The Age Factor in Second Language Learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 2164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruyun Hu

In recent years; age has being considered as the major factor in determining language learners’ successful foreign language acquisition; which is correlated to the assumption stated by Critical Period Hypothesis and Neurological Hypothesis. Most importantly; these assumptions might be concluded that that language learner can acquire foreign language better than adults do at their early age. Additionally; there is still a widespread belief held by many scholars; stating that young children are better at second language acquisition (SLA) than the later starters; such as the adolescents or adults. Therefore; whether young learners learn second language better than the older will be discussed in this article.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 543
Author(s):  
Ricardo Roman Jr. ◽  
Aixa M. Nunez

Research in second language acquisition took off in the early 1970s. This study on integrative and instrumental motivation examined the correlation between the two forms in terms of second language acquisition, and the interest it has generated through continued research efforts in language learning. Research to date suggests a possible relationship between motivation and second language learning. The results obtained by this research were determined by two basic types of motivation which play a relevant role in second language acquisition, it also revealed which was the most prevalent motivational factor that influences students in learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at Quality Leadership University, Panama. Our objective was to prove that instrumental motivation is more prevalent among students learning English as a Foreign Language in Panama. Although cultural awareness is very much present in the EFL classroom, it too plays a major role with English Language Learners (ELLs). This is a quantitative research study which includes a questionnaire classifying twenty motivational statements into two types of motivation, integrative and instrumental. The study revealed that instrumental motivation was more prevalent among English language learners at Quality Leadership University, Panama. Albiet learning about new cultures has been the driving force with which students approach language learning and students in Panama are not the exception. We can thus conclude that instrumental motivation has been acknowledged as the significant factor by students surveyed and the interest in specific language learning for career advancement, whereas integrative motivation is linked to more general second language acquisition for the benefit of cultural integration.


2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigrid Behrent ◽  
Sabine Doff ◽  
Nicole Marx ◽  
Gudrun Ziegler

Our overview of current dissertation work at German universities has identified four main strands of research interest within the field of second language acquisition (SLA). The 38 Ph.D. theses reviewed here were all read between 2006 and 2009 and fall into the subject areas of: foreign language (FL) teaching in primary school, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and multilingual pedagogy, language learner autonomy, and multimedia and language learning. Research methods are mostly qualitative in nature, although method and instrument triangulation are common, and studies often involve smaller research groups. The focus of study tends to be quite practical, reflecting the need to adapt teaching curriculums and learning materials to changing learning situations and populations.


2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-433

The Editor and Board of Language Teaching are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2014 Christopher Brumfit thesis award is Dr Hilde van Zeeland. The thesis was selected by an external panel of judges based on its significance to the field of second language acquisition, second or foreign language learning and teaching, originality and creativity and quality of presentation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-159
Author(s):  
Jan H. Hulstijn

This paper predicts that the study of second language acquisition, as a young discipline of scientific inquiry in its own right, faces a bright future, but only if its scholarly community critically re-examines some notions and assumptions that have too long been taken for granted. First, it is time to reconsider familiar dichotomies, such as second versus foreign language and natural versus instructed language learning. Furthermore, it is worth checking whether and to what extent the puzzling phenomena to be explained by language acquisition theories do really exist (such as uniformity and success and fast acquisition rates in first language acquisition and universal developmental sequences in second language acquisition). The paper furthermore pleas for a multidisciplinary approach to the explanation of the fundamental puzzles of first and second language acquisition and bilingualism, including bridging the divide between psycholinguistic and socio-cultural theories.


2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (01) ◽  
pp. 38-44
Author(s):  
Dilrabo Babakulova ◽  
◽  
◽  

Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is one of the debatable topics regarding to speed and effectiveness in adults or children foreign language learning. There have been several researches to solve the issue; however, the results are different and contradicting. In this research two volunteers participated in three staged survey which showed children’s priority in acquiring foreign language in a short period of time.


2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-408

The Editor and Board of Language Teaching are pleased to announce that there were two tied winners of the 2011 Christopher Brumfit thesis award: Dr Cecilia Guanfang Zhao and Dr Catherine van Beuningen. Both theses were selected by an external panel of judges on the basis of their significance to the field of second language acquisition, second or foreign language learning and teaching, as well as their originality, creativity and quality of presentation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Rahimi

 Message from Editor Dear Readers,It is a great honor for us to publish August 2016 Vol 6 No 4 of Global Journal of Foreign Language Teaching (GJFLT).Please follow the link below:http://www.gjflt.eu/Global Journal of Foreign Language Teaching welcomes original empirical investigations and comprehensive literature review articles focusing on foreign language teaching and topics related to linguistics. GJFLT is an international journal published quarterly and it is a platform for presenting and discussing the emerging developments in foreign language teaching in an international arena.The scope of the journal includes, but is not limited to; the following major topics: Cultural studies, Curriculum Development and Syllabus Design, Discourse Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), General Linguistics, Globalization Studies and world English’s, Independent/Autonomous Learning, Information and Computer Technology in TEFL, Innovation in language, Teaching and learning, Intercultural Education, Language acquisition and learning, Language curriculum development, Language education, Language program evaluation, Language Testing and Assessment, Literacy and language learning, Literature, Mobile Language Learning, Pragmatics, Second Language, Second Language Acquisition, Second Language Acquisition Theory, Digital Literacy Skills, Second Language Learners, Second Language Learning, Second language Pedagogy, Second Language Proficiency, Second Language Speech, Second Language Teaching, Second Language Training, Second Language Tutor, Second language Vocabulary Learning, Teaching English as a Foreign/ Second Language, Teaching Language Skills, Translation Studies, Applied linguistics, Cognitive linguistics.Teachers’ Beliefs and Students’ Experiences, Indonesian University Students’ Vocabulary Mastery, Multiple Language Learning, Idiom Transformation and Modification, Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Writing Achievement, Complex Sentence Structures in Patients with Schizophrenia, and The Effect of Second Life on Speaking Achievement have been included in this issue. The topics of the next issue will be different. We are trying to serve you with our journal with a rich knowledge through which different kinds of topics will be discussed in 2017 issues.We present many thanks to all the contributors who helped us to publish this issue.Best regards,Associate Professor Dr. Ali Rahimi,Editor – in Chief, Bangkok University


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mochamad Subhan Zein

AbstractThis paper examines the suggestion to postpone instruction on early foreign language learning, from both second language acquisition (SLA) and language planning and policy (LPP) perspectives. Contrary to the widely held belief that SLA research on age effects can inform policymakers as to when to start instruction, this paper demonstrates that such research may not offer much to language policymaking. The paper argues that the use of a more pragmatic approach in the transdisciplinarity of SLA and LPP emphasizing research into the benefits of instruction for children should be the underpinning SLA-based rationale for early foreign language learning policies. The paper contends that collaborative work between policymakers and researchers working in LPP and/or SLA domains in an SLA-LPP consortium could help address the problems occurring in the micro-context of policy interpretation and enactment with a primary focus on input enhancement rather than postponement.


Author(s):  
Eshchanov Marat Urazaliyevich

The article discusses theories of second language acquisition within the framework of nature, nurturing, and interactionist views to language learning and reveals the results of their application to non-native multilingual people’s language acquisition experiences in communicative and meaningfully absorbing environments. The research proposes the necessary space for the discussion of practicality and authenticity of nature, nurture and interactionist theories in language learning, which can be conducted as an integral examination of second language learner efficacy. KEY WORDS: second language, acquisition, nature, nurture, interactionist, technique, authentic, skill and knowledge, experiences, environments, learn, acquire, comprehensible input and output, meaningful language acquisition, autonomous learning


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Fan Xu

Over the past three decades, a growing number of different theories in second language acquisition field have come out in an effort to provide explanations as to how language learning takes place, to figure out what variables are effective for second language acquisition as well as to offer guidance to mass second language learners and language teachers. Because behind every teaching approach exists certain kind of theory of language acquisition and good theory in turn can help students master language skills in an effective and efficient way.Each theory is considered to have contributed to the field by highlighting a specific aspect of the language acquisition process. Second language acquisition theories are intrinsically related with various disciplines such as applied linguistics, psychology, education, sociolinguistics, neurology, etc. Considering the impossibility to elaborate all second language theories, I will focus on sociocultural theory and bottleneck hypothesis in second language acquisition. There is an overview which follows the introduction to the Sociocultural Theory and Bottleneck Hypothesis and its contribution to second language acquisition respectively, and then I will evaluate them to see their contributions to the SLA disciplinary development.


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