Pre-Reading Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Pre-Reading Material

Chapter two focuses on the age factor on language acquisition. It will closely look at the relationship between age and L2 acquisition. There have been many contrasting views and findings. Even those with neuro-scientific research have contrasting views, therefore it is difficult to pin point a specific answer.

The age hypothesis states that there is a critical period for L1 acquisition and consequently for L2 acquisition is considered to be true, however this chapter gives the reader a different perspective on the critical and sensitive period.

The chapter also covers the possibilities of attaining a high level of proficiency in a person L2 language based on age. Is it only possible to gain mother-like fluency when a learner starts early? Or are people capable and able to obtain proficiency from a much later age?

It is widely believed that L2 learning in children is done effortlessly. However, the question is about the rate in which the learner learns the language. This chapter will look into the advantages of learning L2 as an adult.

There is section on age and L2 morphosyntax as well as a section titled evidence on L2 morphosyntax from cognitive neuroscience. Make sure that you turn to the end of the chapter for the tables. They are helpful in understanding the concept of the section.

One helpful hint is to not get tied down with the different names of researchers. There are many names that appear in this chapter. A suggestion would be to skim over the names and only re-read the names of the researcher who’s idea interest you. It will make the reading process smoother than getting into each and every researchers name.

Finally, reading the summary first will also help you guide through the reading material. The summary is located at the end of the chapter in section 2.11.