Delayed Exposure to Second Language Acquisition
The Robustness of Critical Period Hypothesis and the Limitations of the Plasticity Theory
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21807666 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Naif Alsaedi (0009-0001-2329-6102, Taibah University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 12 |
| Pages | 3149-3156 |
| Publication date | 2023-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Theory and Practice in Language Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1799-2591 • E-ISSN: 2053-0692 |
| Publisher | Academy Publication (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.17507/tpls.1312.12 |
| OpenAlex | W4389242586 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 26 |
Studies of language acquisition have shown that language learning ability declines with age. It has been documented that the overwhelming majority of learners who begin the process of second language (L2) learning after passing the critical period — after a certain age – cannot attain native-like competence (underlying knowledge of language) at the end state. There is a universal folk belief, shared by almost all psycholinguists, that at an early age, the brain is plastic; it can modify its own structure, organization and function as a direct consequence of experiences and learning. According to this belief, the plasticity of the brain fades with age and with the increasing specialisation of the different hemispheres and areas of the brain. However, recently neuroscientists, equipped with the complementary aid of brain neuroimaging, have discovered that mature brain is far from being fixed as previously thought; it has the ability to continuously adapt its structure and function based on internal and external environmental changes and/or input such as experience, ageing, illness, injury and learning, meaning that the brain remains plastic throughout life. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to illustrate that the theory about the loss of brain plasticity during natural maturation is not valid in explaining the question why L2 learning is affected by delayed exposure to a language? It should be mentioned here that until now, the overwhelming majority of L2 researchers tend to think of plasticity as a phenomenon confined to early development; and therefore, evidence supporting plasticity is generally ignored
Brain function · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Developmental psychology · Epistemology · Language acquisition · Linguistics · Neuroplasticity · Phenomenon · Second-language acquisition · Educational and Psychological Assessments · Neuroscience · Psychology · Psychology of Development and Education · Social Psychology
Structural plasticity in the bilingual brain
Maturational Constraints in SLA
Bilingual language production
The Robustness of Critical Period Effects in Second Language Acquisition
Language input and child syntax
Critical period effects in second language learning
Generative approaches and the poverty of the stimulus
Lectures on Government and Binding
Searching for arguments to support linguistic nativism
Understanding stimulus poverty arguments
Development of the concept of “the poverty of the stimulus”
Exploring the richness of the stimulus
The evolution of the language faculty
Language acquisition
Age of onset, length of residence, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment in three linguistic domains
Agreement and null subjects in German L2 development
Narrative processing in typically developing children and children with early unilateral brain injury
Vocabulary, syntax, and narrative development in typically developing children and children with early unilateral brain injury
Does linguistic input play the same role in language learning for children with and without early brain injury
Early vocabulary growth
American parenting of language-learning children
Rediscovering Interlanguage
The partial availability of Universal Grammar in second language acquisition
The Critical Period Hypothesis
The mind of a Savant
Competence Differences between Native and Near-Native Speakers
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |