Keywords
young beginners
English as L2
individual differences
contaxtual factors
How to Cite
Number of views: 685
Number of downloads: 481
Abstract
In this qualitative study the author focuses on age effects on young learners’ L2 development by comparing the L2 learning processes of six young learners in an instructed setting: three who had started learning English as L2 at age 6/7 and three who had started at age 9/10. Both earlier and later young beginners were followed for three years (during their second, third and fourth year of learning English). The participants’ L2 development was measured through their oral output elicited by a two-part speaking task administered each year. Results of the analyses are interpreted taking into account each learners’ individual characteristics (learning ability, attitudes and motivation, self-concept) and the characteristics of the context in which they were learning their L2 (attitudes of school staff and parents to early L2 learning, home support, in-class and out-of-class exposure to L2, socio-economic status). The findings show that earlier and later young beginners follow different trajectories in their L2 learning, which reflects different interactions which age enters into with the other variables.
References
Bialystok, E. (2001). Bilingualism in development: Language, literacy, and cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Birdsong, D. (2005). Interpreting age effects in second language acquisition. In J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. De Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 109-127). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Csizér, K. & Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The internal structure of language learning motivation
and its relationship with language choice and learning effort. The Modern Language Journal, 89, 19-36.
DeKeyser, R. (2003). Implicit and explicit learning. In C. J. Doughty & M. H. Long (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 313-348). London: Blackwell.
DeKeyser, R. (2012). Age effects in second language learning. In S. M. Gass & A. Mackey (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 442-460). New York: Routledge.
DeKeyser, R., & Larson-Hall, J. (2005). What does the critical period really mean? In J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. De Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 88-108). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Enever, J. (Ed.). (2011). Early language learning in Europe. London: The British Council.
Enever, J. & Lopriore, L. (2014). Language learning across borders and across time: A critical appraisal of a transnational, longitudinal model for research investigation. System, 45, 187-197.
Enever, J., & Watts, C. (2009). Primary foreign language pathfinders: The Brighton and Hove experience. Language Learning Journal, 37(2), 219-232.
García Mayo, M. P., & García Lecumberri, M. L. (Eds.). (2003). Age and the acquisition of English as a foreign language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Harris, J., & Conway, M. (2002). Modern languages in Irish primary schools: An evaluation of the National Pilot Project. Dublin: Institiuid Taengeolaiochhta Eireann.
Hyltenstam, K., & Abrahamsson, N. (2001). Age and L2 learning: the hazards of matching practical “implications” with theoretical “facts.” TESOL Quarterly, 35, 151-170.
Hyltenstam, K., & Abrahamsson, N. (2003). Maturational constraints in SLA. In C. J. Doughty & M. H. Long (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 539-588). London: Blackwell.
Lenneberg, E. (1967). Biological foundations of language. New York: Wiley and Sons.
Low, L., Duffield, J., Brown, S., & Johnstone, R. (1993). Evaluating foreign languages in primary schools. Stirling: Scottish CILT.
MacWhinney, B. (2005). A unified model of language development. In J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. De Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 49-67). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Marinova-Todd, S. H., Marshall, B., & Snow, C. E. (2000). Three misconceptions about age and L2 learning. TESOL Quarterly, 34, 9-34.
Marinova-Todd, S. H., Marshall, B., & Snow, C. E. (2001). Missing the point: A response to Hyltenstam and Abrahamsson. TESOL Quarterly, 35, 171-176.
Mercer, S. (2011). Towards an understanding of language learner self-concept. Dordrecht: Springer.
Mihaljeviđ Djigunoviđ, J. (2006) Language anxiety and language processing. In S. Foster-Cohen, M. Medved Krajnoviđ, & J. Mihaljeviđ Djigunoviđ (Eds.), EUROSLA Yearbook 6 (pp. 191-212). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Mihaljeviđ Djigunoviđ, J. (2009, March). Learner behavior and learning outcomes: Insights from the YL classrooms. Paper presented at the conference of the American Association of Applied Lingustics, Denver, USA.
Mihaljeviđ Djigunoviđ, J., & Lopriore, L. (2011). The learner: Do individual differences matter? In J. Enever (Ed.), ELLiE: Early language learning in Europe (pp. 29-45). London: The British Council.
Moyer, J. (2004). Age, accent and experience in second language acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Muñoz, C. (2006). The effects of age on foreign language learning: the BAF project. In C. Muñoz (Ed.), Age and the rate of foreign language learning (pp. 1-40). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Muñoz, C., & Lindgren, E. (2011). Out-of-school factors: the home. In J. Enever (Ed.), Early language learning in Europe (pp. 103-123). London: The British Council.
Muñoz, C., & Singleton, D. (2011). A critical review of age-related review on L2 ultimate attainment. Language Teaching, 44(1), 1-35.
Murphy, V. A. (2014). Second language learning in the early school years: Trends and contexts. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nikolov, M. (1999). “Why do you learn English?” “Because the teacher is short”: A study of Hungarian children’s foreign language learning motivation. Language Teaching Research, 3, 33-65.
Nikolov, M. (2002). Issues in English language education. Bern: Peter Lang.
Nikolov, M. (2009). The age factor and early language learning. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Nikolov, M., & Mihaljeviđ Djigunoviđ, J. (2006). Recent research on age, second language acquisition, and early foreign language learning, ARAL, 26, 234-260.
Nikolov, M., & Mihaljeviđ Djigunoviđ, J. (2011). All shades of every color: An overview of early teaching and learning of foreign languages. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 95-119.
Penfield, W., & Roberts, L. (1959). Speech and brain mechanisms. New York: Atheneum.
Scovel, T. (1988). A time to speak: A psycholinguistic inquiry into the critical period for human speech. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Scovel, T. (2000). A critical review of the critical period research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 20, 213-223.
Singleton, D. (1989). Language acquisition: The age factor. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Singleton, D. (2001). Age and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21, 77-89.
Singleton, D., & Ryan, L. (2004). Language acquisition: The age factor (2nd ed.). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Tragant, E. (2006). Language learning motivation and age. In C. Muñoz (Ed.), Age and the rate of foreign language learning (pp. 237-276). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Vilke, M. (1995). Children and foreign languages in Croatian primary schools: Four years of a project. In M. Vilke & Y. Vrhovac (Eds.), Children and foreign languages II (pp. 1-16). Zagreb: University of Zagreb.
Vilke, M., & Vrhovac, Y. (Eds.). (1993). Children and foreign languages. Zagreb: University of Zagreb.
Vilke, M., & Vrhovac, Y. (Eds.) (1995). Children and foreign languages II. Zagreb: University of Zagreb.
Vrhovac, Y. (Ed.) (2001). Children and foreign languages III. Zagreb: University of Zagreb.
License
1.1 The Author hereby warrants that he/she is the owner of all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Work and that, within the scope of the present Agreement, the paper does not infringe the legal rights of another person. The owner of the copyright work also warrants that he/she is the sole and original creator thereof and that is not bound by any legal constraints in regard to the use or sale of the work.
1.2. The Publisher warrants that is the owner of the PRESSto platform for open access journals, hereinafter referred to as the PRESSto Platform.
2. The Author grants the Publisher non-exclusive and free of charge license to unlimited use worldwide over an unspecified period of time in the following areas of exploitation:
2.1. production of multiple copies of the Work produced according to the specific application of a given technology, including printing, reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means (reprography) and digital technology;
2.2. marketing authorisation, loan or lease of the original or copies thereof;
2.3. public performance, public performance in the broadcast, video screening, media enhancements as well as broadcasting and rebroadcasting, made available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them;
2.4. inclusion of the Work into a collective work (i.e. with a number of contributions);
2.5. inclusion of the Work in the electronic version to be offered on an electronic platform, or any other conceivable introduction of the Work in its electronic version to the Internet;
2.6. dissemination of electronic versions of the Work in its electronic version online, in a collective work or independently;
2.7. making the Work in the electronic version available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, in particular by making it accessible via the Internet, Intranet, Extranet;
2.8. making the Work available according to appropriate license pattern Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) as well as another language version of this license or any later version published by Creative Commons.
3. The Author grants the Publisher permission to reproduce a single copy (print or download) and royalty-free use and disposal of rights to compilations of the Work and these compilations.
4. The Author grants the Publisher permission to send metadata files related to the Work, including to commercial and non-commercial journal-indexing databases.
5. The Author represents that, on the basis of the license granted in the present Agreement, the Publisher is entitled and obliged to:
5.1. allow third parties to obtain further licenses (sublicenses) to the Work and to other materials, including derivatives thereof or compilations made, based on or including the Work, whereas the provisions of such sub-licenses will be the same as with the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license or another language version of this license, or any later version of this license published by Creative Commons;
5.2. make the Work available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, without any technological constraints;
5.3. appropriately inform members of the public to whom the Work is to be made available about sublicenses in such a way as to ensure that all parties are properly informed (appropriate informing messages).
6. Because of the royalty-free provision of services of the Author (resulting from the scope of obligations stipulated in the present Agreement), the Author shall not be entitled to any author’s fee due and payable on the part of the Publisher (no fee or royalty is payable by the Publisher to the Author).
7.1. In the case of third party claims or actions for indemnity against the Publisher owing to any infractions related to any form of infringement of intellectual property rights protection, including copyright infringements, the Author is obliged to take all possible measures necessary to protect against these claims and, when as a result of legal action, the Publisher, or any third party licensed by the Publisher to use the Work, will have to abandon using the Work in its entirety or in part or, following a court ruling in a legal challenge, to pay damages to a third party, whatever the legal basis
7.2. The Author will immediately inform the Publisher about any damage claims related to intellectual property infringements, including the author’s proprietary rights pertaining to a copyrighted work, filed against the Author. of liability, the Author is obliged to redress the damage resulting from claims made by third party, including costs and expenditures incurred in the process.
7.3. To all matters not settled herein provisions of the Polish Civil Code and the Polish Copyright and Related Rights Act shall apply.