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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page paper that discusses the entitled hypothesis. This report includes comments from both sides of the question - is there a critical period for achieving native-like proficiency a second language. The research would suggest the question is too simple, there are many different variables to consider. Some aspects of the second language do not have any age limit, while with other aspects, proficiency does seem to decline as one gets older. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: MM12_PGcph2n.RTF
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development. It has long been debated whether there is a similar critical or sensitive time for learning a second language. The question really is whether or not there is an
age or developmental stage after which an individual will be unable to learn the second language and speak it as a native. Some investigators have shown that a child who
is not exposed to language prior to puberty do not seem to be able to grasp the syntax of the language (Caudery, 1999). Of course, since there are few children
found who have not been exposed to any human language before about age 12 or 13, the conclusion is based on only a few examples (Caudery, 1999). Still, this is
an accepted conclusion. In studies investigating the critical period hypothesis with second language acquisition, most researchers use the age of 15 as the onset of puberty (Hakuta, Bialystok and
Wiley, n.d.). The answer to the question involves many different aspects of language learning. One of the most important aspects is how a person learns a second language? Do people
learn a second language in the same way they learn their native language? Is the process of learning similar or does it require the brain to absorb and gain that
knowledge and skill in a different way? The critical period hypothesis regarding acquiring a second language is not new. This hypothesis was first mentioned in 1959 by Penfield and Roberts,
who were neurolingists (Hakuta, Bialystok and Wiley, n.d.). Beginning in 1980, there was another focus on the critical period hypothesis for second language acquisition by a number of researchers (Hakuta,
Bialystok and Wiley, n.d.). They measured different areas of language proficiency, such as "oral speech, grammaticality judgment tasks" (Hakuta, Bialystok and Wiley, n.d.) and found that as age increases proficiency
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