CAN CHILDREN LEARN A SECOND LANGUAGE
FASTER THAN ADULTS?
By Enrique Rojas R
Among the many myths related to acquiring
a foreign language, there is one, very widespread, about children being facile
second language learners. In fact, there
are many people, including numerous English teachers, who think that children
are better qualified than adults to learn a foreign language. However,
scientific research does not seem to support this belief.
Such line of thinking argues that
children are superior to adults in learning second languages because their
brains are more flexible (Lenneberg, 1967; Penfield & Roberts, 1959). The
argument contends that children can learn languages easily because their cortex
is more plastic than that of older learners. The critical period theory, which
started for other learned abilities, extended to this field, trying to involve
second language acquisition.
The critical period hypothesis (CPH) that
was developed in Canada, in 1959, by Wilder Penfield and Lamar Roberts, and
popularized by Eric Lenneberg in 1967, specified that
there are maturational constraints on the time a first language can be
acquired. They contended that first language acquisition relies on neuroplasticity. And they went on to warn that if language acquisition did not occur by
puberty, some aspects of language might be learned, but full mastery could not
be achieved. This was based in the belief that first language acquisition must occur
before cerebral lateralization is complete, at about the age of puberty.
However, when they tested the naturalistic acquisition of Dutch by English
speakers of different ages in Holland by assessing several aspects of their
second language ability, they found that the subjects in the age groups 12-15
and adults made the fastest progress during the first few months of learning
Dutch and that at the end of the first year the 8-10 and 12-15-year-olds had
achieved the best control of that language. The 3-5-year-olds scored lowest on
all the tests employed (Snow and Hoefnagel-Höhle, 1978). These data
unquestionably does not support the critical period hypothesis for language
acquisition.
Further experimental research has been carried
out, comparing the performances of children and adults in their efforts to
acquire a foreign or a second language. The results have consistently
demonstrated the inferiority of young children under controlled conditions (McLaughlin.1992).
Additionally, naturalistic research comparing children and adults learning
second languages as immigrants does not support the notion that younger
children are better at second language learning.
Moreover, studies comparing the rate of second
language acquisition in children and adults have shown that although children
may have an advantage in achieving native-like fluency in the long run, adults
actually learn languages more quickly than children in the early stages
(Krashen, Long, and Scarcella, 1979).
Dr.
Mary Schleppegrell, a renowned linguist and author of a number of books
in this discipline, as well as language Professor at the University of
Michigan, insists that there is no decline in the ability to learn as people get older. She
states that, contrary to popular stereotypes, older adults can be
good foreign language learners and that
“the difficulties older adults often experience in the language
classroom can be overcome through adjustments in the learning environment,
attention to affective factors, and use of effective teaching methods.” (Schleppegrell,
1987). Although she admits that there could be certain impediments due to
mature age, such as hearing and vision loss, she disparages that as minor
considerations and goes on to say that there is no decline in the ability to
learn as people get older.
Notwithstanding this mental capacity of the
elderly, it is true that many chronic diseases can affect their ability to
learn, like hearing loss and decreased visual acuity. These factors should be
contemplated by teachers, as well as considerations about the different ways
young people and seniors learn. The first ones rely significantly on their
short-term memory, while older adults “integrate new concepts and materials
into already existing cognitive structures” (Schleppegrell, 1987)
However, there
is an area where children are at an advantage over adults. It is in the area of
listening, which it necessarily reflects later on the quality of pronunciation.
Scientists assert that babies are born with the capacity to hear all the sounds
of human speech, whichever the language or geographical location of the
speakers. They possess then the dormant capacity to discriminate all possible
speech contrasts (phonemes). Little by little, as they are exposed to their
mothers’ language, their perception becomes language specific. They only
develop the capacity to recognize and eventually understand that one language
(in some cases babies are exposed to two different languages and they learn
them both), while they lose the capability to distinguish sounds that do not
belong to their language system. This ability begins to decline around the age
of nine months.
A quantity of studies have established that the younger one begins to learn a
second language, the superior his accent in that language will be (Asher &
Garcia, 1969)
Another fact that plays in favor of
children learners is that they usually do not question what they are taught by
their instructors. They are constantly learning new language and immediately
put it into practice without a second thought. On the other hand, the adult
learner reacts to all the things that they find in the target language which
are different to what they use in their own tongue. By then the basic grammar rules are well rooted in their minds and they
counter with “why?” “how come” or even “that is not logical.” They are not so
ready to accept the differences as children are. They have a pretty good
knowledge about how their language is structured, but that sometimes works in
their favor and some other times against them. The phenomenon of interference
is much more common and frequent then in adults than in children.
Of course, all these considerations are
of a general nature. Each person lives their own process in accordance with
their background, environment, culture, experiences and personal potentials.
There is only one thing we can promise: IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN.
BIOGRAPHICAL DATA
Graduated in Journalism at the PUCP, Peru, Enrique Rojas R. holds a MA in Journalism and MA in Inter American History from Southern Illinois University, USA; an MA in Literature from University of the Americas, Puebla, Mexico, all the coursework for a MA in TEFL at Universidad de Piura, Peru and BA in Education from Universidad Federico Villarreal. He has also obtained Certificates of Proficiency in English both from Cambridge University and the University of Michigan and the Diploma for EFL Teachers from Universidad del Pacifico. He is an Oral Examiner for the Cambridge University exams and has been awarded the title Expert in E-Learning from Asociacion Educativa del Mediterraneo and Universidad Marcelino Champagnat. He has worked as a professor in universities in Peru, Mexico and the United States; as a newscaster and a producer in radio and television stations in the United States and Mexico, and as a writer and editor in daily newspapers of the same countries. He has been in the staff of CIDUP for 17 years teaching English and Spanish specializing in International Exams, English for Business, ESP and Teacher Training. He is a member of the Research Area of Centro de Idiomas de la UP.
Graduated in Journalism at the PUCP, Peru, Enrique Rojas R. holds a MA in Journalism and MA in Inter American History from Southern Illinois University, USA; an MA in Literature from University of the Americas, Puebla, Mexico, all the coursework for a MA in TEFL at Universidad de Piura, Peru and BA in Education from Universidad Federico Villarreal. He has also obtained Certificates of Proficiency in English both from Cambridge University and the University of Michigan and the Diploma for EFL Teachers from Universidad del Pacifico. He is an Oral Examiner for the Cambridge University exams and has been awarded the title Expert in E-Learning from Asociacion Educativa del Mediterraneo and Universidad Marcelino Champagnat. He has worked as a professor in universities in Peru, Mexico and the United States; as a newscaster and a producer in radio and television stations in the United States and Mexico, and as a writer and editor in daily newspapers of the same countries. He has been in the staff of CIDUP for 17 years teaching English and Spanish specializing in International Exams, English for Business, ESP and Teacher Training. He is a member of the Research Area of Centro de Idiomas de la UP.
