SLA – Session 7

The Age Factor

The effects of age
Proficiency
 Length of learning period – How lone have you learned English?
 Age
 Amount of exposure – How many hours you are exposed to English?
Age differences in SLA
Critical period (2-13)

Younger advantage Older advantage

 Brain plasticity
 Not analytical (formulaic sequences >>
fluency)
 Fewer inhibitions (usually) (pragmatic
skills >> kids cannot understand how to
say sth politely >> they are not scared of
making mistakes)
 Weaker group identity (be willing to
communicate with others >< adults they
consider themselves different from
others – Vietnamese, Chinese, …)
 Simplified input more likely (Interaction
hypothesis)
Onset
><
Offset
 Learning capacity
 Analytic ability (developmental
sequences >> accuracy)
 Pragmatic skills (understand how to use
words appropriately in the contexts)
 Greater knowledge of L1 (reading skills
in L1 help L2 reading skills)
 Real-word knowledge (ex: writing test –
adults have larger knowledge about the
topic than the younger ones – money,
environment, pollution, policy,…)
SLA – Session 7

Reasons for inconsistency in research findings

Saville – Troike (2006)
“Success”
 Initial rate of learning
 Ultimate (final) achievement

Initial stages Ultimate achievement

SLA – Session 7

Younger learners achieve ultimately higher levels

Adolescents and adults learn faster
of L2 proficiency

“Success”
 Pronunciation
 Grammar
 Fluency
 Functional competence
When you read SLA articles, look for the definition of “success” by the authors.
Questions:

Do you consider yourself to be able to pass as a NS of English? At what age were you exposed to
English? Are there particular circumstances about your exposure to English (age of onset,
amount of exposure, motivation) that might explain these?