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David Birdsong

Bio: David Birdsong is an academic researcher from University of Texas at Austin. The author has contributed to research in topics: Second-language acquisition & Language acquisition. The author has an hindex of 23, co-authored 52 publications receiving 3891 citations. Previous affiliations of David Birdsong include Harvard University & University of Florida.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper showed that L2 attainment negatively correlates with age of learning even if learning commences after the presumed end of the critical period, and that the outcome of L2 acquisition may depend on L1-L2 pairings and L2 use.

551 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Dec 1992-Language
TL;DR: This paper investigated the loci of competence differences in the syntax of the target language (French) and found that early arrival in the host country correlated with attainment of native norms on a variety of measures.
Abstract: On the prevailing view of ultimate attainment in second language acquisition, native competence cannot be achieved by postpubertal learners. The present study offers convergent experimental evidence which suggests there are exceptions to this generalization. At the same time, early arrival in the host country—even if past puberty—correlates with attainment of native norms on a variety of measures. Also investigated are the loci of competence differences in the syntax of the target language (French). Contrary to findings by Coppieters 1987, experimental performance is not predicted by the status of a given linguistic variable as within or outside the theoretical domain of Universal Grammar.

525 citations

BookDOI
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: This chapter discusses the role of age, language size, and Cognitive Factors in Age Differences for Second Language Acquisition in the development of second language acquisition in young people.
Abstract: Contents: Preface. D. Birdsong, Introduction: Whys and Why Nots of the Critical Period Hypothesis for Second Language Acquisition. C.M. Weber-Fox, H.J. Neville, Functional Neural Subsystems Are Differentially Affected by Delays in Second Language Immersion: ERP and Behavioral Evidence in Bilinguals. J.R. Hurford, S. Kirby, Co-Evolution of Language Size and the Critical Period. L. Eubank, K.R. Gregg, Critical Periods and (Second) Language Acquisition: Divide et Impera. J.E. Flege, Age of Learning and Second Language Speech. T. Bongaerts, Ultimate Attainment in L2 Pronunciation: The Case of Very Advanced Late L2 Learners. E. Bialystok, K. Hakuta, Confounded Age: Linguistic and Cognitive Factors in Age Differences for Second Language Acquisition.

468 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a selective overview of theoretical issues and empirical findings relating to the question of age and second language acquisition (L2A) is provided, where both behavioral and brain-based data are discussed in the contexts of neurocognitive aging and cognitive neurofunction in the mature individual.
Abstract: This article provides a selective overview of theoretical issues and empirical findings relating to the question of age and second language acquisition (L2A). Both behavioral and brain-based data are discussed in the contexts of neurocognitive aging and cognitive neurofunction in the mature individual. Moving beyond the classical notion of “deficient” L2 processing and acquisition, we consider the complementary question of learner potential in postadolescent L2A.

452 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A mechanistic account of dialogue, the interactive alignment account, is proposed and used to derive a number of predictions about basic language processes, and the need for a grammatical framework that is designed to deal with language in dialogue rather than monologue is considered.
Abstract: Traditional mechanistic accounts of language processing derive almost entirely from the study of monologue. Yet, the most natural and basic form of language use is dialogue. As a result, these accounts may only offer limited theories of the mechanisms that un- derlie language processing in general. We propose a mechanistic account of dialogue, the interactive alignment account, and use it to de- rive a number of predictions about basic language processes. The account assumes that, in dialogue, the linguistic representations em- ployed by the interlocutors become aligned at many levels, as a result of a largely automatic process. This process greatly simplifies production and comprehension in dialogue. After considering the evidence for the interactive alignment model, we concentrate on three aspects of processing that follow from it. It makes use of a simple interactive inference mechanism, enables the development of local di- alogue routines that greatly simplify language processing, and explains the origins of self-monitoring in production. We consider the need for a grammatical framework that is designed to deal with language in dialogue rather than monologue, and discuss a range of implica- tions of the account.

2,222 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: New data show that infants use computational strategies to detect the statistical and prosodic patterns in language input, and that this leads to the discovery of phonemes and words.
Abstract: Infants learn language with remarkable speed, but how they do it remains a mystery. New data show that infants use computational strategies to detect the statistical and prosodic patterns in language input, and that this leads to the discovery of phonemes and words. Social interaction with another human being affects speech learning in a way that resembles communicative learning in songbirds. The brain's commitment to the statistical and prosodic patterns that are experienced early in life might help to explain the long-standing puzzle of why infants are better language learners than adults. Successful learning by infants, as well as constraints on that learning, are changing theories of language acquisition.

1,818 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is proposed that "language" disorders, such as specific language impairment and non-fluent and fluent aphasia, may be profitably viewed as impairments primarily affecting one or the other brain system, and suggested a new neurocognitive framework for the study of lexicon and grammar.

1,493 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Vivian Cook1
TL;DR: The authors argued that the prominence of the native speaker in language teaching has obscured the distinctive nature of the successful L2 user and created an unattainable goal for L2 learners, and suggested that L2 users should be viewed as multicompetent language users rather than as deficient native speakers.
Abstract: This article argues that language teaching would benefit by paying attention to the L2 user rather than concentrating primarily on the native speaker. It suggests ways in which language teaching can apply an L2 user model and exploit the students' L1. Because L2 users differ from monolingual native speakers in their knowledge of their L2s and Lls and in some of their cognitive processes, they should be considered as speakers in their own right, not as approximations to monolingual native speakers. In the classroom, teachers can recognise this status by incorporating goals based on L2 users in the outside world, bringing L2 user situations and roles into the classroom, deliberately using the students' L1 in teaching activities, and looking to descriptions of L2 users or L2 learners rather than descriptions of native speakers as a source of information. The main benefits of recognising that L2 users are speakers in the own right, however, will come from students' and teachers' having a positive image of L2 users rather than seeing them as failed native speakers. Language professionals often take for granted that the only appropriate models of a language's use come from its native speakers. Linguists look at the intuitions of native speakers or collect quantities of their speech; language teachers encourage students to be like native speakers. This article argues that the prominence of the native speaker in language teaching has obscured the distinctive nature of the successful L2 user and created an unattainable goal for L2 learners. It recommends that L2 users be viewed as multicompetent language users rather than as deficient native speakers and suggests how language teaching can recognise students as L2 users both in and out of the classroom.

1,418 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A hypothesis is proposed that experience during a sensitive period modifies the architecture of a circuit in fundamental ways, causing certain patterns of connectivity to become highly stable and, therefore, energetically preferred.
Abstract: Experience exerts a profound influence on the brain and, therefore, on behavior. When the effect of experience on the brain is particularly strong during a limited period in development, this period is referred to as a sensitive period. Such periods allow experience to instruct neural circuits to process or represent information in a way that is adaptive for the individual. When experience provides information that is essential for normal development and alters performance permanently, such sensitive periods are referred to as critical periods. Although sensitive periods are reflected in behavior, they are actually a property of neural circuits. Mechanisms of plasticity at the circuit level are discussed that have been shown to operate during sensitive periods. A hypothesis is proposed that experience during a sensitive period modifies the architecture of a circuit in fundamental ways, causing certain patterns of connectivity to become highly stable and, therefore, energetically preferred. Plasticity that occurs beyond the end of a sensitive period, which is substantial in many circuits, alters connectivity patterns within the architectural constraints established during the sensitive period. Preferences in a circuit that result from experience during sensitive periods are illustrated graphically as changes in a ''stability landscape,'' a metaphor that represents the relative contributions of genetic and experiential influences in shaping the information processing capabilities of a neural circuit. By understanding sensitive periods at the circuit level, as well as understanding the relationship between circuit properties and behavior, we gain a deeper insight into the critical role that experience plays in shaping the development of the brain and behavior.

1,355 citations