Informational Abstracts

Abrahamsson and Hyltenstam (2009) report on a study of Spanish and Swedish bilinguals in order to determine if the level of Second-Language Acquisition was dependent on one’s cognitive ability. If an adult L2 learner was able to develop native-speaker competence, this phenomenon would be equal to L1 acquisition failure. The authors identify those who would provide evidence that it was necessary to reject the Critical Period Hypothesis. Their study consisted of two parts. Part I screened advanced Swedish speakers with AOs of L2 acquisition between one and 47 years of age. In Part II, the authors scrutinized the Part I participants who were determined by native speaking judges to be native speakers. They found that further research that cites evidence of late learners and child learners who demonstrate similar nativelikeness should be treated with restraint. 

Bongaerts, Summeren, Planken, and Schils (1997) screened a group of Dutch learners to investigate if they were able to attain a native-like pronunciation of English. Five native British English speakers made up control group 1, and the researchers compared them with 10 Dutch learners who were fluent in British English. Their third group was based on 12 Dutch university students who were at various levels of British English proficiency.  Based on their results, the judges were unable to differentiate native speakers from those who were fluent. The judges gave the native speakers lower scores, but the researchers note that their pronunciation may have been due to location. In their second study, they recorded speech samples which used English phones that were either similar or different to Dutch phones and found that judges rated the native English speakers much higher in this round. The researchers suggest further research should concentrate on languages that typologically less related such as Dutch and French. 

DeKeyser (2000) hypothesized that high level verbal analytical ability would allow nonnative speakers to master the pronunciation of a second language, but it was not able to predict the same level of childhood language competence. The sample used 57 Hungarian immigrant adult speakers who had lived in the United States for a minimum of ten years. Using the grammaticality judgment test, the language learning aptitude test, and a background questionnaire, as instruments, DeKeyser (2000) found that the correlation between age of acquisition and the grammaticality judgment test was -.63 (p < .001). In addition, the results indicated that adult learners would be unable to master a language as well as children. Therefore, the author proposed that the results supported the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis. 

Munro, Flege, and MacKay’s (1996) sample consisted of 240 Italian native speakers and 24 native Canadian English Speakers in order to determine if there was a relationship between the Italian learners’ AOL and accents in 11 Canadian English vowels. After the participants recorded their segments, listeners rated 2,904 vowels. The researchers performed a three-way analysis of variance and found it substantial at F (900, 25,047) = 1.572,p < .05. In addition, the one way ANOVA results found that some learners would find some vowels easier to learn than others. The researchers’ results indicate that late learners would be unable to master another language. 

Stevens (2006) notes that variables of the age of immigration, length of residence, and testing age are related and an important part of the total equation, yet research will typically focus on length of residence. In order to simplify equations, the author implies that researchers discount one or two of the variables. He offers mathematical explanations and solutions to reveal that age of onset of L2 learning and proficiency suggests a relationship that is determined with critical learning age; however, the variable of chronological age is often not considered. The author suggests that further research investigate the age-length-period-cohort characteristic in L2 because it is promising avenue. 

References

Abrahamsson, N., & Hyltenstam, K. (June 2009). Age of onset and nativelikeness in a second language: Listener perception versus linguistic scrutiny. Language Learning 59(2), 249–306

Bongaerts, T., Summeren, C., Planken, B., & Schils, E. (1997). Age and ultimate attainment in the pronunciation of a foreign language. SSLA 19, 447-465.

DeKeyser, R.M.  (2000). The robustness of critical period effects in second language acquisition. SSLA, 22, 499–533.

Munro, M. J., Flege, J. E., & MacKay, I. R. A. (1996). The effects of age of second language learning on the production of English vowels. Applied Psycholinguistics, 17, 313–334.

Stevens, C. (December 2006). The age-length-onset problem in research on second language acquisition among immigrants. Language Learning 56(4), 671–692.