Keywords
individual differences
second language
acquisition
phonology acquisition
motivation
How to Cite
Number of views: 1647
Number of downloads: 897
Abstract
Empirical research conducted over the past few decades suggests that the age at which an individual is first exposed to a second language affects long-term outcomes, in particular for phonology. The question that has occupied scholars of various bents is what, exactly, underlies the robust age effects observed. Does age imply immutable changes in one’s ability to ever sound native-like? Are these changes neurological, cognitive, or socio-psychological in nature? What role do L2 use and contact play? Do age-related influences apply to all individuals, or can language learners actually chart their own course when it comes to accent? This paper will outline basic assumptions of the critical period for phonology while suggesting a different approach to the age question that highlights the individual’s role in both process and outcome. Constructs such as L2 experience, motivation, self-concept, learning approach, and willingness to communicate are discussed in depth in order to show the fundamental connection between cognition and affect so critical for late phonological learning. A re-orientation of the age research is suggested as a result, to prioritize contextual understandings of language use and learner agency.
References
Anderson-Hsieh, J., Johnson, R., & Koehler, K. (1992). The relationship between native speaker judgments of nonnative pronunciation and deviance in segmentals, prosody, and syllable structure. Language Learning, 42(4),-555. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-1770.1992.tb01043.x
Baran-Bucarz, M. (2012). Individual learner differences and accuracy in foreign language pronunciation. In M. Pawlak (Ed.), New perspectives on individual differences in language learning and teaching (pp. 289-303). Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.
Birdsong, D. (2006). Age and second language acquisition and processing: A selective overview. Language Learning, 56, 9-49. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2006.00353.x
Birdsong, D., & Molis, M. (2001). On the evidence for maturational effects in second language acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language, 44, 235-249.doi:10.1006/jmla.2000.2750
Blommaert, J. (2012). Complexity, accent, and conviviality: Concluding comments. Applied Linguistics, 34, 613-622. doi: 10.1093/applin/amt028
Bongaerts, T. (2005). Introduction: Ultimate attainment and the critical period hypothesis for second language acquisition. IRAL, 43, 259-267. doi:10.1515/iral.2005.43.4.259
Bongaerts, T. Planken, B., & Schils, E. (1995). Can late starters attain a native accent in a foreign language? A test of the critical period hypothesis. In D. Singleton & Z. Lengyel (Eds.), The age factor in second language acquisition (pp. 30-50). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Cao, Y. (2011). Investigating situational willingness to communicate within second language classrooms from an ecological perspective. System, 39, 468-79. Retrieved from http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/aral/article/view/File/3072/3614
Clément, R., & Kruidenier, B. (1983). Orientations in second language acquisition: The effects of ethnicity, milieu, and target language on their emergence. Language Learning, 33, 273-291.
Csizér, K. (2012). An overview of L2 motivation research in Hungary. In M. Pawlak (Ed.), New perspectives on individual differences in language learning and teaching (pp. 233-246). Berlin: Springer.
Cutler, C. (2014). Accentedness, “passing” and crossing. In J. Levis & A. Moyer (Eds.), Social dynamics in second language accent (pp. 145-167). Boston: DeGruyter Mouton.
Derwing, T., & Munro, M. (2014). Training native speakers to listen to L2 speech. In J. Levis & A. Moyer (Eds.), Social dynamics in second language accent (pp. 219-235). Boston: DeGruyter Mouton.
Derwing, T., & Rossiter, M. (2002). ESL learners’ perceptions of their pronunciation needs and strategies. System, 30, 155-166. Retrieved from http://kentlee7.com/zs/esl.learners.perceptions.needs.pdf
Derwing, T., & Rossiter, M. (2003). The effects of pronunciation instruction on the accuracy, fluency and complexity of L2 accented speech. Applied Language Learning, 13, 1-17.
Dewaele, J., & Furnham, A. (1999). ‘Extraversion’: The unloved variable in applied linguistic research? Language Learning, 49, 509-44. doi: 10.1111/0023-8333.00098
Dick, F., Dronkers, N., Pizzamiglio, L., Saygin, A., Small, S., & Wilson, S. (2005). Language and the brain. In M. Tomasello & D. Slobin (Eds.), Beyond nature/nurture. Essays in honor of Elizabeth Bates (pp. 237-260). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Flege, J. (1999). Age of learning and second language speech. In D. Birdsong (Ed.), Second language acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis (pp.101-131). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Flege, J. & MacKay, I., & Piske, T. (2002). Assessing bilingual dominance. Applied Psycholinguistics, 23, 567-598. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0142716402004046
Flege, J., Yeni-Komshian, G., & Liu, S. (1999). Age constraints on second-language acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language 41, 78-104. Retrieved from http://www.jimflege.com/files/Flege_Yeni-Komshian_age_constraints_JML_1999.pdf
Gatbonton, E., Trofimovich, P., & Segalowitz, N. (2011). Ethnic group affiliation and patterns of development of a phonological variable. Modern Language Journal, 95, 188-204. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2011.01177.x
Gluszek, A., & Dovidio, J. F. (2010). The way they speak: A social psychological perspective on the stigma of nonnative accents in communication. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14, 214-237.
Hancin-Bhatt, B. (2008). Second language phonology in optimality theory. In J. Hansen-Edwards & M. Zampini (Eds.), Phonology and second languageacquisition (pp. 117-146). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Hansen, D. (1995). A study of the effect of the acculturation model on second language acquisition. In F. Eckman, D. Highland, P. Lee, J. Mileham, & R. Rutkowski- Weber (Eds.), Second language acquisition theory and pedagogy (pp. 305-316). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Harrison, G. (2012). “Oh, you’ve got such a strong accent”: Language identity intersecting with professional identity in the human services in Australia. International Migration, 51, 192-204. doi: 10.1111/imig.12005
Hayes-Harb, R. (2014). Acoustic-phonetic parameters in the perception of accent. In J. Levis & A. Moyer (Eds.), Social dynamics in second language accent (pp. 31-51). Boston: DeGruyter Mouton.
Herschensohn, J. (2007). Language development and age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hu, X., & Reiterer, S. (2009). Personality and pronunciation talent in second language acquisition. In G. Dogil & S. Reiterer (Eds.), Language talent and brain activity (pp. 97-129). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Hyltenstam, K., & Abrahamsson, N. (2001). Comments on Stefka H. Marinova-Todd, D. Bradford Marshall, and Catherine E. Snow’s “Three misconceptions about age and L2 learning”. TESOL Quarterly, 35, 151-176. doi: 10.2307/3587863
Ioup, G., Boustagi, E., El Tigi, M., & Moselle, M. (1994). Re-examining the critical period hypothesis: A case study of successful adult SLA in a naturalistic environment. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 16, 73-98.
Jia, G. & Aaronson, D. (2003). A longitudinal study of Chinese children and adolescents learning English in the United States. Applied Psycholinguistics, 24, 131-161.
Jia, G., Strange, W., Wu, Y., Collado, J., & Guan, Q. (2006). Perception and production of English vowels by Mandarin speakers: Age-related differences vary with amount of L2 exposure. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 119, 1118-1130. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.2151806
Johnson, J., & Newport, E. (1989). Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology, 39, 215-258.
Kang, O., Rubin, D., & Pickering, L. (2014). Suprasegmental measures of accentedness and judgments of language learner proficiency in oral English. The Modern Language Journal, 94, 554-566. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2010.01091.x
Kuhl, P. (2007). Cracking the speech code: How infants learn language. Acoustical Science and Technology, 28, 71-83. Retrieved from https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ast/28/2/28_2_71/_pdf
Lenneberg, E. (1967). Biological foundations of language. New York: Wiley.
Levelle, K., & Levis, J. (2014). Understanding the impact of social factors on L2 pronunciation: Insights from learners. In J. Levis & A. Moyer (Eds.), Social dynamics in second language accent (pp. 97-118). Boston: DeGruyter Mouton.
Lippi-Green, R. (1997). English with an accent. Language, ideology and discrimination in the United States. London: Routledge.
MacIntyre, P. D., Dörnyei, Z., Clément, R., & Noels, K. (1998). Conceptualizing willingness to communicate in a L2: A situational model of L2 confidence and affiliation. The Modern Language Journal, 82, 545-562. Retrieved from http://petermacintyre.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/1/8/10187707/conceptualizing_wtc1998.pdf
Magnusson, J., & Stroud, C. (2012). High proficiency in markets of performance: A sociocultural approach to nativelikeness. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 34, 321-345. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0272263112000071
Major, R. (2001). Foreign accent. The ontogeny and phylogeny of second language phonology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Marx, N. (2002). Never quite a ‘native speaker’: Accent and identity in the L2 – and the L1. Canadian Modern Language Review, 59, 264-281.
Mercer, S. (2012). The dynamic nature of a tertiary learner’s foreign language selfconcept. In M. Pawlak (Ed.), New perspectives on individual differences inlanguage learning and teaching (pp. 201-215). Berlin: Springer Verlag.
Morgan-Short, K., Finger, I., Grey, S., & Ullman, M. (2012). Second language processing shows increased native-neural responses after months of no exposure. PLoS ONE, 7(3), e32974. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032974
Moyer, A. (1999). Ultimate attainment in L2 phonology: The critical factors of age, motivation and instruction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 81-108.
Moyer, A. (2004). Age, accent and experience in second language acquisition. An integrated approach to critical period inquiry. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Moyer, A. (2007). Do language attitudes determine accent? A study of bilinguals in the U.S. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 28, 1-17. doi: 10.2167/jmmd514.0
Moyer, A. (2011). An investigation of experience in L2 phonology. Canadian Modern Language Review, 67, 191-216.
Moyer, A. (2013). Foreign accent: The phenomenon of non-native speech. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moyer, A. (2014). Exceptional outcomes in L2 phonology: The critical factors of learner engagement and self-regulation. Special issue, Carmen Munoz (Ed.), Factors interplaying with age in second language learning, Applied Linguistics, 2014, 1-23.
Mulder, K., & Hulstijn, J. (2011). Linguistic skills of adult native speakers, as a function of age and level of education. Applied Linguistics, 32, 475-494. doi: 10.1093/applin/amr016
Muñoz, C. (2008). Symmetries and asymmetries of age effects in naturalistic and instructed L2 learning. Applied Linguistics, 29, 578-96. doi: 10.1093/applin/amm056
Muñoz, C., & Singleton, D. (2007). Foreign accent in advanced learners: Two successful profiles. EUROSLA Yearbook, 7, 171-190.
Muñoz, C. & Singleton, D. (2011). A critical review of age-related research on L2 ultimate attainment. Language Teaching, 44, 1-35.
Munro, M., & Mann, V. (2005). Age of immersion as predictor of foreign accent. Applied Psycholinguistics, 26, 311-341. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0142716405050198
Nardo, D., & Reiterer, S. (2009). Musicality and phonetic language aptitude. In G. Dogil & S. Reiterer (Eds.), Language talent and brain activity (pp. 213-255). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Osburne, A. (2003). Pronunciation strategies of advanced ESOL learners. IRAL, 41, 131-143. doi: 10.1515/iral.2003.005
Pawlak, M. (2011). Research into language learning strategies: Taking stock and looking ahead. In J. Arabski & A. Wojtaszek (Eds.), Individual learner differences in SLA (pp. 17-37). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Piller, I. (2002). Passing for a native speaker: Identity and success in second language learning. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 6, 179-206.
Piske, T., MacKay, I., & Flege, J. (2001). Factors affecting degree of foreign accent in an L2: A review. Journal of Phonetics, 29, 191-215.
Rota, G., & Reiterer, S. (2009). Cognitive aspects of pronunciation talent. In G. Dogil & S. Reiterer (Eds.), Language talent and brain activity (pp. 67-96). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Saito, K., & Brajot, F. (2013). Scrutinizing the role of length of residence and age of acquisition in the interlanguage pronunciation development of English /r/ by late Japanese bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 16, 847-863. doi:10.1017/S1366728912000703
Scovel, T. (2000). A critical review of the critical period research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 20, 213-223. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0267190500200135
Sereno, J., & Wang, Y. (2007). Behavioral and cortical effects of learning a second language. In O. Bohn & M. Munro (Eds.), Language experience in second language speech learning (pp. 239-258). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Singleton, D. (2005). The critical period hypothesis: A coat of many colors. IRAL, 43, 269-285. doi: 10.1515/iral.2005.43.4.269
Singleton, D., & LeƑniewska, J. (2012). Age and SLA: Research highways and byeways. In M. Pawlak (Ed.), New perspectives on individual differences in language learning and teaching (pp. 97-113). Heidelberg: Springer.
Singleton, D., & Ryan, L. (2004). Language acquisition: The age factor (2nd ed.). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Smith, J., & Beckmann, B. (2010). Noticing-reformulation tasks as a stimulus towards continued autonomous phonological development. New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics, 16, 35-50.
Subtirelu, N. (2014). A language ideological perspective on willingness to communicate. System, 42, 120-32. doi: 10.1016/j.system.2013.11.004
Van Daele, S., Housen, A. Pierrard, M., & Debruyn, L. (2006). The effect of extraversion on oral L2 proficiency. EUROSLA Yearbook, 6, 213-236.
Victori, M., & Tragant, E.. (2003). Learner strategies: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study of primary and high school EFL learners. In M. Garcia Mayo & M. Garcia Lecumberri (Eds.), Age and the acquisition of English as a foreign language (pp. 182-209). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Werker, J., & Tees, R. (2005). Speech perception as a window for understanding plasticity and commitment in language systems of the brain. Developmental Psychobiology, 46, 233-251. Retrieved from http://lumiere.ens.fr/~ruthdb/articles/werker05.pdf
Zuengler, J. (1988). Identity markers and L2 pronunciation. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 10, 33-49. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S027226310000694X
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.