The Critical Period Hypothesis for L2 Acquisition
An Unfalsifiable Embarrassment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5901025 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Singleton (0000-0003-2720-5965, Trinity College Dublin), Justyna Leśniewska (0000-0002-8121-2210, Jagiellonian University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 149 |
| Publication date | 2021-09-06 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Languages (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2226-471X • E-ISSN: 2226-471X |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/languages6030149 |
| OpenAlex | W3196991363 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 85 |
This article focuses on the uncertainty surrounding the issue of the Critical Period Hypothesis. It puts forward the case that, with regard to naturalistic situations, the hypothesis has the status of both "not proven" and unfalsified. The article analyzes a number of reasons for this situation, including the effects of multi-competence, which remove any possibility that competence in more than one language can ever be identical to monolingual competence. With regard to the formal instructional setting, it points to many decades of research showing that, as critical period advocates acknowledge, in a normal schooling situation, adolescent beginners in the long run do as well as younger beginners. The article laments the profusion of definitions of what the critical period for language actually is and the generally piecemeal nature of research into this important area. In particular, it calls for a fuller integration of recent neurolinguistic perspectives into discussion of the age factor in second language acquisition research
Aesthetics · Cognitive psychology · Competence (human resources · Embarrassment · Epistemology · Linguistics · Naturalism · Period (music · Second-language acquisition · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Second Language Learning and Teaching · Social Psychology
Singleton, David
Bilingualism and Age
Do we need critical educational linguistics
Language learning bridge
Foreign language provision in English primary schools
Linguistic dissimilarity increases age-related decline in adult language learning
Robot-Assisted Language Learning
Demystifying the role of L2 speaking embarrassment and anxiety in the interaction of bilingual learners’ self-efficacy and willingness to communicate (WTC)
Tuning in to the prosody of a novel language is easier without orthography
L7 mastered to nativelike proficiency in adulthood – a case study of simultaneous multiple language acquisition processes challenging Lenneberg’s (1967) critical period hypothesis
Insights into Teacher Beliefs and Practice in Primary-School EFL in France
The Neurocognitive Underpinnings of Second Language Processing
The Handbook of Applied Linguistics
Crosslinguistic Influence in Language and Cognition
Second Language Speech Learning
Second Language Acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis
Portraits of the L2 User
The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Multi-Competence
Foreign Accent
The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition
A critical period for second language acquisition
The Revised Speech Learning Model (SLM-r)
Sources of variability in children’s language growth
Sensitive Periods in the Development of the Brain and Behavior
Plasticity, Variability and Age in Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism
Ultimate Attainment in L2 Phonology
The Robustness of Critical Period Effects in Second Language Acquisition
The Optimal Age to Learn a Foreign Language
Critical period effects in second language learning
Age Constraints on Second-Language Acquisition
The Biological Foundations of Language
The Logic of Scientific Discovery
Essential Topics in Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism
The Changing English Language
The Process of Song-Learning in the Chaffinch as Studied by Means of the Sound Spectrograph
Much More Than Age
More evidence from over 1.1 million subjects that the critical period for syntax closes in late adolescence
Different speakers, different grammars
A critical review of age-related research on L2 ultimate attainment
The Long‐Term Proficiency of Early, Middle, and Late Starters Learning English as a Foreign Language at School
A synthesis of empirical research on the linguistic outcomes of early foreign language instruction
Early puberty, ‘sexualization’ and feminism
Examining the effects of socio-economic status and language input on adolescent English learners' speech production outcomes
Age of onset, length of residence, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment in three linguistic domains
Three Misconceptions about Age and L2 Learning
Primary French in the Balance
Maturational Constraints on Language Development
The Critical Period Hypothesis
Translanguaging as a Practical Theory of Language
The Robustness of Aptitude Effects in Near-Native Second Language Acquisition
An Individual-Differences Framework for Comparing Nonnative With Native Speakers
Lateralization, Language Learning, and the Critical Period
Brain Plasticity in Adulthood-ERP Evidence for L1-attrition in Lexicon and Morphosyntax After Predominant L2 Use
Age of Onset and Nativelikeness in a Second Language
The Sensitive Period for the Acquisition of Syntax in a Second Language 1
TheNative Speaker
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |