Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 332

International Conference on Contemporary Education and Society Development (ICCESD 2019)

Influence of Starting Age on Second

Language Acquisition

Yadi Deng1 Qing Wang2

Department of English Teaching and Research Department of Civil Engineering
The Affiliated High School of South China Guangzhou University
Normal University Guangzhou, China
Guangzhou, China

Abstract—Individual differences are believed to be in close emphasizing the evidence that individual differences are
connection with second language acquisition (SLA). In this paper, strongly affected by the situation in which learning takes place
the key age hypothesis is used to review and analyze the learner's rather than being ‘context-independent and absolute’. The
starting age, and the learning characteristics and learning predictions of learning outcomes in SLA with impact of
conditions of the second language learners of young children, individual differences are reviewed by Lightbown and Spada
adolescents and adults are studied through comparative analysis. [3]. Understanding the relationship between individual
The results show that starting age not only affects the efficiency characteristics and success in SLA is a big challenge.
of second language acquisition, but also affects the proficiency of Nevertheless, researches in this area are of great importance to
second language acquisition. Learners at different ages maintain
researchers, educators and larger communities. Researchers
different advantages according to contrastive analysis. Best
starting age for SLA is essential to be speculated carefully about
seek to know how different cognitive and personality variables
the goals of instructional programs and contexts before are related and how they interact with learners’ experiences, in
concluding about necessity of the earliest possible start. order to gain a better understanding of human learning.
Educators hope to find methods and strategies of helping
Keywords—Second language acquisition; Starting age; learners with different characteristics to achieve success in
Learners characteristics; Learning conditions SLA. The larger communities are also concerned because SLA
has an enormous impact on shaping opportunities for education,
I. INTRODUCTION employment, mobility, and other societal benefits. Herein, to
Children are almost always successful in acquiring the simplify the relationship between learner characteristics and
language spoken to them in early childhood on the condition learning outcomes in SLA, age at which learning begins is
that they have adequate opportunities to use the language over easier to define and measure than a learner’s personality,
time. This is why many people believe that, in school programs aptitude, or motivation, but still the connection between age
for second language teaching, ‘younger is better’. However, and success in SLA is complicated or controversial. Therefore,
experience of second language learners (SL learners) shows this paper reviews the relationship of starting age and SLA by
that starting early is no guarantee of success and acquisition critical period hypothesis, furthermore, learners characteristics
proficiency varies largely. Therefore, both educators and and learning conditions of young child, adolescent and adult
researchers have gained a great deal of interest in second language learners were studied through contrastive
understanding how characteristics of individuals are related to analysis.
the ability to succeed in second language acquisition (SLA).
II. RELATIONSHIP OF AGE AND SLA BY CRITICAL PERIOD
Based on personal experiences or that of people around, HYPOTHESIS
individual differences are believed to be in close connection It is frequently observed that most children from immigrant
with acquisition success in language learning. Many teachers families eventually speak the language of their new community
are convinced that personality affects SLA in many aspects, an more native-like and fluent than their parents, although many
obvious example is that extroverted students who interact adult SL learners achieve excellent language skills. One theory
without inhibition in the second language and seek to explain the above difference may be the Critical Period
opportunities to practice language skills will be the most Hypothesis (CPH), assuming that there is a certain time in
successful learners [1]. In addition, other characteristics such as human development when the brain is predisposed for success
intelligence, aptitude, motivation and beliefs, are often believed in first language acquisition[4,5]. According to CPH,
to predict success in language learning. developmental changes in the brain affect the nature of
Some of the individual characteristics that have been language acquisition, and language learning that occurs after
investigated in the effort to discover explanations for the end of the critical period may not be based on the innate
differences in learning outcomes. Influences of learners’ biological structures for both first and second language
personalities, aptitude, learning styles, learning strategies and acquisition. Herein, older learners tend to depend on more
motivations were reviewed by Dornyei [2] through comparing general learning abilities as they might apply in acquiring other
related researches in the last decades. He concluded by kinds of skills or information which are not as effective as the

Copyright © 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

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 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 332

more specific, innate capacities that are available to the young the work of Vivian Cook[9]. He made a strong case for the
children. It is most often claimed that the critical period ends inappropriateness of using the criterion of ‘indistinguishable
somewhere around puberty, while some researchers suggest it from a native speaker’ as the basis for success in SLA. Indeed,
could be even earlier. Evidence was found that there may be Cook argues that a second language speaker or bilingual person
multiple critical periods, related to different aspects of should not be compared to monolingual native speakers
language learning. Taking pronunciation for example, the because the real goal is ‘multicompetence’. Another study of
ability to acquire the phonation patterns of a new language may 46 Chinese and Korean speakers who had begun to learn
end earlier than vocabulary comprehension. English at different ages were conducted by Johnson and
Newport [10]. The participants were asked to make
Both the comparison of children and adults as SL learners grammaticality judgments of a large number of sentences that
and the biological language learning condition differences tested 12 rules of English morphology and syntax. It was
suggested by the CPH are of significance and difficulty at the proved that age of arrival was a significant predictor of success
same time. Younger learners in informal language learning based on the test results. Learners who began earliest achieved
environments usually have more time to devote by hearing and the highest scores on the judgments task, while those who
using the language in environments where they do not began later were less likely to judge the sentences correctly and
experience strong pressure, speaking fluently and accurately their performance on the test varied more widely.
from the very beginning of learning. Furthermore, their early
imperfect efforts are often praised and encouraged, or at least Regarding the rate of learning, the study carried out by
accepted. On the contrary, older learners are more likely to find Snow and Hohle [11] reveals that adults and adolescents
themselves in situations that demand more complex language progress considerably in second language learning. Still, early
and the expression of more complicated ideas. Such conditions exposure to the second language may lead to the loss of
often embarrass them due to the lack of mastery and frustrate children’s first language. Wong Fillmore [12] found that when
them because of inadequacy in trying to express themselves children are surrounded in a different language in school for a
precisely. These negative feelings may affect their motivation long period before school, their development of first language
and willingness to place themselves in circumstances where may be slowed down or incomplete, which can result in social
they are required to use the new language [6]. and psychological problems. As children’s first language plays
an important role in their life, teaching second language later
CPH based researches through personal experience or will be more efficient. The time it takes to achieve the goal of
informal observation of adult learners’ difficulties have led second language teaching is another consideration. Burstall’s
some educators and policy makers as well as many parents to study [13] shows that there is no difference between students
conclude that second language instruction is most likely to who began earlier learning program and students with no
succeed when learners begin at very young age [7]. However, previous instruction because starting learning earlier is not
some comparison studies of the second language development equivalent to more hours of instruction, with no total hours
of older and younger learners learning in similar circumstances increasing. To make matters worse, learners beginning earlier
have indicated that older learners are more efficient by using instruction suffer from frustration due to lack of progress and
their metalinguistic knowledge, memory strategies, and consequently their motivation will be influenced.
problem-solving skills. In educational settings, learners who
begin learning a second language at primary school level do III. CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF YOUNG CHILD, ADOLESCENT
not always achieve greater proficiency in the long run than AND ADULT SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS
those who begin in adolescence.
A. Learner characteristics
Patkowski [8] explored the relationship between age and
second language development and found that age is an The main differences of characteristics among young child,
important factor in second language learning of which the goal adolescent and adult SL learners may exists in first language,
is native-like proficiency. 67 highly educated immigrants to the cognitive maturity, metalinguistic awareness, world knowledge
United States who had started to learn English at various ages, and anxiety about speaking, as listed in Table 1.
with a residence length of more than five years were studied.
TABLE I CHARACTERISTICS OF SL LEARNERS IN YOUNG CHILDREN,
15 native-born Americans with a similarly high level of ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS
education were set considered to be the second language
speakers’ target. Results show that the transcripts of all native Items Young child Adolescent Adult
speakers and 32 out of 33 second language speakers who had a Another language 1 3 4
begun learning English before the age of 15 were rated 4+ or 5 b Congnitive
1 2 4
(5 in total). In contrast, 27 of the 32 post-puberty learners were maturity
rated between 3 and 4, but a few learners were rated higher (4+ c Metalinguistic
1 2 4
or 5) and one was rated 2+. The performance of post-puberty awareness
group corresponds very well with general phenomenon if one d World knowledge 1 2 4
were measuring success in learning almost any kind of skill or e No anxiety about
4 2 2
speaking
knowledge: some people did extremely well; some did poorly;
most were in the middle. 1=usually absent, 2=mostly absent, 3=basically present,
4=usually present
An important impact on the way how studies of language
acquisition shall be orthodoxly analyzed has been expressed in To begin with, all SL learners have the advantage of
knowing how languages work since they have learned at least

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one language. However, they sometimes apply the rules of The amount of time is another difference among different
other languages in the use of second language, resulting some starting age of SLA learners. First language learner
errors which first languages learners would not make. This undoubtedly spend much time on languages spoken around.
influence is among young child, adolescent as well as adult Yong SL may also be exposed to their second language every
learners based on the degree of mastery of first language. day, playing on the playground, learning in the classroom or
watching TV. Older learners however are much less exposed to
In terms of cognitive maturity or metalinguistic awareness, the language. A foreign language student if not strictly required
compared with older SL learners, younger learners achieve will have no more than a few hundred hours exposed to
little. Despite the fact that SL learners of young age have language. Adult learners of immigrants use the language in
begun to develop the characteristics, they still have a long way limited situations and classroom learners spend less time using
to go in the area of world knowledge shown in Table1(b,c,d). the new language and they also restricted to small range of
Older learners have advantages over the young learners in discourse types. The language taught in the classroom is formal
cognitive maturity and metalinguistic awareness, which help and it is not uncommon that teachers switch to first language
solve problems and involve in the discussions about SLA. for discipline. As a result, the students have lost the
These advantages are especially important for those learning in opportunity to use the language in real communication.
classrooms and having limited time to learn the language.
However, some theorists suggest that the cognitive skills When taking the corrective feedback into account, parents
actually interfere with SLA in view of that the SLA requires addresses the mistake in meaning but ignore the grammatical
different mental abilities which are specified to language accuracy of children’s language. Since many people think it
learning. The older learners gradually lose the innate language impolite to interrupt when someone is speaking they choose to
acquisition ability by using their metalinguistic abilities and respond to an error even though they don’t really understand
other abilities so precisely. what the speaker is trying to say [14]. Therefore, the grammar
and pronunciation mistake are not addressed. In a situation
Additionally, differences exist in terms of attitude and where a SLA learner seems to use inappropriate language, the
culture between children and adults. Children are more willing
interlocutor may feel uncomfortable and puzzled thinking
to use the language even though they have a quite limited about whether the speaker is rude or not knowing the polite
proficiency of the language. On the other hand, adults and way to make himself/herself understood. In the case the
adolescents feel stressful when they speak and find it quite interlocutor still may not tell what goes wrong. The feedback
difficult to express themselves clearly and precisely. However, on error usually occurs in the classroom, but it is not always
children still differ in their willingness to speak. Some are quite supplied consistently [15].
willing to speak continuously in new language while others
prefer to keep silent and listen to others during the social The exposure to modified or adapted input is common to all
interaction with peers. age learners. Child-directed speech is important for the first
language acquisition. The modified input known as teacher
B. Learning conditions talk or foreign talk in different contexts can help SL learners
As for learning conditions, young child, adolescent and understand what adjustment they can make. However,
adult SL learners vary greatly, particularly in learning sometimes if the modified input is in the form of simply talking
circumstances, ample time, corrective feedback and modified louder, it will become a painful conversation between the
input. These factor are summarized and analyzed in Table2. teacher and learners.
TABLE II LEARNING CONDITIONS OF SL LEARNERS IN YOUNG IV. CONCLUSION
CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS
In this paper, individual characteristics of starting age were
Items
Young
Adolescent Adult
reviewed in relation with SLA by critical period hypothesis,
child learners characteristics and learning conditions of young child,
a Freedom to be silent 4 1 1 adolescent and adult second language learners were studied
b Ample time 4 2 1 through contrastive analysis. Conclusions can be drawn as
Corrective feedback follows:
c 1 4 1
(grammar/pronunciation)
Corrective feedback (meaning/  Age at which learners begin affects not only the
d 1 4 2 learning efficiency but also the proficiency in second
word choice/ politeness)
e Modified input 2 4 2 language learning. Younger learners were proved to
1=usually absent, 2=mostly absent, 3=basically present, maintain more superiority than adults in oral speaking,
4=usually present grammaticality judgments and rate of learning
according to critical period hypothesis.
Young SL learners have the freedom to keep silent before
they are able and ready to speak in the classrooms. They can  Older second language learners gain characteristic
practice their SLA by singing songs and playing games. Older advantages over children in learning skills, cognitive
SL learners have no such freedom, for they are forced to speak maturity, metalinguistic awareness and world
in the early days. They have to fulfill the requirements in the knowledge, but show less competitiveness in the
classroom as well as everyday tasks such as job interview, anxiety about speaking.
shopping and so on.  Considering learning condition, younger learners almost
always get freedom to be silent and have ample time to

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practice second language, while adolescents in second

language classrooms exhibit great merits in corrective
feedback and modified input.
 In second or foreign language teaching, starting early is
no guarantee of success since older learners can attain
high levels of proficiency, as for the consideration of
best age at which to begin second language instruction,
it is essential to speculate carefully about the goals of an
instructional program and the context before concluding
about the necessity of the earliest possible start.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Support from the Affiliated High School of South China
Normal University is gratefully acknowledged.

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