Language aptitude, language interaction and age of language learning
One researcher’s recent perspective
David Singleton | Trinity College Dublin
Colin J. Flynn | Dublin City University
This article reviews David Singleton’s books and articles published during the period 2014–2020. The first section concerns a popular book which he co-authored with Vivian Cook; the second gives an account of articles covering questions about the concept of language aptitude; the third deals with articles on the manner in which a learner’s competencies in different languages interact; the fourth section then summarizes his recent age-related work on second language learning in childhood, adolescence and midlife; and the fifth deals with his contributions on language learning in senior adulthood.
Keywords: aptitude, interaction, age, childhood, adolescence, midlife, senior adulthood
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.All kinds of everything – not quite
- 3.On language aptitude
- 4.On interlingual influence/interaction
- 5.On the age factor in second language learning in childhood, adolescence and midlife
- 6.On the age factor in second language learning in the third age
- 7.Conclusion
-
References
Published online: 31 January 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.21013.sin
https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.21013.sin
References
Abrahamsson, N. & Hyltenstam, K.
Andrew, P.
Athanasoupoulos, P.
Bak, T. H., Nissan, J. J., Allerhand, M. M., & Deary, I. J.
Bialystok, E., & Craik, F. I. M.
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Klein, R., & Viswanathan, M.
Bryant, F. B., & Veroff, J.
Carroll, J. B.
Carroll, J. B., & Sapon, S. M.
Cook, V.
Cook, V., & Singleton, D.
Costa, A.
Creswell, J. W.
Daulton, F. E.
De Groot, A. M. B.
Dewaele, J.-M.
Eisenstein, M.
Ellis, R., & Shintani, N.
Fabbro, F.
Gass, S., & Lee, J.
Granena, G.
Hakuta, K.
Hillage, J., Uden, T., Aldridge, F., & Eccles, J.
Holmes, J., Gathercole, S. E., & Dunning, D. L.
Jarvis, S., & Pavlenko, A.
Jessner, U.
Klingberg, T.
Kormos, J.
Kroll, J. F., & Stewart, E.
Lapkin, S., Swain, M., & Shapson, S.
Lövden, M., Bäckman, L., Lindenberger, U., Schaefer, S., & Schmiedek, F.
MacDonald, M. C., & Christiansen, M. H.
Mitchell, R., Myles, F., & Marsden, E.
Morales, J., Calvo, A., & Bialystok, E.
Moyer, A.
Muñoz, C.
Muñoz, C., & Singleton, D.
Nam, N.
(2009) Exploring Konglish: Cross-linguistic lexical issues with reference to Korean learners of English. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. Trinity College Dublin.
Neufeld, G. G.
Nicoladis, E.
Ó Laoire, M., & Singleton, D.
(2009) The role of prior knowledge in L3 learning and use: Further evidence of psychotypological dimensions. In L. Aronin & B. Hufeisen (Eds.), The exploration of multilingualism: Development of research on L3, multilingualism and multiple language acquisition (pp. 79–102). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 

Paradis, M., & Goldblum, M. C.
Pfenninger, S. E., & Singleton, D.
Pfenninger, S. E., & & Singleton, D.
Pfenninger, S. E., & Singleton, D.
(2016c) Reading for remembering: On the long-term impact of starting age on retention and recall of target language input. In D. Galajda, P. Zakrajewski & M. Pawlak (Eds.), Researching second language learning and teaching from a psycholinguistic perspective. Studies in honor of Danuta Gabryś-Barker (pp. 71–86). Berlin: Springer. 

Piller, I.
Quay, S.
Ramírez Gómez, D.
Ratté, E. R.
Rosenthal, J.
Ryan, S., & Dörnyei, Z.
Sáfár, A., & Kormos, J.
Schmidt, R.
Schwyter, J. R.
Singleton, D., & Aronin, L.
Singleton, D., & Muñoz, C.
Singleton, D., & Pfenninger, S. E.
Singleton, D., & Ryan, L.
Singleton, D., & Zaborska, D.
Sinka, I., Garman, M., & Schelleter, C.
Sparks, R., Ganschow, L., Fluharty, K., & Little, S.
Toolan, M.
Wen, Z., & Skehan, P.
Whitaker, H.