Age and Second Language Development: A Critical Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17722/jell.v3i3.68Keywords:
Age and Cognitive Considerations, Aging Brain, Age of Acquisition, Age and Dopamine Mechanism, Nature of Age Effects in L2DAbstract
This paper focuses on the critical analysis of theoretical and the basic empirical findings dealing with the question of Age and Second Language Development (L2D). Both behavioral and brain-based results are shown in the contexts of background and terminology, age of acquisition, critical period hypothesis, age effects, native attainment, evidence of non-nativelikeness, age and nativelikenss in the brain-based results, the aging brain, cognitive considerations, affective considerations, brain volume, and dopamine mechanism among children and adults. Suggesting beyond the classical judgments of “deficient” L2 development, we comment on the complimentary issues of learner potential in post-adolescent L2D.
References
Abutalebi, J., Cappa, S. F., & Perani, D. (2005). “What can functional neuroimaging tell us about the bilingual brain?”, in J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 497–515.
Ausubel, David (1964). “Adults Vs children in second language learning: Psychological considerations,” in Modern Language Journal. 48: pp.420-424.
Backman, L., & Farde, L. (2005). “The role of dopamine systems in cognitive aging,” in R. Cabeza, L. Nyberg, & D. Park (Eds.), Cognitive neuroscience of aging: Linking cognitive and cerebral aging. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.58-84.
Balcom, P. (2003). “Cross-linguistic influence of L2 English on middle constructions in L1 French,” in V. Cook (Ed.), Effects of the second language on the first. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, pp. 168-192.
Birdsong, David. (2006). “Age and Second Language Acquisition and Processing: A Selective Overview” in Language Learning: A Journal of Research in Language Studies. Ed. Nick C. Ellis. Michigan: Blackwell Publishing, pp.9-38.
Birdsong, D. (1999). “Introduction: Whys and why nots of the Critical Period Hypothesis,” in D. Birdsong (Ed.), Second language acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 1-22.
Birdsong, D. (2003). “Authenticit´e de prononciation en franc¸ais L2 chez des apprenants tardifs anglophones: Analyses segmentales et globales,” in Acquisition et Interaction en Langue E´ trange`re, 18: pp. 17–36.
Bley-Vroman, R. (1989). “What is the logical problem of foreign language learning?” in S. Gass & J. Schachter (Eds.), Linguistic perspectives on second language acquisition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 41-68.
Bradlow, A. R., Pisoni, D. B., Akahane-Yamada, R. A., & Tohkura, Y. (1997). “Training Japanese listeners to identify English /r/ and /l/: IV. Some effects of perceptual learning on speech production,” in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 101:pp. 2299-2310.
Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. (4th ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman.
Chomsky, N. (1975). Reflections on Language. New York: Pantheon.
Cook, V., Iarossi, E., Stellakis, N., & Tokumaru, Y. (2003). “Effects of the L2 on the syntactic processing of the L1,” in V. Cook (ed.), Effects of the second language on the first, pp. 193-213.
Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Courchesne, E., Chisum, H. J., Townsend, J., Cowles, A., Covington, J., Egaas, B., et al. (2000). “Normal brain development and aging: Quantitative analysis at in vivo MR imaging in healthy volunteers,” in Radiology, 216:pp. 672-682.
Crosson, B., Benefield, H., Cato, M. A., Sadek, J. R., Moore, A. B.,Wierenga, C. E., et al. (2003). “Left and right basal ganglia activity during language generation: Contributions to lexical, semantic and phonological processes,” in Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 9: pp. 1061-077.
Flege, J. E., & Hillenbrand, J. (1984). “Limits on phonetic accuracy in foreign language speech production,” in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 76:pp. 708–721.
Freeman, G. B., & Gibson, G. E. (1988). “Dopamine, acetylcholine, and glutamate interactions in aging. Behavioral and neurochemical correlates,” in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 15: pp. 191-202.
Golomb, J., Kluger, A., de Leon, M. J., Ferris, S. H., Convit, A., Mittelman, M., et al. (1994). “Hippocampal formation size in normal human aging: A correlate of delayed secondary memory performance,” in Learning and Memory, 1:pp. 45-54.
Indefrey, P., Hellwig, F., Davidson, D., & Gullberg, M. (2005). Nativelike hemodynamic responses during sentence comprehension after six months of learning a new language. Poster presented at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Toronto.
Klein, W. (1995). “Language acquisition at different ages,” in D. Magnusson (Ed.), The lifespan development of individuals: Behavioral, neurobiological, and psychosocial perspectives. A synthesis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 244-264.
Laufer, B. (2003). “The influence of L2 on L1 collocational knowledge and on L1 lexical diversity in free written expression,” in V. Cook (Ed.), Effects of the second language on the first. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, pp. 19-31.
Lee, N. (2004). “The neurobiology of procedural memory,” in J. H. Schumann, S. E. Crowell, N. E. Jones, N. Lee, S. A. Schuchert, & L. A. Wood, The neurobiology of learning: Perspectives from second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 43-73.
Lenneberg, E. H. (1967). Biological Foundations of Language. New York: Wiley.
Li, S.-C., Lindenberger, U., & Sikstr¨om, S. (2001). “Aging cognition: From neuromodulation to representation,” in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 5:pp. 479-486.
Lupien, S., De Leon, M., De Santi, S., Convit, A., Tarshish, C., Nair, N. P. V., et al. (1998). “Longitudinal increase in cortisol during human aging predicts hippocampal atrophy and memory deficits,” in Nature Neuroscience, 1:pp. 69-73.
Lupien, S., Lecours, A. R., Lussier, I., Schwartz, G., Nair, N. P. V., & Meaney, M. J. (1994). “Basal cortisol levels and cognitive deficits in human aging,” in Journal of Neuroscience, 14: pp. 2893–2903.
Mack, M., Bott, S., & Boronat, C. B. (1995). “Mother, I’d rather do it myself, maybe: An analysis of voice-onset time produced by early French-English bilingual,” in IDEAL, 8:pp.23-55.
MacWhinney, B. (2005a). “A unified model of language acquisition,” in J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.49-67.
MacWhinney, B. (2005b). “Emergent fossilization,” in Z.-H. Han & T. Odlin, Studies of fossilization in second language acquisition. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, pp.134-156.
Marinova-Todd, S. H., Marshall, D. B., & Snow, C. E. (2000). “Three misconceptions about age and L2 learning,” in TESOL Quarterly, 34: pp. 9-34.
McCandliss, B. D., Fiez, J. A., Protopapas, A., Conway, M., & McClelland, J. L. (2002). “Success and failure in teaching the [r]-[l] contrast to Japanese adults: Predictions of a Hebbian model of plasticity and stabilization in spoken language perception,” in Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 2: pp. 89-108.
Moyer, A. (2004). Age, Accent and Experience in Second Language Acquisition. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Neufeld, G. 1978. “On the acquisition of prosodic and articulatory features in adult language learning,” in Canadian Modern Language Review, 34: pp.163-74.
Penfield, W. & Roberts, L. (1959). Speech and Brain Mechanisms. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Pfefferbaum, A., Mathalon, D. H., Sullivan, E. V., Rawles, J. M., Zipursky, R. B.,&Lim, K. O. (1994). “A quantitative magnetic resonance imaging study of changes in brain morphology from infancy to late adulthood,” in. Archives of Neurology, 51:pp. 874-887.
Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1969). The Psychology of the Child. New York: Basic Books.
Pienemann, M., Di Biase, B., Kawaguchi, S., & Hakansson, G. (2005). “Processing constraints on L1 transfer,” in J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. de Groot (eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.128-153.
Piller, I. (2002). “Passing for a native speaker: Identity and success in second language learning,” in Journal of Sociolinguistics, 6:pp.179-206.
Raz, N. (2005). “The aging brain observed in vivo: Differential changes and their modifiers,” in R. Cabeza, L. Nyberg, & D. Park (Eds.), Cognitive neuroscience of aging: Linking cognitive and cerebral aging. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.19-57.
Raz, N., Rodrigue, K. M., Kennedy, K. M., Head, D., Gunning-Dixon, F. M., & Acker, J. D. (2003). “Differential aging of the human striatum: Longitudinal evidence,” in American Journal of Neuroradiology, 24: pp.1849– 1856.
Reuter-Lorenz, P. A. (2000). “Cognitive neuropsychology of the aging brain,” in D. C. Park&N. Schwarz (Eds.), Cognitive aging: A primer. Philadelphia: Psychology Press, pp.93-114.
Rosansky, E. (1975). “Neurophysiological and Cognitive Developmental Factors and the Critical Period for the Acquisition of Language”, paper presented at the Third International Child Language Symposium.
Schumann, J. H. (1997). The Neurobiology of Affect in Language. Oxford: Blackwell.
Schumann, J. H. (2001). “Appraisal psychology, neurobiology, and language,” in Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21: pp. 23-42.
Schumann, J. H., Crowell, S. E., Jones, N. E., Lee, N., Schuchert, S. A., & Wood, L. A. (2004). The neurobiology of learning: Perspectives from second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Seliger, H. W. (1978). “Implications of a multiple critical periods hypothesis for second language learning,” in W. Ritchie (Ed.), Second language acquisition research: Issues and implications. New York: Academic Press, pp. 11-19.
Selinker, L. (1972). “Inter-language,” in International Review of Applied Linguistics, 10:pp. 209–231.
Singleton, D. (2005). “The Critical Period Hypothesis: A coat of many colours,” in International Review of Applied Linguistics, 43:pp. 269-286.
Stowe, L. A., & Sabourin, L. (2005). “Imaging the processing of a second language: Effects of maturation and proficiency on the neural processes involved,” in International Review of Applied Linguistics, 43:pp. 329-354.
Takagi, N. (2002). “The limits of training Japanese listeners to identify /r/ and /l/: Eight case studies,” in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 111:pp. 2887–2896.
Teichman, M., Dupoux, E., Kouider, S., Brugieres, J.-P., Boiss´e, M.-F., Baudic, S., et al. (2005). “The Role of the striatum in rule application: The model of Huntington’s disease at early stage,” in Brain, 128:pp. 1155-1167.
Van Hell, J. G., & Dijkstra, T. (2002). “Foreign language knowledge can influence native language performance in exclusively native contexts,” in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9:pp. 780-789.
Volkow, N. D., Wang, G.-J., Fowler, J. S., Ding, Y.-S., Gur, R., Gatley, S. J., et al. (1998). “Parallel loss of pre and postsynaptic dopamine markers in normal aging,” in Annals of Neurology, 44:pp.143-147.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2015 Journal of English Language and Literature
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.