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    4 The Critical Period Hypothesis CPH PDF

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    The document discusses the critical period hypothesis (CPH) which proposes that there is an ideal time period for acquiring language skills. It presents Lenneberg's theory that language acquisition is biologically linked to brain maturation between ages 2-12. Evidence for the CPH comes from studies of individuals deprived of language early in life, recovery from aphasia, and ultimate attainment levels in second language learners. However, some linguists argue that the evidence for a strict critical period is inconclusive and that language learning is still possible to some degree beyond the hypothesized critical period.

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    4 The Critical Period Hypothesis CPH PDF

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    The document discusses the critical period hypothesis (CPH) which proposes that there is an ideal time period for acquiring language skills. It presents Lenneberg's theory that language acquisition is biologically linked to brain maturation between ages 2-12. Evidence for the CPH comes from studies of individuals deprived of language early in life, recovery from aphasia, and ultimate attainment levels in second language learners. However, some linguists argue that the evidence for a strict critical period is inconclusive and that language learning is still possible to some degree beyond the hypothesized critical period.

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    The document discusses the critical period hypothesis (CPH) which proposes that there is an ideal time period for acquiring language skills. It presents Lenneberg's theory that language acquisition is biologically linked to brain maturation between ages 2-12. Evidence for the CPH comes from studies of individuals deprived of language early in life, recovery from aphasia, and ultimate attainment levels in second language learners. However, some linguists argue that the evidence for a strict critical period is inconclusive and that language learning is still possible to some degree beyond the hypothesized critical period.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    124 views15 pages

    4 The Critical Period Hypothesis CPH PDF

    Uploaded by

    ッ ッ
    The document discusses the critical period hypothesis (CPH) which proposes that there is an ideal time period for acquiring language skills. It presents Lenneberg's theory that language acquisition is biologically linked to brain maturation between ages 2-12. Evidence for the CPH comes from studies of individuals deprived of language early in life, recovery from aphasia, and ultimate attainment levels in second language learners. However, some linguists argue that the evidence for a strict critical period is inconclusive and that language learning is still possible to some degree beyond the hypothesized critical period.

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    of 15

    THE CRITICAL PERIOD HYPOTHESIS

    (CPH)
    ANNA & KATHRIN MALL
    OVERVIEW

    • Introduction
    • What is the CPH?
    • Lenneberg‘s theory: correlation of motor and development
    • Evidence of the CPH‘s existence
    • Different termini
    • CP in SLA
    • Does CPH really exist?
    THE CRITICAL PERIOD

    • Ethologists studied the origin of species-specific behaviour


    • Some species need periods in which a particular stimulus has to be present
    to develop normal behaviour
    • Critical period also in human maturation?
    ERIC H. LENNEBERG (1921-1975)
    • …argued that a CP exists in case of language acquisition
    • …examined the development of language in children in the context of
    developmental biology
    • …had a similar intention as Noam Chomsky: “reinstate the concept of the
    biological basis of language capacities”
    • …used a different approach: language as a “species-specific mental organ with
    non-trivial biological properties”
    • …was the “father” of CPH and successor of W. Penfield (1891-1976)
    WHAT IS THE CPH?

    • ability to acquire language biologically linked to the age


    • ideal time span to acquire language
    • After this time span: further language acquisition becomes more difficult
    • Native like mastery of grammatical structure cannot be fully achieved
    • Lenneberg: development of language as a result of brain maturation
    • Equipotential hemispheres at birth, language gradually becoming lateralized in the
    left hemisphere
    LATERALIZATION
    • Complex and ongoing process: regions of the brain „take over“ the
    functioning of behaviours & cognitive skills
    • Certain functions are located in one side of the brain
    • Delays in lateralization affect cognitive/behavioural skills
    • Language deficits
    • Lenneberg: age 2 – puberty
    CORRELATION OF LANGUAGE & MOTOR DEVELOPMENT?
    CPH BASED ON….

    1) The recovery from traumatic aphasia, lateralization of speech function


    and hemispherectomy
    • Aphasia: inability to comprehend and formulate language
    • Hemispherectomy: one hemisphere is removed, disconnected, or disabled
    CPH BASED ON….

    2) Down’s syndrome children


    • 54 mongoloids between 6 months and 22 years old
    • Seen two/three times a year over a three year period
    • Result: progress in language development only in children <14 years
    EVIDENCE OF CP EFFECT?

    • Genie (discovered in 1970)


    • No social contact for the first 13 years of her life
    • Disturbed, underdeeloped, unable to learn language
    • Case supports theory of Lenneberg, but only in a weak form

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H2POnmvbPo
    DIFFERENT CP TERMINI
    SLA AND THE CP

    • New term: sensitive period


    • different periods, regarding different linguistic aspects
    • nativelikeness in an L2 is still achievable up to a certain point
    adolescence
    CRITICAL PERIOD EFFECT IN SLA
    • Survey by Johnson and Newport (1989):
    • General findings:
    • adults may initially outstrip children
    • childhood learners reach higher levels of ability
    • studied the eventual levels of attainment of Chinese and Korean learners of
    English as a second language
    • Specific results regarding age of acquisition:
    • Before age 10 and 15: very few individual differences in ability to learn
    language between the groups
    • Adults: there are large individual variations in ultimate ability in the language
    DOES THE CPH REALLY EXIST?

    • Aitchison (1989): “there is no evidence of a sudden onset, or final


    endpoint of the supposed critical period.“
    • Fromkin, Krashen et. al (1978): “at least some degree of first language
    acquisition seems to be possible beyond the critical period” and enough
    language acquisition is possible after puberty.
    • Singleton (1989): the evidence for a critical period is too weak
    REFERENCES
    • Boeckx, Cedric, and Víctor M. Longa. "Lenneberg’s views on language development and evolution and their relevance
    for modern biolinguistics." Biolinguistics 5.2 (2011): 254-273.
    • Crystal, David. The Cambridge encyclopedia of language. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
    • Hurford, James R. "The evolution of the critical period for language acquisition." Cognition 40.3 (1991): 159-201.
    • Lenneberg, Eric H. "On explaining language." Science 164.3880 (1969): 635-643.
    • Lenneberg, E. H. (1967). The biological foundations of language: 154-155
    • Scovel, Thomas. "A critical review of the critical period research." Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 20 (2000): 214-
    223.
    • Singleton, David. "The Critical Period Hypothesis: A coat of many colours." International Review of Applied Linguistics in
    Language Teaching 43.4 (2005): 269-285.
    • Vihman, May Marylin. Reviewed Work: Biological Foundations of Language by Eric B. Lenneberg. International Journal of
    American Linguistics Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1969): 77

    Images:
    • https://www.google.it/search?q=lenneberg&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwifo-
    qdyo3UAhXCyRQKHaVyCqEQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=662#imgrc=KEm2wn_NnFB8FM:

    • https://www.google.it/search?q=lenneberg&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwifo-
    qdyo3UAhXCyRQKHaVyCqEQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=662#tbm=isch&q=genie+socially+deprived+child&imgrc=ednkqItRRLlTmM:

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