Critical Period in Second Language Acquisition

Critical Period in Second Language Acquisition

Introduction

In the early second language acquisition, in the opinion of the researchers working on the differences in age, has many advantages. There are fewer consensuses about the broad origin of the observed effects in terms of age. The majority position seems to be that the best results can be explained by the younger the existence of a critical period in L2 acquisition Lenneberg (1967). In this paper, two scenarios for second language (L2) acquisition will be discussed. There are two classes; both are third grade classes in the same city and the same school. The difference is that students of first class are immigrant children and learning English as their second language. On the other hand, second class is learning Spanish as their second language. We will consider both the similarities and the differences in both cases, as we believe that can be used methods and strategies successful acquisition of second language. Conversely, it is also essential to consider those circumstantial differences between acquisition at a native place, and the circumstances of the learners to a second language. These factors are related to age, if the learner acquires language in childhood or adulthood, if the language is learned in a meaningful context as their social, or if you learn in a classroom with appropriate limitations, etc (Dulay et al. 1982). We will also see what advantages does an educational context for those students whose only access to language is the classroom, even despite any problems or obstacles that implies an environment where no one speaks the target language.

Discussion

In order to apply techniques most useful and beneficial in foreign language teaching, it is important to understand what internal processes of language acquisition are devised, initially in the language, in order to study these processes in the second languages acquisition. There are many commonalities between learning the second language in the classroom and a second language in a place where it is frequently spoken outside the classroom. Despite the similarities there are also obvious differences between both scenarios. And environmental conditions that affect learning are different in each case, and therefore, the results will also be different (Wang, 2010).

Role of Input

Children learn to speak and use grammatical rules in appropriate contexts without analyzing the language they are talking (Newport, 1990). To mention some of the characteristics of learning language we can say the following:

Children of learning English as second language when communicating through other sources other than the language itself: body language, intonation, gestures, facial expression.

Children will learn it with repeated words and phrases themselves.

Children will learn when experimenting with language, and risk.

Children will also practice speaking.

The first group of immigrants which is learning English as their second language is exposed to the input even after their class room as they are living in a country where English language is spoken frequently. They come across different kinds of input on their daily basis and learn the language even after their critical ...