How native is near-native? The issue of ultimate attainment in adult second language acquisition
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11655802 |
|---|---|
| Authors | L White (0000-0003-4694-5950, McGill University, corresponding author), Fred Genesee (0000-0003-1590-9586, McGill University) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 233-265 |
| Publication date | 1996-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Second language Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0267-6583 • E-ISSN: 1477-0326 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/026765839601200301 |
| OpenAlex | W2157102621 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 102 |
| References cited | 26 |
A number of studies have reported that there is a negative correlation between age of L2 acquisition and performance on a variety of measures of L2 ability, and that individuals who begin learning an L2 after approximately 15 years of age fail to attain native-like levels of competence. These results have been interpreted as support both for the hypothesis that there is a critical period for L2 acquisition and for the hypothesis that there is a maturational decline in access to Universal Grammar (UG). We argue that extant results are not an adequate test of the critical periods hypothesis because they are based on the performance of learners who have not necessarily achieved native-like proficiency in the L2. In this study, we develop criteria to establish whether an L2 speaker has achieved native-like proficiency. We compare the performance of three groups (near-native speakers of English, non-native speakers and controls) on two tasks designed to tap aspects of UG which have been claimed to be subject to critical period effects. We found no significant differences between our near-native group and native speakers on either of the tasks. We conclude that native-like competence in an L2 is achievable, even by older L2 learners
Biology · Competence (human resources · Extant taxon · First language · Grammar · Language acquisition · Language proficiency · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Second language · Second-language acquisition · Variety (cybernetics · Computer Science · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Second Language Learning and Teaching · Social Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
The Effects of Error Treatment on Interlanguage of Indonesian Learners Learning English as a Foreign Language
Gender and Heritage Spanish Bilingual Grammars
Language, Brain, and Cognitive Development
Genesee, Fred
The Acquisition of Heritage Languages
Second Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar
Selective optionality in language development
Age and Ultimate Attainment in the Pronunciation of a Foreign Language
Competence Similarities Between Native and Near-Native Speakers
Ultimate Attainment in L2 Phonology
The Robustness of Critical Period Effects in Second Language Acquisition
Producing bilinguals through immersion education
Age constraints on first versus second language acquisition
Maturational Constraints in SLA
Brain Mechanisms in Early Language Acquisition
Beyond the critical period
On the Evidence for Maturational Constraints in Second-Language Acquisition
The syntax–discourse interface in near-native L2 acquisition
The Oxford Handbook of the Mental Lexicon
Is It Time to Reconsider the ‘Gold Standard’ for Nativelikeness in ERP Studies on Grammatical Processing in a Second Language? A Critical Assessment Based on Qualitative Individual Differences
Symmetries and Asymmetries of Age Effects in Naturalistic and Instructed L2 Learning
Phonological transfer and targeted instruction in Arab EFL learners’ lexical stress acquisition
Learning English as an L3
Identity, agency and intercultural dialogic competencies in L2 ultimate attainment
The SLA of Variable Structures
Age differences in foreign language learning
Null and overt subject pronouns in topic continuity and topic shift
Age effects in second language acquisition
Towards an Integrated Model of Change
D-linked and non-d-linked wh -questions in L2 French and L3 English
Acquiring the syntactic constraints on auxiliary change under restructuring in L2 Italian
That -trace effects in Najdi Arabic L2 learners of English
Aspects of interrogative use in near-native French
Subject/object asymmetries in the grammar of bilingual and monolingual Spanish speakers
Some consequences of the Tolerance Principle
A dynamic perspective on late bilinguals’ linguistic development in an L2 environment
First language attrition and syntactic subjects
The effects of age and experience with input in the acquisition of clitic climbing in heritage and L2 Spanish
Crosslinguistic influence at the syntax proper
The influence of native English-speaking environment on Akan-English bilinguals’ production of English inter-dental fricatives
Still ‘native’? Morphological processing in second-language-immersed speakers
A novel approach to assessing language proficiency in adults
The effects of age of acquisition on verbal memory in bilinguals
From Bengali to English
Can non-interactive language input benefit young second-language learners
L2 parameter resetting for metrical systems
The L2 acquisition of aspectual properties in Spanish
Age at immigration and second language proficiency among foreign-born adults
Three Misconceptions about Age and L2 Learning
Main Verb Versus Reduced Relative Clause Ambiguity Resolution in L2 Sentence Processing
Transfer Effects at the Syntax-Semantics Interface
How “Native” Are Heritage Speakers
State–non state difference in Dutch L2 acquisition of English
The Syntactic Processing of English Passive Sentence for Late Chinese-English Bilingualists
Examination of the Critical Period Hypothesis and Ultimate Attainment Among Spanish-English Bilinguals and English-Speaking Monolinguals
Pinning down the concept of "interface" in bilingualism
Heritage languages and their speakers
The Robustness of Aptitude Effects in Near-Native Second Language Acquisition
The partial availability of Universal Grammar in second language acquisition
Temporal dynamics of late second language acquisition
Morphological or syntactic deficits in near-native speakers? An assessment of some current proposals
Going beyond the Native Speaker in Language Teaching
Gradient optionality in L2 acquisition at the syntax-discourse interface
Adult Mandarin Chinese speakers’ acquisition of locational and directional prepositional constructions in second language English
A critical review of age-related research on L2 ultimate attainment
Second Language (L2) English and Third Language (L3) French Article Acquisition by Native Speakers of Cantonese
Acquiring Causative Constructions in Japanese as a Second Language
Fossilization
Vocabulary size and depth of word knowledge in adult‐onset second language acquisition
Topic-drop versus pro-drop
Focus and split-intransitivity
Nativelike right-dislocation in near-native French
Filler–gap dependencies and islands in L2 English production
The structure of age
Stable and developmental optionality in native and non-native Hungarian grammars
A referential/quantified asymmetry in the second language acquisition of English reflexives by Chinese-speaking learners
The effect of modality on a grammaticality judgement task
Structural Minimality, CP and the initial state in second language acquisition
Anaphora resolution in near-native speakers of Italian
L2 transfer of L1 island-insensitivity
The source of the that -trace effect
The influence of lexical familiarity on ERP responses during sentence comprehension in language learners
Theoretical and developmental issues in the syntax of subjects
Do Language Attitudes Determine Accent? A Study of Bilinguals in the USA
Variability in Article Use Among Chinese EFL Learners
Assessment of Verbal Fluency in Bilingual Zulu-English Speakers
Development of Speed and Accuracy in Pragmatic Comprehension in English as a Foreign Language
Effects of Age of Learning on Voice Onset Time
A Comparison of the Attitudes of Learners, Instructors, and Native French Speakers About the Pronunciation of French
Second Language Acquisition of Variable Structures in Spanish by Portuguese Speakers
The Effects of Age on Second Language Grammar and Speech Production
Second Language Learners and Speech Act Comprehension
A more careful look at the syntax-discourse interface
Factors Affecting Grammatical and Lexical Complexity of Long-Term L2 Speakers' Oral Proficiency
Hi-Lab
Age of Onset and Nativelikeness in a Second Language
L2 in a Nutshell
Why All Counter-Evidence to the Critical Period Hypothesis in Second Language Acquisition Is not Equal or Problematic
Ultimate attainment in L2 inflection
Pragmatic deficits with syntactic consequences
Issues in Italian Syntax
Speech and Brain Mechanisms
Reexamining the Critical Period Hypothesis
Critical period effects on universal properties of language
The Optimal Age to Learn a Foreign Language
The Theory of Principles and Parameters
Critical period effects in second language learning
The Biological Foundations of Language
On The Language Instinct
Lectures on Government and Binding
Second Language Acquisition and Its Relationship to Universal Grammar
Bounding Nodes in French
Sentence matching and processing in L2 development
Agreement and null subjects in German L2 development
Incomplete vs. divergent representations of unaccusativity in non native grammars of Italian
The variable status of comp-trace phenomena
Hemisphere and stimulus differences as reflected in the cortical responses of newborn infants to speech stimuli
Maturational Constraints on Language Development
Critical Period Effects in Second Language Acquisition
Timed Comprehension of Binding in Advanced L2 Learners of English
General Principles of Neurofunctional Organization and Their Manifestation in Primary and Nonprimary Language Acquisition1
Competence Differences between Native and Near-Native Speakers
The Sensitive Period for the Acquisition of Syntax in a Second Language 1
Ultimate Attainment in Second Language Acquisition
| Unique citing works | 102 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,52 |
| Citation span | 1997 - 2026 (30) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 100 |