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Journal ArticleDOI

Maturational Constraints on Language Development

01 Sep 1990-Studies in Second Language Acquisition (Cambridge University Press)-Vol. 12, Iss: 3, pp 251-285
TL;DR: This article reviewed the second language research on age-related differences, as well as first language work needed to disambiguate some of the findings, concluding that both the initial rate of acquisition and the ultimate level of attainment depend in part on the age at which learning begins.
Abstract: This article reviews the second language research on age-related differences, as well as first language work needed to disambiguate some of the findings. Five conclusions are drawn, (a) Both the initial rate of acquisition and the ultimate level of attainment depend in part on the age at which learning begins. (b) There are sensitive periods governing language development, first or second, during which the acquisition of different linguistic abilities is successful and after which it is irregular and incomplete. (c) The age-related loss in ability is cumulative (not a catastrophic one-time event), affecting first one linguistic domain and then another, and is not limited to phonology, (d) The deterioration in some individuals begins as early as age 6—not at puberty as is often claimed. (e) Affective, input, and current cognitive explanations for the reduced ability are inadequate. The capacity for language development is maturationally constrained, and its decline probably reflects a progressive loss of neural plasticity, itself possibly associated with increasing myelination.
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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: The authors provide an overview of research into motivation in mainstream education and demonstrate the utility of other concepts of motivation to the SL field and as the basis for a research agenda for SL investigations of motivation.
Abstract: Discussion of the topic of motivation in second-language (SL) learning contexts has been limited by the understanding the field of applied linguistics has attached to it. In that view, primary emphasis is placed on attitudes and other social psychological aspects of SL learning. This does not do full justice to the way SL teachers have used the term motivation. Their use is more congruent with definitions common outside social psychology, specifically in education. In this paper, we review the standard applied linguistics approach to this topic, and go on to provide an overview of research into motivation in mainstream education. This is used both to demonstrate the utility of other concepts of motivation to the SL field and as the basis for a research agenda for SL investigations of motivation thus conceived.

1,304 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that very few adult immigrants scored within the range of child arrivals on a grammaticality judgment test, and that the few who did had high levels of verbal analytical ability; this ability was not a significant predictor for childhood second language acquisition.
Abstract: This study was designed to test the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis (Bley-Vroman, 1988), which states that, whereas children are known to learn language almost completely through (implicit) domain-specific mechanisms, adults have largely lost the ability to learn a language without reflecting on its structure and have to use alternative mechanisms, drawing especially on their problem-solving capacities, to learn a second language. The hypothesis implies that only adults with a high level of verbal analytical ability will reach near-native competence in their second language, but that this ability will not be a significant predictor of success for childhood second language acquisition. A study with 57 adult Hungarian-speaking immigrants confirmed the hypothesis in the sense that very few adult immigrants scored within the range of child arrivals on a grammaticality judgment test, and that the few who did had high levels of verbal analytical ability; this ability was not a significant predictor for childhood arrivals. This study replicates the findings of Johnson and Newport (1989) and provides an explanation for the apparent exceptions in their study. These findings lead to a reconceptualization of the Critical Period Hypothesis: If the scope of this hypothesis is limited to implicit learning mechanisms, then it appears that there may be no exceptions to the age effects that the hypothesis seeks to explain.

1,213 citations


Cites background from "Maturational Constraints on Languag..."

  • ...(For other arguments against affect as an explanation for age effects, see Long, 1990.)...

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  • ...(For other arguments against input as an explanatory factor, see Long, 1990.)...

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  • ...Not only is there no agreed-upon explanation (see, e.g., Goldowsky & Newport, 1993; Harley & Wang, 1997; Long, 1990; for a recent overview of explanations, see Birdsong, 1999), but the very existence of the phenomenon is denied or played down by some researchers (e....

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  • ...Most literature reviews mention four different hypotheses: (a) Adults are more self-conscious and less able to identify with speakers of the target language than children, (b) adults receive less adequate input than children do, (c) adults have different cognitive mechanisms, and (d) adults show the effects of reduced neurological plasticity (see, e.g., Birdsong, 1999; Harley, 1986; Harley & Wang, 1997; Long, 1990; Singleton, 1989)....

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  • ...Recent reviews for age effects on ultimate attainment in pronunciation can be found in Bongaerts et al. (1997), Flege (1999), Harley and Wang (1997), Long (1990, 1993), and Patkowski (1994); a literature review for age effects on rate of acquisition can be found in Slavoff and Johnson (1995)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the determinants of dominant language fluency, its effects on earnings, and its endogeneity with earnings among immigrants were investigated, and it was hypothesized that Dominant Language Fluency is hypothesized to be correlated with immigrants' earnings.
Abstract: This study is concerned with the determinants of dominant language fluency, its effects on earnings, and its endogeneity with earnings among immigrants. Dominant language fluency is hypothesized to...

1,004 citations

References
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Book
15 Jan 1967
TL;DR: The coming of language occurs at about the same age in every healthy child throughout the world as mentioned in this paper, strongly supporting the concept that genetically determined processes of maturation, rather than env...
Abstract: The coming of language occurs at about the same age in every healthy child throughout the world, strongly supporting the concept that genetically determined processes of maturation, rather than env...

5,178 citations

Journal ArticleDOI

4,167 citations


"Maturational Constraints on Languag..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Doubts exist as to the age at which the formal operations stage is attained, with Piaget specifying 14/15 or older; Ausubel (1968) claiming 10-12, with some individuals never doing so; and some critics (e....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results support the conclusion that a critical period for language acquisition extends its effects to second language acquisition.

2,490 citations