In a study done by Catherine E. Snow and Marian Hoefnagel-Hohle, the critical period for language acquisition was studied by looking at second language acquistion. The researchers expected that second language acquisition would be relatively fast, successful, and similar to first language acquisition as long as it takes place during the critical period (usually before puberty). English speakers of different ages, who were learning to speak Dutch, were used for the study. It was found that participants in the age groups of 12-15 and adults made the fastest progress during the first 12 months of learning Dutch, but that the 8-10 and 12-15 year old achieved the greatest control of the language. Participants of the 3-5 year old age group scored the lowest on all tests. The results found did not support the hypothesis being studied.
What do these results mean about the critical period? Is there even a critical period? If there was, wouldn't it make the sense that the youngest participants would have had the best experience at learning to speak the Dutch? I also would have thought that the adults would have had a very difficult time, but they actually made the fastest progress. What do you think causes the difference between first language acquisition and second language acquisition?
http://www.jstor.org/view/00093920/ap030189/03a00210/0?currentResult=00093920%2bap030189%2b03a00210%2b0%2c1FFE&searchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fsearch%2FBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26si%3D26%26gw%3Djtx%26jtxsi%3D26%26jcpsi%3D1%26artsi%3D1%26Query%3Dlanguage%2Bacquistion%26wc%3Don
Comments (1)
I would just caution that this is a somewhat outdated article (1978) and many of our language assessment tools have changed dramatically since that time. Also, I would encourage you to consider the limitations of the design...for example, the study compared students of different ages rather than looking at a group the same age going through different learning processes. The problem here would be that adult learners have more developed general cognitive resources to bring to the task. In addition, the way you can assess 3-5 year olds is very different from how you can assess adults. Finally, the critical period depends upon being exposed to regular language input before the age of five (for most aspects of language). This was absent from the study...the kind of exposure needed to a second language during the critical period is the same kind of exposure you would need in your first language--constant, regular, and complete--not the kind of input you get from "picking it up" at school and at work.
I think this is a great article to get a perspective of "where we started" but I hope you will also do some more current research to see where we are.
Posted by Prof Knupsky | February 25, 2008 1:22 PM
Posted on February 25, 2008 13:22