive neurofunction involving L2 acquisition. Since residence Second Language Acquisition cannot guarantee exposure to L2 usage, researchers quantify the contact that L2 learners have with the written and spoken modalities of both L1 and L2 in their daily activities. D¨ornyei and Skehan and Doughty state that the other variables used in this study are the amount of formal training received in relation to learning a foreign language (L2) and the amount of exposure an individual receives during his content courses which include working memory capacity, imitative ability, and adaptability to learning styles and strategies and also meta-linguistic awareness. The results of this study showed that among all the above experiential variables that were examined for L2 proficiency, AoA seems to be the most reliable and strongest predictor in the area of ultimate attainment of L2 acquisition. 10. Christian Abello- Contesse, (2008) Age and the Critical period Hypothesis. ELT Journal Volume 63/2 April 2009; Published by Oxford University Press. This study deals with the ‘Age Factor’ which is rather challenging because it intersects across various other social, academic and experiential variables. According to Scovel, there is a popular but common belief that youngsters as L2 learners are far ‘superior’ to adults. However, in the more bigger and complex picture, Johnstone highlights the fact that there are major differences some of which are favorable and others which are not favorable due to the intersecting of other variable that come into play involving early and late beginners of L2. The case in point in Lenneberg’s opinion that is most relevant to this study is the ‘Critical Period Hypothesis’ (CPH) Second Language Acquisition which is considered to be the optimal period for the acquisition of a language which ends at puberty. According to Cook, the ‘Age Factor’ is not a controversial variable in research, whereas the CPH is more narrowly focused and ironically prone to debate and controversy. However, in all matters related to L2 acquisition, the latter (age factor) seems to dominate. Research indicates that age effects of various kinds largely depend on the opportunities that are provided for L2 acquisition in natural settings and the initial exposure that is not only substantial but sustained. References Arturo E. Hernandez and Ping Li, (2007) Age of Acquisition: It’s Neural and Computational Mechanisms, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 133, No: 4, pgs. 638 – 650. Abello-Contesse, C. 2006. ‘Does interaction help or hinder oral L2 development in early English immersion?’ in C. Abello-Contesse et al. (eds.). Birdsong, David (2005). Native-likeness and non-native-likeness in L2. A research. International Review of Applied Linguistics 43 (4): 319–328 Brainard, M. S., & Doupe, A. J. (2002). What songbirds teach us about learning. Nature, 417, 351–358. Brainard, M. S., & Knudsen, E. (1998). Sensitive periods for visual calibration of the auditory space map in the barn owl optic tectum. Journal of Neuroscience, 18, 3929–3942. Brown, R., C. Cazden, and U. Bellugi (1973) "The child's grammar from I to III." In C. Ferguson and D. Slobin (Eds.), Studies of Child Language Development. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, pp. 295-333. Butler, Y.G. 2005: Comparative perspectives towards communicative activities among elementary school teachers in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Language Teaching Research 9, 423–46. Cook, V. 1995. ‘Multicompetence and effects of age’ in D. Singleton and Z. Lengyel (eds.). The Age Factor in Second Language Acquisition. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd. David Michael Singleton & Zsolt Lengyel, (1995) The Age Factor in Second Language Acquisition. Multilingual Matters. Pgs. 160 David Michael Singleton & Zsolt Lengyel, (1995) The Age Factor in Second Language Acquisition. Multilingual Matters. Pgs. 160 D¨ornyei, Z., & Skehan, P. (2003). Individual differences in second language learning. In C. J. Doughty & M. H. Long (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 589–630). Malden, MA: Blackwell. Doughty, C. J. (2003). Instructed SLA: Constraints, compensation, and enhancement. In C. J. Doughty &M.H. Long (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 256–310). Malden, MA: Blackwell EUROPEAN COUNCIL (2002). Barcelona meeting. URL (accessed 20 May 2010): www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data Jenifer Larson-Hall, (2007) Weighing the benefits of studying a foreign language at a younger starting age in a minimal input situation, Second Language Research 24,1 (2008); pp. 35–63, University of North Texas. Johnstone, R. 2002. ‘Addressing ‘‘the age factor’’: some implications for language policy’. Council of Europe, Strasbourg: Available at: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/source/JohnstoneEN.pdf Koike, I. and Tanaka, H. 1995: English in foreign language education policy in Japan: toward the twenty-first century. World Englishes 14, 13–25. Krashen, S. (1977a) "Some issues relating to the Monitor Model." In H. D. Brown, C. Yorio, and R. Crymes (Eds.), On TESOL '77: Teaching and Learning English as a Second Language: Trends in Research and Practice. Washington: TESOL, pp. 144-158. Krashen, S. and H. Seliger (1975) "The essential contributions of formal instruction in adult second language learning." TESOL Quarterly 9: 173-183. Lenneberg, E. H. 1967. Biological Foundations of Language. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Long, Michael H. (2005). Problems with supposed counter-evidence to the Critical Period Hypothesis. International Review of Applied Linguistics 43 (4): 287–317. Muñoz, Carmen (2006b). The effects of age on foreign language learning: The BAF project. In Age and the Rate of Foreign Language Learning, Carmen Muñoz (ed.), 1–40 Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Scovel, T. 2000. ‘ ‘‘The younger, the better’’myth and bilingual education’ in R. D. Gonza´lez and I. Melis (eds.). Language Ideologies. Critical Perspectives on the Official English Movement. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Sieneke Goorhuis and Kees de Bot, (2010) “Impact of early English language teaching on L1 and L2 development in children in Dutch Schools”, International Journal on Bilingualism, Vol. 14, No: 3, Pgs. 289 – 302 Snow, C. and C. Ferguson (1977) (Eds.) Talking to Children: Language Input and Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wexler, K. (1998). Very early parameter setting and the unique checking constraint: A new explanation of the optional infinitive stage. Lingua, 106, 23–79. Read More