1. Introduction
Nowerdays, with the development of society and technology, our society has become more
open. People, with different colors,who come from different countries and areas communicate with each other in various ways and methods. Language, of course, is one of the most important tools in our communication. As we all known, English is an international language in the whole world. Accordingly, in our country, English learning is very popular with not only students, but also the children, adults and even the retired old man. And according to many studies,age is one of the most important individual factors affecting foreign language learning, which is considered as a focus of applied linguistics and psycholinguistics. Almost all parents think that\"Don't let their own children lose at the beginning. \"In China,all the families believe that it is very important for the students to learn English in the childhood.And many parents even send their children to language schools at an early age in older to get a high score.
In recent years,some scholars in China such as Gui Shichun, Wang Chuming, Dai Manchun, Dai Weidong have a heated discussion about the affection of age factors in foreign language teaching and learning. At the same time, the government have also paid more attention on English learning. Nowerdays,many reseachers have studied the factors affecting language learning, such as intelligence, aptitude, personality, motivation, attitudes, earner's preference, learner's beliefs and age of acquisition. But I just want to study the influence of age factor. Is it good enough for parents to let their children learn English at an early age? Do children have absolute advantages over adolescents and adults in second language acquisition? What are the respective advantages and disadvantages of children,adolescents and adults? With the above problems analyzed,this thesis focus on the influence of age factor on the Second Language Acquisition.
2. Second Language Acquisition
2.1 Definitin of Second Language Acquisition
\"Second language acquisition\"refers to the subconscious or conscious processes by which a language other than mother tongue is learnt in a natural or a tutored or a classroom; it covers the development of phonology,lexis,grammar, pragmatics and other knowledge(Hu Zhuanglin,p.268). How children acquire their native languages and what is the relavance of this to foreign language learning has long been debated. Although evidence for the declining of second language learning ability with age is controversial, a common assumption is that children learn second languages
easily and fluently compared with old learners. This assumption stems from\"critical period\"(CP) ideas(Lennerberg,1967). It is commonly know that children with regular faculties and given normal circumstances will easily master their native languages. Unfortunately,perfect language mastery is rarely in the process of second language acquisition. One of the most obvious potential explanations for the lack of success of second language learners compared to first language learners is that the acquisition of second language begins at a later age than that of the mother tongue does. Thus, many scholars assume that age itself is a predicator of second language proficiency.
A popular belief in this area is that younger learners have certain advantages over older learners in foreign language learning and many linguists and researchers share this belief. They believe that younger children learn second language more easily and quickly than older children (Ellis,2008;Larsen-Freeman,2008). However,some other researchers hold the the opposite point. They believe that younger learners do not show any advantage over older learners in second language learning, and they even can provide some evidence to prove scientifically that the opposite is true, i.e. older learners exhibit some advantages over younger learners (Snow&Hoefnagef-Hohle,1978).
About the study on age factors affecting second language acquisition, Carroll(1980) provided neurological basis for critical period hypothesis from aspect of earlier exposure, whose experiment indicates that the earlier exposure to second language,more or less, is of significance to the success of second language acquisition. That is, the early exposure to second language will bring quite different quality to later language learning in both natural and conscious settings. 2.2 Current Situation of Second Language Acquisition
Many studies pay much attention to the age factor in second language learning at home and abroad. The relationship between age factor and second language acquisition has become more and more hot and popular.
As for second languge acquisition. Penfield and Roberts(1959:130) first introduced the Critical Period. According to Penfield and Roberts, a child's brain is more plastic compared with that of an adult. And in 1967, Lenneberd introduced the Critical Period Hypothesis to second language acquisition, which could account for children's faster and more successful attainment over adults in second language acquisition.
The research of age factor in foreign language learning also attracts much attention of the scholars in China.But it seems that many of them are on the opponent side. Professor Gui Shichun(1992:54-56) questioned the popular concept of \"the younger, the better\". Recently, in Guangdong Province, Professor Dong Yanping(2003:39-47) proposed that it was not necessary to start English teaching programs for young children in kindergartens and Grade 1 of primary
schools. At the same time, a variety of English learning phenomena have sprung up in China:in 2001, the Education Ministry decided that pupils begin English learning from Grade Three in cities and condition-permitting rural areas; in Shanghai all the pupils have been required to learn English from Grade One since 2003; English training courses for kids mushroom all over the country and at the same time, English textbooksand tapesforkids becomebest-sellers. English languagehas turnedintoa secondlanguage inChina.
3. Factors Affeting Second Language Acquisition
In our life and experience, almost all normal children can succeed in their first language acquisition on condition that they get a normal upbring. However, it is quite different in second language learning.
Actually, different characteristics of learners will lead to different results in second language learning. And everyone has his own personality. In addition to personality, other factors are also relevant to language learning. These include intelligence, motivation, aptitude, learners 'preferences and learners' belief. 3.1 Intelligence
The level of learners' intelligence have an influence or second language learning. Over the past years, through using some intelligence tests or different methods, and then using the scores measure the intelligence of the learners. Researchers suppose that intelligence may be connected with second language ability. Recently, more and more studies have proved this. However, it is not the only factor. There are many students who are very successful in second language learning without high intelligence scores. 3.2 Personality
There are many personality characteristics have been considered to be related to second language learning such as extroversion and inhibition. Many believed that extroversion is well suited to second language learning. However, this conclusion does not always get enough support. That is to say, in many studies, many learners who haven't got high scores on measuring extroversion are still successful in the second language learning.
In terms of inhibition,it discourages the progress in language learning because the learners' courage of taking risk can be reduced by the inhibition personality. In fact, personality characteristics still conclude others such as empathy, talkativeness, self-esteem, dominance and responsiveness. However, the clear relationship between learners' personality and second language learning hasn't been found out because it is complicated. As an English teacher,we prefer the active and lively students in the class since they have good performance. So this kind of students who can get more attention from the teachers often has more opportunities to practice
and express. 3.3 Aptitude
Aptitude can be considered as a kind of talent which is made up of different kinds of abilities. The followings are some examples:
(1) The ability to recognize the meaning of the words in the sentences.
(2) The ability to remember new words. This kind of ability is much more concerned with the learners' vocabulary ability.
(3) The ability to analyze the grammar of the material. There are many grammatical rules. So the ability of analyzing the grammar can affect the learners' language learning.
(4) The ability to translate. Translation is very important in language learning and using. Any students who has a good knowledge of translation can do a better job in reading, speaking and even writing. 3.4 Motivation
Through the studies of second language acquisition, the learners' attitude and motivation also plays an important role in learning a second language. And the good and positive attitude and motivation will be more likely to succeed in second language learning than the opposite. Motivation can be studied in two main parts: learners' communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language community.
Therefore, if the learner wants to use the second language efficiently, they must have an abtive attitude and master opportunities to practice. Besides, the personal growth,cultural enrichment and instrumental motivation are all concluded in motivation, which are also concerned with the success of the second language learning.
However, the researchers cannot find out how the motivation affects on the learners during their second language learning. 3.5 Learners’ Preference
As for the learning material and learning methods, every learner has his own preference. Some learners say that they cannot learn something before they have seen it, while others seem to know something as long as they talked it once or twice.
When learners show his preference for some materials or topics which we disagree with the learning method, we should encourage the learners to use their available ways to achieve the success rather than stop them. 3.6 Learners’ Belief
Although not all the language learners may have their individual consciousness of the language learning, all of them have their strong beliefs which influence their learning methods.
Therefore, the learners' belief is also an important factor in second language learning. 4. Age Factors and Second Language Aquisition 4.1 The Affects of Age Factors
4.1.1 The Affects of Age Factors on Rate of Second Language Acquisition
One popular belief about second language acquisition is that the younger, the better. Recently, certain research reports claim to counter this early Critical Period Hypothesis and state that age and language acquisition is inconsistent. Not all younger performs to be superior.
Opposite to the Critical Period Hypothesis, Krashen, Long and Scarcella(1979) draw a different conclusion: (1)adults are superior to children in rate of acquisition, and(2)older children learn more rapidly than younger children(Krashen, et al, 1979). This results reflect differences in rate of acquisition which are consistent with the hypothesis. Adults are generally faster than children in early stages of second language acquisition.
In1967, J.Asher and S.Price compared the ability of listening comprehension of 8-10-year-old and 14-year-old childrent and college adults. The results show that adults score highest while the 8-year-old children were the lowest of all groups tested.T10-year-old and 14-year-old children were between adults are the 8-year-olds. This study suggests that the adults ard superior to the same conditions as children when they learn a second language.
Ervin-Tripp(1974) studied the rate of acquisition of French by 31 English-speaking children aged from four to who learn French nine month in Switzerland(including attendance in French-speaking schools). She reached the conclusion that children performed much better.
Burstall et al.(1975) and Ekstrand(1977) researched majority children who learn a foreign language in Britain and Sweden respectively. Burstall et al.make a study about a large number of school students,some of whom began learning French at the age of eight and others who began at the age eleven after three years on condition having learnt French for the same amount of time, the older learners were ahead on three out of four skills tested-listening, reading and writing.The younger learners, however, mastered speaking ability highly.
Snow and Hoefnagel-hohle(1978) make a study who learn Dutch in Holland. The subjects were
divided
into
five
age
groups:
ten3-to-5-year-olds,
eight6-to-7-year-olds,
thirteen8-to-10-year-olders, nine12-to-15-year-olds, and eleven adults. The study indicated that 3-to-5-year-olds scored lowest and the 12-to-15-year-olds showed the most rapid acquisition of all the skills tested.
Ekstrand(1978) makes a survey about four groups of Swedish school children, whose ages are 8, 9, 10 and 11 respectively. They had been taught English in 10-minute sessions twice a week after 18 weeks, the groups were tested for pronunciation(a taped imitation task) and comprehension(a taped imitation task) increases almost linearly with age.
Ann Fathman made a study in 1982 which examined the relationship between certain aspects of the second language acquisition process and age through an oral production test.It examined about 200 children(aged 6 to 15) from diverse language backgrounds who were learning English as a second language in public schools. The results indicated that the older children performed better in the production of correct morphological and syntactic structures while the younger children performed better in the use of correct English pronunciation.
From the following studies, we can conclude that age can affect the rate of second language learning. Adolescents and adults have many advantages in second language acquisition like faster speed and strong ability to acquire syntax and morphology while children perform much better in phonology.
4.1.2 The Affects of Age Factors on the Process of Second Language Acquisition
Few people make a study of the effects of age on the process of second language acquisition. By far Harley's(1986) investigation of early and late immersion programmes is the most detailed study of the effects of age on the acquisition process. Harley made a comprison between the two groups' acquisition of French verb phrase. For example, the two groups generally made similar types of errors and both groups prefer the relatively unmarked French verb forms to the marked forms. There were only a few differences reflected variations in the second language input to which the learners were exposed.
Bailey et al.(1974) investigated the order in which adults acquired the same set of grammatical morphemes studied by Dulay and Burt who found an order similar to that found in the morpheme studies of children. Fathman(1975) found that the order of acquisition remained constant compared with her sample of two hundred children aged from 6 to 15 years.
Cazden et al.(1975) found that child, adolescent, and adult learners went through the same stages. Thus, learners appear to process linguistic data in the same way, no matter how old they are.
According to their study, the process did not remain constant for children who were in different ages as for order of acquisition. Despite of differences of age and learning environments, there seemed to be a consistency in the order. These findings also support the ideas of Dulay and Burt(1973) and Madden, Bailey, and Krashen(1974), which suggest that there appeared to be similar in terms of acquisition of structures for all second language learners. 4.1.3 The Affects of Age Factors on Learners’ Second Language Achievement
Many researchers have compared older and younger children and concluded that older children are faster learners of syntax and morphology. Then comes the question, whether learners who begin learning can reach higher levels of second language ability than those who start as adolescents or adults. To answer this question,some scholars did some researches.
Burstal et al.(1974), through comprison, found the result that those who started learning French in school at either age 8 or 11when reached age 16. There was only one test result in favor of the early learners, that is to say, only listening comprehension better.
In another study, Dunkel&Pillet(1962), through the comprison of American Schook children who had begun learning French at grade 3 and students of the same age who had had only one year of French at the secondary level, found that the former did not do as well as the latter in terms of the standardized group test of formal grammar in Franch.
Oller&Nagato(1974) found the same results in school system in Japan. Students learn English as a second language from grades 1-6did not do better than students who began learning English in grade 7 when they attend test in the grade 11.
Harley(1986) also make a research which focused on learners' acquisition of the French verb system. She compared early and late immersion students after both had received1,000hours of instruction. Neither group had mastered the verb system, but the older students can master well. However, the early immersion group showed higher levels of attainment than the late.
The results from these reflect that children's level of attainment is greater than that of adolescents/adults. As Stern has emphasized, early age school instruction does not in itself guarantee success(Stern, 1976; Stern&Weinrib, 1977; Stern, 1982). 4.2 Respective Advantages and Disadvantages among Different Ages
When children, adolescents and adults learn a second language, they have neurological(Lenneberg, 1967), cognitive(Talor, 1974: 33) and social-psychological(Brown, H. D. 1987: 51; Talor, 1974) differences. There are many factors determining the differences between children and adults in second language learning such as learning learning environment, intelligence and difficulty in comparative researches and experiments, but age factor is the most influenced one. Actually, children, adolescents and adults have their own advantages and disadvantages in second language learning. The most practical way is to study the effects that age differences bring to language learning and the advantages and disadvantages that each each language learner at different age has in learning a foreign language. 4.2.1 Chidhood
Children's brains are flexible and may have an advantage to accept new knowledge in the second language learning. Therefore, it is easy for them to acquire pronunciation in this period. And a second language can be left a deep impression on the brains in this period. So this is very useful for children's further learning. For instance, some children's toys which can speak some English and Chinese words for them, and gradually, we can find those two years child speak the same words correctly. However, during this period, the parents just want to entertain the children. But they will remember those even when they grow up. At the same time, children have
poor-term and systematic memory, and usually confuse native and foreign languages or native culture and foreign culture, possessing poor ability of abstract thinking. Therefore, it is good for children to learn foreign languages in such bilingual social environment or better teaching facilities.
Besides, our children don't have ability to judge what is right or what is wrong. Children generally follow others' words and actions. So it is not surprise to find that many children share the same behavior of siphoning off the fingers. Therefore, teachers and parents pay attention to children's environment because children can behave differently in different environments. So the teachers and parents should give proper guide in time when children make some mistakes. Some studies state that non-English-speaking have English lessons and instruction. But the length of the program is inconsistent with the acquisition speed. One of the most important factor is the influence of mother tongue. Therefore, it is not the best for children to learn a second language early.
4.2.2 Adolescents
Adolescents have several advantages. They have a high cognitive maturity and a high ability of imitation and memory. Adolescents can also make the most of communicative strategies and understand language and culture very well, which make language input enriched. And they like joining the communication activities. Adolescents can grasp the language regulations and make full use of them in their sentences to express their deeper thoughts. Besides, they can also correct the errors in sentences. All these are obvious advantages for the adolescents in second language learning. For instance, if we ask adolescent students to do a role-play after learning a dialogue, most students can finish the task and some good students can even play it lively. While, if we ask children to do the same case, the children can hardly finish it. That is to say, only adults can achieve such advantages. And as we all known, the adolescents is a period of full of energy and imagination, thus the adolescents must have strong self-control ability and stick to their aims. Besides, they always consider themselves as adults. Therefore, they hate to be ignored and hope to win respect like adults, which is difficult for teacher to deal with. This why a successful teacher always treat some students as a adult while doing as a child.
At the same time,adolescents have many courses in school. Nowadays,more adolescents learnt more than one kind of foreign language. They have to deal with many subjects. Many students even busy on the weekend.It seems that they have no time to relax. They always feel nervous. This make the students feel much burden. Thus, it is crucial for teachers and parents to give the adolescents proper guide when they grow the sense of giving up learning.
4.2.3 Adulthood
As we all known, adults mental is mature. They always have clear goals and strong
motivation to learn a second language. When they decide to learn a language, they will devote much energy to learning.
Adults can grasp the complicated grammar and reading task better than adolescents and children. Therefore, they can understand the second language deeply. All those features lead to adults' learning well. At the same time, the following three kind of adults also have an advantage over adolescents and child.
(1) Some adults work under an International environment, and this atmosphere may provide them more opportunities to practice foreign languages.
(2) Some adults have a long-term or short-term plan to go abroad for further education or working. This plan may make them aware of strengthening their foreign language. And in order to realize this dream, they have to pay more energy and attention to foreign language learning. Therefore, they can promote their foreign language quickly.
(3) Some students still have a strong conscious of learning. Thus they will further the quality of their already language. And they'll grasp every opportunity to improve their foreign language.
Adults also have some disadvantages. For example, most adults have already worked after graduation,join in the social activities and care about the family day and night. Besides, many adults' memory isn't as good as before with the growth of age. Therefore, it is difficult for adults to master foreign language well. And the adults only practice English in the spare time such as when they are at home. They even can't focus their intention on practice if they have a baby. Thus, most adults try their best to make up those disadvantages. 5. Conclusion
It is clear that age is an important factor in second language acquisition. It is not nessessary for students to learn a second language early. Younger learners are not necessarily better learners. Children, adolescents and adults have their own characteristics in second language learning. Children can easily grasp the pronunciation. Adolescents can understand language and culture better.It is good for second language learning. Adults can master the complicated grammar and language regularities. Thus, teachers and parents should employ different strategies in terms of learners of different ages.
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