Age And Acquisition Of English As A Foreign Language - Essay Example

AGE AND ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE General Overview A growing importance of teaching foreign language in schools has been recently observed in several countries. Governments are taking active measures and implementing effective policies addressed at imparting providing education in second language to children in schools and has also reduced the age criteria for learning foreign language. This has facilitated researchers and educationists to focus on the ‘age factor’ and analyze its significance and relevance in terms of acquiring foreign / second language skills. The book “Age and Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language” by María del Pilar is based on the criticality of learning English as a second language and addresses various issues related to language learning particularly focusing on the relevance and significance of the "age factor" and its consequent resulting impact on acquisition of critical foreign language learning skills. I have chosen to criticize this book because age factor is one of the most important issues related to the process of the second language learning. About the Author: The author, María del Pilar is an Associate Professor of English linguistics at the University of Basque Country, Spain and has conducted in depth research in the field of language studies. Her works essentially focus on acquisition of second language skills and other critical elements associated with developing and acquiring such skills. 2. Discussion and Analysis: The ‘age factor’ has at all times been one of the chief issues in terms of research and investigations focused on the acquisition of second / foreign language. Nonetheless, the crucial point has now shifted from: investigating the question of whether there exists a crucial phase, as observed during the 1970s and 80s, to: the suitable time to begin education in L2. Such a tendency trend is mainly applicable in foreign language acquisition perspectives across Europe and visibly apparent in countries like Spain where the age of instruction for teaching English was drastically significantly reduced from 11 years of age to 8 years by the Reforma. It is hence, highly likely that advance improvements might press forward the starting age for learning foreign language to age 6. Although these changes fail to consider the conclusions from current research, they do, however, replicate the common apprehensions fear regarding the significance of languages, particularly English, in our every day lives. This book review is, as a result, of supreme significance to teachers as well as students of English as a second / foreign language. It accumulates certain chosen contributions in two parts. The first part deals with "Theoretical Issues" discussed in three chapters which presents a general idea about the role of age in learning languages. The second part on the other hand, titled "Fieldwork in Bilingual Communities" - discusses numerous aspects explored by groups of researchers. Chapter 1 in part 1 titled “Critical Period or General Age Factor(s)” written by David Singleton provides a methodical introduction to the CPH Critical Period Hypothesis as well as the theory of CP Critical Period in FLA Foreign Language Acquisition. Singleton’s evaluations on the CP in SLA Second Language Acquisition concerning the accomplishment of native-like expertise, the natural acquirement of an L2 prior to the CP, knowledge and processing systems, and ultimately, the naturalistic and tutoring surroundings. He states that although the impact of age is apparent in the studies, the result of a CP in the customary perception of the theory is not always comprehensible. The author quotes the work of Penfield & Roberts (1959) to assert his views: “for the purposes of learning languages, the human brain becomes progressively stiff and rigid after the age of nine" (Pilar, Lecumberri, 2003, Pp, 4). The author has presented several views in support of as well as debates challenging the CP hypothesis. In my view, there is a wide range of difference in the manner in which the critical period hypothesis is perceived. This affects all the constraints which are considered to be hypothetically noteworthy and undeniably involving the methods in which, the professed proposed critical period is understood with respect to its consequences on the L2 education. The basic reality that there are such varied and opposing accounts of the CP hypothesis itself undermines its credibility. The next chapters, titled "Phonological Acquisition in Multilingualism" and "Know your Grammar: Where the Knowledge of Syntax and Morphology in an L2 Reveals about the Critical Period for Second / Foreign Language Acquisition" by Jonathan Leather and Stefka, Marinova - Todd, respectively present detailed discussion on the phonological acquisition in multilingualism as well as grammar and CP. In the second chapter, Leather offers comprehensive explanations of phonological acquisition with respect to age. The author states that "in the many societies where language blends are abundant and mother tongues lack the norms that explicitly define western standard languages, it is often far from clear how to identify what language is being spoken at any particular moment" (Pilar, Lecumberri, 2003, Pp. 23). The arguments and descriptions offered by Leather have a striking remarkable similarity with the ideas proposed by Singleton, in the first chapter. Like Singleton, Leather claims that in order to clarify the variations observed among learners of a second language, the age factor must be taken into consideration, since there is adequate evidence which suggests that the learners who begin foreign language training, at an early age, have a foreign accent while the adult learners who learn the language at a relatively later age, have native - like pronunciations. This chapter is seemingly in continuation with the first chapter where the author continues the discussions concerning CPH. Unlike Singleton, Leather does not totally support the CPH notion with regard to acquisition of SL skills in L2 learners. I support his view of the need for more longitudinal studies which incorporates phonetic and phonological issues since it is only through an all-embracing extensive and methodical longitudinal studies concentrating on the phonetics of childrens speech will it be possible to discover the conclusive evidence for the defective learning as a key factor facilitating sound change. Furthermore, such studies will facilitate the revelation of the superficial external characteristic of phonetic or phonological inaccuracies which are either the outcomes of undeveloped articulatory development which tend to eventually fade away with age; or they are genuine instances of mini - sound change, which may multiply through a community, or be vitiated degraded by dispersion spreading of new information. The third chapter on Know Your Grammar, by Stefka Marinova – Todd, offers a very understandable and inclusive evaluation of studies conducted for and against the CPH in the field of morphosyntax. The author claims that there exists adequate indication to support the thought that although younger learners accomplish considerable achievement relatively faster than that compared with adult learners, morphosyntax helps the adult learners to achieve near native level of language skills. The author has talked at length about this concept with regards to language acquisition. He argues that “the age of arrival in the second language environment has proven to be merely one among many factors that mutually contribute to determine the ultimate attainment in an L2. Recent research points to the importance of factors other than age of arrival and emphasizes the necessity of focusing carefully on developing foreign language programs that provide the best environment in which learners of all ages can efficiently utilize their cognitive abilities in order to achieve the highest possible proficiency in their L2s” (Pp. 59). However ,in this chapter the author - Marinova-Todd offers a systematic assessment of the literature concerning the function of grammar in FL acquisition. Owing to the current literature which indicates that older learners reveal identical talents or at times, do better than younger learners in FL acquisition, it may not be safe to presume that children, and particularly the younger ones, are the best language learners. Furthermore, the critical period hypothesis cannot be warranted since there are clearly several exceptions to that theory as well. Also, these studies highlight the want for improved frameworks for older (adult) learners of foreign languages. The fourth chapter on “The Influence of Age on the Acquisition of English: General Proficiency, Attitudes and Code Mixing” by Jasone Cenoz provides enlightenment clarification on the state of English as a third language in the Basque Country, where it was launched as a pilot project in a kindergarten. The article summarizes findings and outcomes of language learners with respect to age, from the studies conducted by the author herself, with a group comprising of 135 learners all of whom were exposed to equivalent hours of training but with varied ages. The studies revealed that older learners were able to achieve better results as compared to the younger learners in most of the procedures applied for measuring proficiency and the differences so observed, are statistically noteworthy. The author has very systematically and methodically examined each and every critical aspect related to this field of study by providing logical arguments and outcomes of research work conducted in the past in this regard. I found the article to be particularly enlightening, since multilingualism is becoming more and more common, and is already in existence in various European countries as well as in South East Asian countries where a multiple languages are commonly used for communication. The discussions over the mental abilities or aptitude of adults versus that of young learner have dominated literature of linguistic studies for decades. This chapter provides an enlightening view of the debate and resolves several issues convincingly. Chapter 5 titled “Age, Length of Exposure, and Grammaticality Judgements in the Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language”by María del Pilar García Mayo, begins with a concise yet comprehensive assessment of age and subsequently centers on the grammaticality of the task, which is further used to estimate the target – like performance in the study as well as on the linguistic understanding of issues associated with this task. This chapter addresses three crucial issues involving discussions over impact of duration of study on performance and achievement of grammatical efficiency; the influence of early exposure on task performance; and the relationship between higher cognitive development and extent of Meta - linguistic awareness among learners. As a teacher of English language, I found this of particular interest since the outcomes of these discussions helped in resolving various conflicting issues. The study revealed that the duration of exposure to a foreign language has a positive impact on learners, older learners tend to learn more effectively as compared to the younger learners, and older learners who were exposed to the English language at a later age i.e., between the ages of 11 and 12 were able to correctly identify the mistakes in a sentence and offer accurate solutions. This information can be effectively incorporated within classroom settings. The sixth chapter on “English FL Sounds in School Learners of Different Ages” by María Luisa García Lecumberri and Francisco Gallardo provide a comprehensible evaluation of the ages of learners and their abilities with regard to pronunciations. The author presented a study whereby the participants were grouped according to their relative of ages of exposure to the language and who had learned the language for the same duration of time. In my opinion, the most significant part of this chapter was the conclusions of the research which revealed that early exposure to a foreign language does not guarantee FL sound acquisition, particularly in a formal setting and the other relevant factors such as NL influence, variety of strategies used for understanding the cognitive development of learners as well as the types of inputs received by the learners must be taken into consideration. In this chapter, the author establishes a direct relationship between age and awareness abilities of the older learners and asserts the fact that in terms of imparting providing training of foreign language in a classroom setting, the older learners are more preferable than the younger learners since the older students tend to display a superior observation with reference to vowels and consonants and also they are regarded as better subjects who easily appreciate the nuances peculiarities / differences / special features of a foreign language and have a weaker foreign accent and are clearly more intellectual scholarly. The fact that older learners have an edge in terms of their knowledge and grasping of morphology and syntax, and this research provided by the author is one of the rare studies which validates this belief with regard to pronunciation. The seventh chapter titled “Maturational Constraints on Foreign-language Written Production” by David Lasagabaster and Aintzane Doiz seeks to investigate the relevance of the age factor, in written production. This is done by analyzing a predefined set of compositions written by learners belonging to three different age groups and with varied backgrounds i.e. comprising of those who were bilingual or monolingual. This chapter based on maturational constraints on foreign language written production aimed at studies centered on the older learners abilities of foreign language acquisition. The studies revealed that learners who were exposed to English at a relatively later age displayed exceptional skills in terms of their approaches, as compared to those who were exposed to the language at a younger age. The explanation provided for such an outcome, state that L1 skills of the older learners are relatively more developed and hence the older learners are able to properly analyze the errors commonly made and effectively avoid them. Also, I agree with the studies since logically the older learners are capable of analytical thinking and have adequate skills to interpret and analyze the foreign language on account of their well developed L1 skills which are not the case in terms of the younger learners. In the eighth chapter on “Variation in Oral Skills Development and Age of Onset” by Carmen Muñoz comprises of a detailed investigation on the age factor as well as other critical issues including rate and attainment achievement of foreign language learning and literacy related L2 and communication skills. Muñoz’s research on presents an enlightening account of oral as well as aural communicative skills of learners with regard to foreign language and a detailed study of the relationship between duration of study and its impact on language development.. In this chapter, the author, on the basis of the research conducted by them, contend that, the learners who were given late exposure to a foreign language and had relatively lesser hours of instruction imparted to them in a classroom setting, as compared to those who have had an early exposure to the foreign language, performed consistently in a better manner. The author justifies this statement by suggesting that “If no change in trend is observed at the end of secondary education, it should then be concluded that the current system of formal education does not provide enough exposure to students in order for the early starters to outperform the late starters” (Pp. 178). I believe that, the role played by the differences in cognitive function among the younger as well as the older learners in interpreting the written and the spoken language is not properly understood. Although it is well established that the older learners have an edge over the younger learners in terms of listening and visual skills however, studies suggest that they may not be efficient in outperforming the younger learners on tests of comprehension skills. I also believe, that such differences and confusions can be effectively reduced through a comprehensive understanding of the basic processes that govern such behavior and will also facilitated the development of appropriate, adequate and efficient interventions by teachers, to enable them to eliminate such disparities. In the ninth chapter the authors have provided a strong viewpoint derived from a series of researches and studies carried out methodically by them. They have contemplated considered challenging and complicated issue of developing and implementation of strategies and the impact of age in foreign language acquisition. This brief volume study is by far one of the best studies which provide a rare collection of theoretical as well as practical issues and some of the most important findings in the field of educational research. The studies included within this volume are well designed and the literature reviewed is appropriately chosen and recent. The design of the book is perfect with reviews and studies pertaining to diverse skills and strategies and the findings, although are a little contentious, to some extent, are able to effectively put forward the thoughts and ideals of the researchers with adequate and convincing supporting evidence. These studies could prove to be handy in countries with multilingual settings such as Europe for instance, where English is a second or probably the third language of study in classrooms. 3. Assumptions about the Background of Readers This book could be used by teachers who teach foreign language education in schools as well as researchers as a tool for introduction study for further research. The first part of the book is wholly dedicated devoted to theoretical issues. The complexity and depth of the chapters prevents general readers from using it as a source of guidance or reference for enhancing their language skills. The underlying assumptions about the background of the target audience, in my opinion, are that they belong to the education field, i.e., work in the faculty of teachers or lecturers with regard to instructing training in second / foreign language acquisition or they are researchers, theorists or linguists interested in carrying out research or studies in language skills with diverse perspectives. I believe that this book is not intended for general use, as the criticality of the terms used and the concepts discussed are specific to the field of linguistic study. It basically addresses the issues and concerns faced in elementary and kindergarten schools and can be used as a handbook by professionals involved in teaching second language in such a setting. The second part of the book is mainly consisted of fieldwork studies which discusses in detail, the diverse areas of research undertaken by the authors as well as the outcomes of such research. This can prove to be very useful by other researchers who may use these studies as a base for conducting further research. 4. Noteworthy Articles The articles that I found to be most significant are the ones mentioned in part 2 of the book i.e. Fieldwork in Bilingual Communities. It provides a detailed analysis of the outcomes of the current research work based on age and other correlated factors related to acquisition of foreign language in a given setting. The selection of topics covered under this section is outstanding and comprehensive. Of the second part, the most noteworthy articles in my view include: chapters 4, 5 and 8. Chapter 4 on The Influence of Age on the Acquisition of English: General Proficiency, Attitudes and Code Mixing offer interesting perspectives regarding acquisition of foreign language with respect to younger learners. The author claims that younger learners do not code-mix more than older learners and accepts the fact that the study in itself is not all conclusive and expresses his views regarding the need for further in depth studies using the outcomes derived from the research to arrive at adequate longitudinal results. The research findings provided by the author enables further research based on various subjects conducted across diverse schools, as this study was limited to one single school. The clear and lucid logical presentations of this study facilitate an excellent opportunity for debates and discussion on the topic and offer a wider scope for future studies. The fifth chapter on Age, Length of Exposure and Grammaticality Judgments in the Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language is another interesting chapter which provides remarkable observations in the field of language acquisition skills based on research conducted in Barcelona. The research which was focused on learner’s age stated that the older learners perform better as compared to the younger learners in terms of a range of skills including linguistic awareness and vocabulary as opposed to those learners who have had the opportunity of learning the language at an early age. The study was developed to facilitate an effective comparison between the participants in accordance with their age of exposure. The participants were ranged from 8 year olds to 12 year olds and the study was based on the longitudinal analysis of the above age groups divided into two distinct categories. Such studies based on longitudinal analysis are rare which adds to the uniqueness and significance of this research. Thus, this chapter provides various new and essential observations based on innovative methods of analysis and hence offers a wider and a different perspective than those presented in previous researches conducted in this behalf. Moreover, the uniqueness of this study also helps other researchers to use it as a base for further studies and enable the development of newer and better strategies to assist second language learners in having a better grasp understanding of the foreign language. Finally, the eighth chapter on “Variation in Oral Skills Development and Age of Onset” provides a comprehensive study as well as a threefold three dimensional investigation of the written production; a holistic complete / all inclusive examination conducted with the aid of two evaluators, a quantitative study, as well as an error analysis. The comprehensiveness of the study covers almost all the critical aspects related to linguistic studies especially with respect to the acquisition of a second / foreign language in an enclosed closed setting. In continuation with earlier studies conducted in the Basque Country as well as in Catalonia, the outcomes signify that older learners tend to pull off better scores in terms of holistic complete / all inclusive as well as in the quantitative assessment. Furthermore, the error analysis indicates that the three groups are prone have a tendency for to diverse types of errors, which according to the authors is an outcome of deprived linguistic capability of the learners as also the inadequacy shortage in terms of knowledge in text among the younger students. The error analysis also indicates that the reason for poor performance with respect to older participants was mainly on account of the complexity and time-span duration in the older group, as well as the intermediate group. The chapter concludes with wide range of motivating educational suggestions which is in turn one of the major attractions and the strongest points of this chapter. 5. Articles which I find lacking This first part of the book offers the obligatory theoretical background and provides remarkable contexts for facilitating additional research. However, it is obvious to observe that, apart from a solitary single case in the second chapter (in the first part of this book), the general conclusions offered in part 2 have not in general been taken into consideration in the theoretical part. There is a serious lack of consistency between the two parts i.e. the theoretical part and the fieldwork and analysis part. The studies, should have been interconnected with each other, to provide a better understanding of the concepts discussed, in theory and in practice i.e., in the first and the second part respectively. Also a common final conclusion would have sufficed been adequate to provide an all encompassing inclusive book which offers an in depth theoretical analysis as well as a comprehensive study of on field experiments conducted by the researchers. Another aspect of the book which I found to be particularly lacking in the first part of the book was the lack of concise definitions of the key terms and concepts discussed in theoretical context. Precise definitions of the thoughts, theories, ideas, or models discussed would have lent more credibility and weight to the chapters mentioned in the first part. Besides, definitions are of critical significance in every field of study as it facilitates lexical competence and are inevitable in order to establish a theoretical foundation for research on linguistic studies. It is thus, of critical significance for authors to clearly organize and clarify approaches and definitions of key terms and concepts as proposed by various authors, in order to assess different approximations estimates to the problem being analyzed. 6. Evaluation Overview In conclusion the book provides a fascinating account of the relationship between one of the most critical aspects of foreign language learning i.e. the age of the learner. The presentation of the articles / chapters provided in the book is excellent and the topics discussed hold critical significance to a wide range of scholarly audience including the teachers of foreign languages, researchers, theorists and to some extent, university students. It throws light on a variety of issues such as: How is the concept of second language learning related to age? What do the theories tell us about the obscure vague ideas of knowledge? What are the fundamental assumptions of studying English as a foreign language? etc. Textbooks such as these have the potential to become major allies in the process of spreading awareness about complexities of notions and ideologies. References: Pilar, M., Lecumberri, M., (2003) Age and the Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language, Multilingual Matters Read More