Learning Language as an Adult: Do

our kids have the advantage?

Kaitlyn Wampler
Wednesday July 3, 2019

If you’re having trouble learning a new language, consider the story of Genie Wiley.
As a 13-year-old girl, Genie couldn’t speak a word in any language, because for a
decade, her abusive father kept her confined to a crib in a locked bedroom, never
speaking to her. Deprived of stimulation for 13 years, even as an adult she never
developed more than a child’s capacity for language, despite much work with
psychologists and language specialists.
Working with Genie in the 1970s made linguists reconsider language development in
early childhood. Specifically, they hypothesized that there is a “critical period” in
early childhood in which a child must learn language. After that age, it would be
difficult to impossible for someone to become fluent in a language. Many researchers
apply the same hypothesis to second language learning.

So is it easier to learn English as a child?

The short answer: Yes.

The long answer: It’s not that simple.
General assumptions posit that children learn languages faster than adults,
but research shows that kids and adults just learn differently.

How do children best learn language?

Early in development, children have yet to acquire the categorical thinking skills in their

first language that allow them to memorize complex conjugations and grammatical
structures. So young second language learners generally develop grammar
by trial and error.
Because their wellbeing hinges on communication, children
generally favor coherent meaning over grammatical perfection and are more willing to
 make mistakes, says a 1976 study by Susan Oyama at Harvard
University. Likewise, desperate to communicate, children generally broaden their
vocabulary more rapidly than adults, and they tend to retain it longer.

How do adults best learn language?

Drawing from categorical thinking skills and constructions in their first language, adults

can generally learn the grammar of a second language more quickly than children. This
is why high school and college classes teach tense and conjugation at a faster pace
than primary schools.
However, because adults tend to learn better under explicit and repetitive grammatical
instruction, they experience difficulty in immersion environments. Their independence
and fluency in a first language can make adults hesitant to communicate
imperfectly in their second language.

So who learns language more effectively?

As it turns out, present research is inconclusive. Children seem to do better with

pronunciation and vocabulary retention while adults acquire grammar more efficiently.
One advantage children do have in learning a new language is their ability
to distinguish sounds that don’t occur in their first language. By contrast, adults are
so attuned to the sounds in their first language that it’s difficult–though not impossible–
to hear new ones.
Yet, when it comes to ultimate attainment (the highest level of proficiency a learner will
reach), researchers Ehrman and Oxford argue in a 1995 study that, while age might
offer different paths to development, motivation, beliefs about oneself, and time
spent using the language are better indicators of a learner’s ability to reach
native-like fluency.
At best, research on age-based linguistic aptitudes can help teachers and
students plan lessons that target their natural strengths. What research can’t do
is prescribe which age group will be more successful using a new language.

Key Words
 abusive: adj. engaging in habitual violence and cruelty
 to confine: v. to keep or restrict someone within certain limits
 crib: n. a young child’s bed with high sides
 to deprive: v. to keep someone from getting or using something
 stimulation: n. encouragement to learn, develop, and grow
 capacity: n. ability
 to hypothesize: v. to make an educated guess
 to posit: v. to put forward as the basis of an argument; to hypothesize
 categorical: adj. involving using specific systematic categories
 conjugation: n. the various forms of verbs
 trial and error: the process of experimenting until finding the most successful way
of doing something
 wellbeing: n. the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy
 to hinge on: v. to depend entirely on
 to favor: v. to prefer, to like
 coherent: adj. clear, making sense
 desperate: adj. having a great need or desire for something
 to retain: v. to continue to have
 to draw from: v. to use as a resource
 immersion: n. a method of learning a language in which only the target language
is spoken
 hesitant: adj. reluctant, unsure, doubtful
 inconclusive: adj. not leading to a firm conclusion
 to distinguish: v. to recognize as different
 attuned: adj. accustomed (used) to
 ultimate: adj. being the best or most extreme
 indicator: n. a thing that shows the level of something
 aptitude: n. a natural ability
 to prescribe: v. to state as a rule that something is true