Maturational Constraints on Language Development
@article{Long1990MaturationalCO, title={Maturational Constraints on Language Development}, author={Michael H. Long}, journal={Studies in Second Language Acquisition}, year={1990}, volume={12}, pages={251-285} }
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…
701 Citations
Maturational Constraint : The Effect of Age of Acquisition on Second Language Comprehension and Pronunciation in Second Language Acquisition
- Linguistics
- 2016
It is a common belief that children, when compared to adult, acquaint themselves easier with a foreign language. This phenomenon has been described as the “critical period hypothesis” by Long and…
Maturational constraints in language one and language two: A second look at the research on critical periods
- Linguistics
- 1999
Abstract Research on first language acquisition in young children and second language learning in older children and adults has examined the possible role played by maturational constraints (related…
Nonconvergence on the native speaker grammar: Defining L2 success
- Linguistics
- 2018
The issue of critical or sensitive periods affecting the outcome of second language (L2) acquisition has been the subject of intense investigation and debate for many years, with people arguing for…
Age and second language acquisition
- LinguisticsAnnual Review of Applied Linguistics
- 2001
This article concludes with a short discussion — in the light of the foregoing — of the degree of absoluteness of the age factor in L2 acquisition; and the notion that there may be not one, but a number, of age-related factors at work.
Second Language Acquisition in Early Childhood
- Linguistics
- 2009
There is a broad consensus in the research literature on the acquisition of bilingualism that the simultaneous acquisition of two (or more) languages can be qualified as an instance of bilingual…
Changing perspectives on universal grammar and the critical period hypothesis
- Linguistics
- 2009
It has long been claimed that there is a critical or sensitive period (or periods) for language acquisition, a period with lower and upper bounds during which language acquisition is best achieved…
Temporal dynamics of late second language acquisition: evidence from event-related brain potentials
- Linguistics
- 2009
The ways in which age of acquisition (AoA) may affect (morpho)syntax in second language acquisition (SLA) are discussed. We suggest that event-related brain potentials (ERPs) provide an appropriate…
Problems with supposed counter-evidence to the Critical Period Hypothesis
- Linguistics
- 2005
Abstract While almost all observers agree that young children, older children, and adults differ both in initial rate of acquisition and in the levels of ultimate attainment typically achieved, they…
Individual Differences in Sequence Learning Ability and Second Language Acquisition in Early Childhood and Adulthood
- Linguistics
- 2013
Language aptitude has been hypothesized as a factor that can compensate for postcritical period effects in language learning capacity. However, previous research has primarily focused on instructed…
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AFTER THE CRITICAL PERIOD : DO ADULT LEARNERS FOLLOW A DIFFERENT ROUTE IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION ?
- Linguistics
- 2015
The effect of age on second language acquisition represents one of the most recurrently investigated and debated issues in the scope of Second Language Acquisition. There is a broad agreement among…
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 151 REFERENCES
Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language
- LinguisticsCognitive Psychology
- 1989
Constraints on learning and their role in language acquisition: Studies of the acquisition of American sign language
- Linguistics
- 1988
LATERALIZATION, LANGUAGE LEARNING, AND THE CRITICAL PERIOD: SOME NEW EVIDENCE
- Linguistics
- 1973
New evidence is presented that modifies Lenneberg's (1967) proposed critical period of language acquisition. The development of lateralization is complete much earlier than puberty and is thus not a…
Language Acquisition: The Age Factor
- Linguistics
- 1989
Part 1 Evidence of speech milestones: the early stages later stages speech processing milestones evidence from abnormal language development and language disorders. Part 2 The critical period…
NEUROLINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND BILINGUALISM
- Psychology, LinguisticsAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences
- 1981
Two general questions are addressed in this paper: (a) Have the parameters of brain maturation contributed to our understanding of either monolingual or bilingual language acquisition? and (b) What…
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGE AND SECOND LANGUAGE PRODUCTIVE ABILITY
- Linguistics
- 1975
This study examines the relationship between certain aspects of the second language acquisition process and age. An oral production test was developed to assess the ability of nonnative English…
TOWARD A THEORY OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
- Linguistics, Psychology
- 1974
The claim that the adult, in contrast to the child, is deficient in his ability to learn a second language leads to the conclusion that adult second language acquisition is a process which is…
AGE CONTRASTS IN THE LEARNING OF LANGUAGE‐RELEVANT MATERIALS: SOME CHALLENGES TO CRITICAL PERIOD HYPOTHESIS
- Education
- 1986
In order to test the claim of diminished capacity for language learning at puberty, a Hawaiian lesson was given to 182 public school children (61, 73, and 48 from grades 4, 7-8, and 11,…
Age Differences in the Pronunciation of Foreign Sounds
- LinguisticsLanguage and speech
- 1977
Two kinds of data are presented which suggest that younger children are not better than older children and adults in learning a foreign language, and the ability to imitate foreign words under controlled input conditions increased linearly with age.
A Critical Period for Learning to Pronounce Foreign Languages
- Psychology
- 1987
This article discusses the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) as it relates to the naturalistic acquisition of foreign-language (L2) pronunciation by adults and children. An examination of the existing…