University of Rijeka

Faculty of Humanities and Social Studies

Department of English

Is there a critical period for second language acquisition? Discuss this

question based on the findings of empirical studies and, if possible,

your own experience.

Gracia Valent

Second Language Acquisition

Tihana Kraš, dr. sc.

9th January 2023

this topic seemingly surfaced back in the 4th century in the works of Augustine who theorized

on the topic of language overall, however this claim is controversial (Ritchie & Bhatia, 2009,

4), Nonetheless, despite its uncertain history, second language acquisition is a fruitful subject

which has brought forth the question of the existence of a critical period for second language

acquisition. According to the critical period hypothesis, learning a language becomes

significantly more challenging and laborious after a certain window of optimal brain

development for doing so in a linguistically diverse environment (Birdsong, 1999). In their

1959 book Speech and Brain Mechanisms, neurologist Wilder Penfield and co-author Lamar

Roberts introduced the critical period hypothesis. The degree to which the capacity to acquire

language is biologically tied to age is a topic of ongoing discussion in linguistics and language

acquisition and has resulted in an abundance of data regarding the matter. (Hakuta, Bialystok

& Wiley, 2003)

It seems to be well known that young children, up to the age of 18, have an easier time learning

in general, not just a language. The benefits of learning a second language early in life—

especially throughout childhood—are well recognized to be superior to those who learn a

language later in life in terms of vocabulary, grammar, and accent. (Hartshorne, Tenenbaum &

Pinker, 2018) However, the exact age that the critical period covers is also debatable and many

methods have been used in the field to define the age range. While other researchers have set

the dividing line at 12, 15, or 16 years of age, Lenneberg's key period covered ages two to

puberty, which he theorizes to occur at around 14 years of age with the establishment of cortical

lateralization of function. Most studies nowadays do not specify a starting age for the key time

for language development. (Vanhove, 2013, 2) In fact, while most studies agree that a critical

period exists, they do not agree with Lenneberg and his theory regarding lateralization.

(Newport, 2006, 737)

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In 1989, Jacqueline S. Johnson and Elissa L. Newport worked on a study that intended to gauge

the variations in learners' acquisition of syntax and look at adult learners' performance. 46 native

Korean or Chinese speakers, ages of whom ranged from three to 39, who had resided in the US

for between three and twenty-six years at the time of testing were compared in terms of their

English competence. Using a grammaticality judgment task, participants were assessed on their

knowledge of English grammar structures. According to the study, children start to judge

grammatical and non-grammatical elements less accurately around the age of 7. Up until the

age of 17, this decline was evidently steady, but after that point, performance leveled off and

no longer displayed an aging effect. (Johnson & Newport, 1989)

Further research has criticised the previous study, for instance, that of Bialystok and Hakuta

from 1994. Bialystok and Hakuta noted a number of objections of the approach used, mainly

that the five-year stay might not have been sufficient to achieve the highest levels of success.

(Hakuta, Bialystok, Wiley, 32)

De Keyser, however, took these objections into consideration and produced outcomes that were

comparable to those of Johnson and Newport's study. A modified version of Johnson and

Newport's 1989 grammaticality judgment exam was used in the study, which recruited 57

Hungarian-speaking immigrants living in the United States. The study's conclusions were

strikingly similar to those of Johnson and Newport, with performance and AoA (age of

acquisition) once again showing a negative association. (Seol, 2005, 4) In his conclusion, he

argued that the critical period causes a strong negative link between the success of adult L2

learners and language acquisition. (Seol, 2005, 19)

By using the same procedures and test materials as the Johnson and Newport study from 1989,

but using a sample of native Spanish speakers, Birdsong and Molis repeated the Johnson and

Newport study in 2001. Age was found to be inversely connected with effective language

acquisition in this study as well, which is consistent with the majority of current research.
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(Birdsong, Mollis, 2001) As a result, AoA (age of acquisition), which is distinct from age of

first contact and can take place in a school setting, interaction with L2 relatives, and other

situations, is according to Birdsong the best predictor of language achievement. (Birdsong,

2006, 4)

It is evident that age plays an important role in the acquisition of a second language. While

certain factors, such as differences in culture (Korean versus Hungarian) and methods of

research, contribute to various results; nevertheless, it is clear that people outside of puberty

take longer time to learn a language than children. I can attest to that fact from my own

experience – I was taught English from the age of seven and can confirm I am fluent in it. On

the other hand, languages that I tried to master in teenagerhood, such as French and German,

proved to be more difficult and I still remain on A1 level of skill. Needless to say, perhaps my

encounters with aforementioned languages is not proof of the existence of a critical period.

However, the similarity and frequency of these incidents are not something to be brushed off.

For further research, I would suggest that linguists and scientists include a larger pool of

participants, one that consists of numerous combinations of languages and not just participants

learning mainly English. Additionally, if such a study is possible, another suggestion is that

close attention is paid to the culture and general lifestyle circumstances of the participants, since

such things can greatly influence language acquisition.

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Works cited:

Birdsong, D. (2006). Age and Second Language Acquisition and Processing: A Selective

Overview. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2006.00353.x Language Learning. 4.

Birdsong, D. (Ed.). (1999). Second language acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis.

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410601667 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

Birdsong, D., & Molis, M. (2001). On the evidence for maturational constraints in second-

language acquisition. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.2000.2750 Journal of Memory and

Language, 44(2), 235–249.

Hakuta, K., Bialystok, E., & Wiley, E. (2003). Critical Evidence: A Test of the Critical-Period

Hypothesis for Second-Language Acquisition. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.01415

Psychological Science, 14(1), 31–38.

Hartshorne, Joshua K., Tenenbaum, Joshua B., Pinker, S. (2018) A critical period for second

language acquisition: Evidence from 2/3 million English speakers,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2018.04.007. Cognition, Volume 177, Pages 263-277, ISSN

0010-0277.

Johnson, J. S., & Newport, E. L. (1989). Critical period effects in second language learning:

The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language.

https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(89)90003-0 Cognitive Psychology, 21(1), 60–99.

Newport, E.L. (2006), Language Development, Critical Periods in.

https://doi.org/10.1002/0470018860.s00506 University of Rochester, Rochester, New York,

USA. 737.

Ritchie, William C. & Bhatia, Tej K. (2009). The New Handbook of Second Language

Acquisition.

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https://books.google.hr/books/about/The_New_Handbook_of_Second_Language_Acqu.html?

id=4pDWZakwaccC&redir_esc=y BRILL, 4

Seol, H. (2005). The Critical Period in the Acquisition of L2 Syntax: A Partial Replication of

Johnson and Newport (1989). Studies in Applied Linguistics & TESOL. 5.

10.7916/salt.v5i2.1571.

Vanhove, J. (2013) The Critical Period Hypothesis in Second Language Acquisition: A

Statistical Critique and a Reanalysis. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0069172 PLOS ONE

8(7): e69172.