Cover not available
Article published In:
ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 135/136 (2002) ► pp.125–142

Age differences in foreign language learning

| University of the Basque Country
This article is based on the results of a project that analyses the linguistic development of English as a third language at different ages in a bilingual program. Specifically, it examines the influence of the age of introduction of English as a foreign language on general proficiency. Participants were 60 secondary school students who had Basque and/or Spanish as their first language and Basque as the language of instruction except for the subjects Spanish and English. All the students had studied English for six years but they had started learning English at different ages. Half of the students started learning English in grade 6 and the other half in grade 3. All the participants completed a battery of tests and questionnaires including different measures of proficiency in English: story telling, listening comprehension, composition, grammar and cloze test. The results indicate that older learners present a higher level of proficiency in English. The differences between older and younger students are discussed as related to several factors involved in foreign language learning.
Published online: 1 January 2002
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.135-136.06cen
References (45)
References
ASHER, J. & PRICE, B. (1967) : The learning strategy of the total physical response: some age differences. Child Development 381, 1219-1227. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
BERMAN, R.A. & SLOBIN, D.I. (1994) : Relating events in narrative: a crosslinguistic developmental study. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
BIRDSONG, D. (1992) : Ultimate attainment in second language acquisition. Language 681, 706-755. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
BONGAERTS, D. (Ed.) (1999) : Second language acquisition and the critical period hypothesis. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
BONGAERTS, T.; VAN SUMMEREN, C.; PLANKEN, B. & SCHILS, E. (1997) : Age and ultimate attainment in the pronunciation of a foreign language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 191, 447-465. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
BORNSTEIN, M.H. (1987) : Sensitive periods in development: definition, existence, utility, and meaning. In M.H. Bornstein (Ed.) Sensitive periods in development: interdisciplinary perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 3-17.Google Scholar
BOSCH, L. & SEBASTIÁN, N. (2001) : Early language differentiation in bilingual infants. In J. Cenoz & F. Genesee (eds.) Trends in Bilingual Acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins 71-93. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
BURSTALL, C.; JAMIESON, M.; COHEN, S. & HARGREAVES, M. (1974): Primary French in the Balance. Windsor: NFER Publishing Company.Google Scholar
CENOZ, J. (1997) : L'acquisition de la troisième langue: bilinguisme et plurilinguisme au Pays Basque. AILE 101, 159-180. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1998) : Multilingual educacion in the Basque Country. In J. Cenoz & F. Genesee (eds.) Beyond bilingualism: multilingualism and multilingual education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 175-191.Google Scholar
CENOZ, J. & JESSNER, U. (eds.) (2000) : English in Europe: the acquisition of a third language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
CENOZ, J. & LINDSAY, D. (1994) : Teaching English in primary school: A project to introduce a third language to eight year olds. Language and Education 81, 201-210. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
CUMMINS, J. (2000) : Putting language proficiency in its place: responding to critiques of the conversational/academic language distinction. In J. Cenoz & U. Jessner (eds.) English in Europe: the acquisition of a third language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 54-83.Google Scholar
EKSTRAND, L. (1976) : Age and length of residence as variables related to the adjustment of migrant children, with special reference to second language learning. In G. Nickel (Ed.) Proceedings of the fourth international congress of applied linguistics (Vol 31). Stutgart: Hochschulverlag. 179-198.Google Scholar
FLEGE, J.E. (1991) : Age of learning affects the authenticity of voice onset time (VOT) in stop consonants produced in a second language. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 891: 395-411. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
GENESEE, F. (1987) : Learning through two languages. Cambridge, Mass.: Newbury.Google Scholar
HARLEY, B. (1986) : Age in second language acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
HARLEY, B. & HART, D. (1997): Language aptitude and second language proficiency in classroom learners of different starting ages. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 191, 379-400. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
HARLEY, B. & WANG, B. (1997) : The critical period hypothesis: Where are we now? In A.M.B. de Groot & J.F. Kroll (eds.) Tutorials in bilingualism: psycholinguistic perspectives. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum. 19-51.Google Scholar
HYLTENSTAM, K. (1992) : Non-native features of near-native speakers: on the ultimate attainment of childhood L2 learners. In R. Harris (Ed.) Cognitive processing in bilinguals. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 351-368. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
IMMELMANN, K. & SUONI, S.J. (1981) : Sensitive phases in development. In K. Immelmann; G.W. Barlow; L. Petrivovich & M. Main (eds.) Developmental psycholinguistics: theory and applications. Georgetown Round Table on language and Linguistics. Washington, DC: Georgetown University. 395-431.Google Scholar
JACOBS, H.L.; ZINKGRAF, S.A.; WORMUTH, D.R; HARTFEL, V.F.; HUGHEY, J.B. (1981) : Testing ESL composition. Newbury: Rowley.Google Scholar
JOHNSON, J.S. (1992) : Critical period effects in second language acquisition: the effects of written versus auditory materials on the assessment of grammatical competence. Language Learning 421, 217-248. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
JOHNSON, J.S. & NEWPORT, E.L. (1989) : Critical period effects in second language learning: the influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology 211, 60-99. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
KRASHEN, S. (1973) : Lateralization, language learning, and the critical period: some new evidence. Language Learning 231, 63-74. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
KRASHEN, S.; LONG, M. & SCARCELLA, R. (1979) : Age, rate, and eventual attainment in second language acquisition. TESOL Quarterly 131, 573-582. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
LENNEBERG, E.H. (1967) : Biological foundations of language. New York: Wiley. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
LONG, M. (1990): Maturational constraints on language development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 121, 251-285. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
MAC WHINNEY, B. (2000) : The CHILDES project: tools for analyzing talk (3rd edition). (Vol 1 & 21). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
MARINOVA-TODD, S.H.; MARSHALL, D.B. & SNOW, C. (2000) : Three misconceptions about age and L2 learning. TESOL Quarterly 341, 9-34. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
MAYER, M. (1969) : Frog, where are you? New York: the Dial Press.Google Scholar
MUÑOZ, C. (2000) : Bilingualism and trilingualism in school students in Catalonia. In J. Cenoz & U. Jessner (eds.) English in Europe: the acquisition of a third language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 157-178.Google Scholar
OLLER, J. & NAGATO, N. (1974) : The long-term effect of FLES: An experimnet. Modern Language Journal 581, 15-19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
OYAMA, S. (1978) : The sensitive period and comprehension of speech. Working Papers on Bilingualism 161, 1-17.Google Scholar
PATWOSKI, M. (1980) : The sensitive period for the acquisition of syntax in a second language. Language Learning 301, 449-472. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1990) : Age and accent in a second language: a reply to James Emil Flege. Applied Linguistics 111, 73-89. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
PENFIELD, W. & ROBERTS, L. (1959) : Speech and brain mechanisms. New York: Atheneum.Google Scholar
POLITZER, R. & WEISS, L. (1969) : Developmental aspects of auditory discrimination, echo response and recall. Modern Language Journal 531, 75-85.Google Scholar
SINGLETON, D. (1989) : Language acquisition: the age factor. Clevedon: Multilingal Matters.Google Scholar
(2001) : Age and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 211, 77-89. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
SINGLETON, D. & LENGYEL, Z. (1995) : The age factor in second language acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
SNOW, C. & HOEFNAGEL-HÖHLE, M. (1978) : The critical period for language acquisition: evidence from second language. Child Development 491, 1114-1128. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
THOMPSON, I. (1991) : Foreign accents revisited: The English pronunciation of Russian immigrants. Language Learning 411, 177-204. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
WERKER, J.K. & LALONDE, C.E. (1988) : Cross-language speech perception: initial capabilities and developmental change. Developmental Psychology 241, 672-683. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
WHITE, L. & GENESEE, D. (1996) : How native is near-native? The issue of ultimate attainment in adult second language acquisition. Second Language Research 121, 233-265. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (16)

Cited by 16 other publications

Jaekel, Nils, Michael Schurig, Isabelle van Ackern & Markus Ritter
2022. The impact of early foreign language learning on language proficiency development from middle to high school. System 106 ► pp. 102763 ff. DOI logo
Mora, Jaqueline
2022. Prototypical associations in the production of words in English as a foreign language by L2 learners. European Journal of Applied Linguistics 10:2 ► pp. 257 ff. DOI logo
Segura, Marta, Júlia Barón & Helena Roquet
2022. Productive vocabulary learning in pre-primary education through soft CLIL. Open Linguistics 8:1 ► pp. 297 ff. DOI logo
Nelson, Christina
2020. The younger, the better? Speech perception development in adolescent vs. adult L3 learners. Yearbook of the Poznan Linguistic Meeting 6:1 ► pp. 27 ff. DOI logo
Qureshi, Muhammad Asif
2020. Age and knowledge of morphosyntax in english as an additional language: grammatical judgment and error correction . International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 58:1 ► pp. 29 ff. DOI logo
Van Mensel, Luk, Amélie Bulon, Isa Hendrikx, Fanny Meunier & Kristel Van Goethem
2020. Effects of input on L2 writing in English and Dutch. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 8:2 ► pp. 173 ff. DOI logo
Kopečková, Romana, Christine Dimroth & Ulrike Gut
2019. Children’s and adults’ initial phonological acquisition of a foreign language. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation 5:3 ► pp. 374 ff. DOI logo
Agustin-Llach, M.Pilar & Rosa M. Jiménez-Catalán
2018. Teasing out the role of age and exposure in EFL learners’ lexical profiles: A comparison of children and adults. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 56:1 ► pp. 25 ff. DOI logo
Huang, Becky H.
2016. A synthesis of empirical research on the linguistic outcomes of early foreign language instruction. International Journal of Multilingualism 13:3 ► pp. 257 ff. DOI logo
del Puerto, Francisco Gallardo & María Martínez Adrián
2014. The Incidence of Previous Foreign Language Contact in a Lexical Availability Task: A Study of Senior Learners. In Lexical Availability in English and Spanish as a Second Language [Educational Linguistics, 17], ► pp. 53 ff. DOI logo
Jiménez Catalán, Rosa María, María del Pilar Agustín Llach, Almudena Fernández Fontecha & Andrés Canga Alonso
2014. The Effect of Age on EFL Learners’ Lexical Availability: Word Responses to the Cue Words ‘Town’ and ‘Countryside’. In Lexical Availability in English and Spanish as a Second Language [Educational Linguistics, 17], ► pp. 37 ff. DOI logo
Jiménez Catalán, Rosa María & Tess Fitzpatrick
2014. Frequency Profiles of EFL Learners’ Lexical Availability. In Lexical Availability in English and Spanish as a Second Language [Educational Linguistics, 17], ► pp. 83 ff. DOI logo
Singleton, David & Agnieszka Skrzypek
2014. Age and the Classroom Learning of Additional Languages. In Classroom-oriented Research [Second Language Learning and Teaching, ], ► pp. 3 ff. DOI logo
Dixon, L. Quentin, Jing Zhao, Jee-Young Shin, Shuang Wu, Jung-Hsuan Su, Renata Burgess-Brigham, Melike Unal Gezer & Catherine Snow
2012. What We Know About Second Language Acquisition. Review of Educational Research 82:1 ► pp. 5 ff. DOI logo
Muñoz, Carmen & David Singleton
2011. A critical review of age-related research on L2 ultimate attainment. Language Teaching 44:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Wray, Alison
2008. The puzzle of language learning: From child's play to ‘linguaphobia’. Language Teaching 41:2 ► pp. 253 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.