ADULT SECOND LANGUAGE

How native is near-native? The issue of ultimate attainment in adult second language acquisition

How native is near-native? The issue of ultimate attainment in adult second language acquisition

Introduction

Various studies have been conducted to identify the correlation between ability to acquire performance at the age of L2 with the individuals who start to learn L2 after the age of 15 years and remain unable to acquire competencies like their natives. This paper provides thorough study of the people who tend to understand or acquire second language during their adulthood. The research paper is written by Lydia White and Fred Genesee. The study tests the hypothesis for the acquisition of L2 and that of the decline witnessed while accessing the Universal Grammar. The study is focused on to identify whether an individual (specifically the L2 speaker) has achieved the native-like proficiency or not. For this purpose, the respondents have been divided into three groups. These groups are named as near-native speakers, non-native speakers, and controls. These groups have been assigned two tasks which would test their universal grammar skills and proficiencies. The results will be discussed in the later part after explaining the methodology used in the research process.

Methodology

The research was conducted with 89 English language speakers as an L2. Out of those 89 respondents, 44 were males, whereas, 45 were females. In addition to that, there were also 19 other respondents with having monolingual speaking abilities and were also native English speakers. Out of those 19, 7 were males and 12 were females. On average, the age of respondents was 29 years, where they were ranging from 16 years to 66 years. On the other hand, the average age of the control group was of 28 years, where the respondents were ranging from 15 years to 73 years. The respondents including L2 were 51 who were born in Canada, whereas, 38 of the respondents were those who have been immigrated to Canada. The respondents were selected based on the notices posted in local newspapers as well as at the universities.

The group of respondents coming under L2 were divided into two different groups and they were further subdivided into groups which were based on the age of the respondents. One group was named as near-native group, while the other group was named as non-native groups. Whereas, the subgroups were divided based on different age groups, that are 0 to 7 year group, 8 to 11 year group, 12 to 15 year group, and the last one was of 16-year onwards group. The idea was to determine at which age the respondents have been able to acquire L2 competencies. One-to-one interviews were conducted for this purpose. The study was based on gathering language samples from each individual, for which thematic appreciation test was conducted. From each language sample, a portion was selected at random and was judged by two judges who were native English speakers. However, judges were not informed about the fact that which samples were from which subject ...