What’s age got to do with it? Accounting for individual factors in second language accent
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Date
2014-10
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Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu
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Abstract
Empirical research conducted over the past few decades suggests that the age at
which an individual is first exposed to a second language affects long-term outcomes, in particular for phonology. The question that has occupied scholars of
various bents is what, exactly, underlies the robust age effects observed. Does age
imply immutable changes in one’s ability to ever sound native-like? Are these
changes neurological, cognitive, or socio-psychological in nature? What role do L2
use and contact play? Do age-related influences apply to all individuals, or can
language learners actually chart their own course when it comes to accent?
This paper will outline basic assumptions of the critical period for phonology
while suggesting a different approach to the age question that highlights the
individual’s role in both process and outcome. Constructs such as L2 experience,
motivation, self-concept, learning approach, and willingness to communicate
are discussed in depth in order to show the fundamental connection between
cognition and affect so critical for late phonological learning. A re-orientation of
the age research is suggested as a result, to prioritize contextual understandings
of language use and learner agency.
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Keywords
individual differences, second language acquisition, phonology acquisition, motivation, critical period hypothesis
Citation
Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2014, vol. 4, no. 3, pp.443-464