The Critical Period Hypothesis of Second Language Acquisition and School English Teaching

周玲

【Abstract】The Critical Period Hypothesis believe that the younger the learner is， the better he or she can master the language. Based on the Critical Period Hypothesis and empirical research， the author points out that learner at different ages have their own advantage to master English. It is untrue to learn a language as early as possible. Thus Critical Period Hypothesis is proved of one-side view. The author suggests that school should make different right teaching plans， according to different advantages at different ages. Finally， the author provides some suggestions and strategies on school English education in the context of China.

【Key words】Critical Period Hypothesis； second language acquisition； school English teaching

1. The explanation of Critical period Hypothesis

The biologist Penfield and Robert are the forerunner of the Critical Period Hypothesis. They stated （1959）： at the certain age of the life， one can acquire a language easily and quickly without external interruption and in no need of being taught. This opinion was accepted by Lennebery， who put forward the Critical Period Hypothesis in his book Biological Foundation of Language. He stated that language was the product of the brain. The development of the language ability was controlled strictly by the human physiology. At the age of 2 to the puberty， that is from 2 years to 12 years old， language can be acquire naturally and effortlessly because of the brain plasticity. But after the puberty， the brain develops fully and the neurological system loses such plastic icy， making the language acquisition harder and harder.（Lennebery 1967： 176）

1.1 The supporters of Critical period Hypothesis and their researches

Many researches were done to support Lenneberys Critical Period Hypothesis. That is， many learners believed that the children who learn a second language before the puberty have more advantages than those who start to learn it after puberty.

In the late 1960 s， Asher and Garcia investigated the pronunciation of Cuban immigrates between the ages of 7 and 19 in the United States， finding only those who were under 6 when they got to the United States have a more near-native speech of Americans than the others. In 1976， Oyama took 60 Italians immigrants between the ages of 6 years old to 20 years old in the United States. After 5 years to 18 years living in the United States， they were asked to finish a task of reading loudly and free talk. At the same time， two Native American adults were asked to assess their native ness. It is discovered from this research that children who were under 6 when they arrived in America have a higher probability of acquiring a near-native pronunciation of English than those older than 13 years old.

Besides， in the research on the affect of age factor on the rate of the second language acquisition， children are faster and more successful than adults in the pronunciation learning. Take Cochranoresearch for example， he investigated 54 Japanese children and 24 adults to distinguish the English consonants /r/ and /l/.It took adults 245 hours on average to master these two consonants while the children 193 hours.

According to the above analysis， it is seemed that the Critical Period Hypothesis exists， at least in the pronunciation learning. The children are superiors to the adults in the pronunciation.

1.2 The opponents of Critical period Hypothesis and their researches

On the contrary， great number researches have done to prove that the Critical Period Hypothesis is of one-side view.

Snow and M. Hoefnagel-hohle in 1978 did profound research about the Critical Period Hypothesis in 1978. They investigated the Dutch learners whose mother tongue was English， discovering that the subjects from 12 years old to 15 years old and the adults performed well in the Dutch learning in the first several months， while the subjects from 3 years old to 5 years old scored lowest in all the tests. This research did not support the Critical Period Hypothesis.

Many linguists continued to challenge the Critical Period Hypothesis. The old is faster than the young in the learning rate. The research of Krachen and Scarcella was used to prove this point. They took three groups of Dutch learners who spoke English： the children from 8 years old to 10 years old， the teenagers from 12 years old to 15 years old and the adults. Through this investigation， it was discovered that in the semantic and the syntax， the group of teenagers performed best followed by the adult groups， and the group of children came last.

According to the current research of the famous experts in the world， children are superior to the older in the pronunciation， but in the other aspects such as the semantics and syntax learning and the learning rate， the teenagers and the adults is obvious faster and more successful than children in the second language acquisition. Thus the opinion that the Critical Period Hypothesis exists is not absolutely right， the Critical Period Hypothesis exists not in the language acquisition but in the part of the language acquisition.

2. The suggestions on the primary school English education

From the above analysis of the research， children have a relative advantage in the pronunciation learning. The children are better at listening and speaking， as it was mentioned in the previous parts. So the teachers in primary school should adopt a suitable teaching method. Here are some suggestions on the primary school English teaching：

2.1 Laying emphasis in the teachers quality training

To get a certain teaching effects in the English teaching in primary schools， the teachers are required to master pedagogies， psychology， English linguist and some basis knowledge in the teaching method. Besides， the standard tone and stress， fluent and clear spoken English some background knowledge about the English spoken countries are also needed. In reality， the teachers are lacked， especially the good teachers. So the teacher training is the most important thing in order to open the English course all-around in the primary school. Opening English course in primary school regardless of the specific condition will not only waste the education resources， but also hit the enthusiasm of some children in English learning. （董燕萍， 2003： 39-47）

2.2 Taking the pronunciation as the dominant part in the primary school English teaching

Based on the previous discussion， the brain before puberty has plasticity， so the period before puberty is the critical period in the pronunciation learning. The pronunciation teaching should be ranked the first in the primary school English education. But great attention should be paid to the teachers spoken English. If the teachers have non-standard spoken English， once the children master it from the teachers， it is difficult for the students to correct it.（何兆熊， 2003： 46-50）

2.3 Paying attention to the language environment and the teaching methods

The language environment and the teaching methods are very important in the language teaching. Since the children are better at listening and speaking， the teachers should attract the students interest in the language learning by adopting some interesting teaching activities in the teaching procedures， such as telling stories， singing songs， role playing and playing games. Interest and rich activities can motivate children to devote themselves to the learning. Besides， some teaching aids such as pictures and cartoon can be added into teaching to make the teaching more interesting.

3. Conclusion

To sum up， the opinion that there is a critical period in the second language or foreign language acquisition is wrong， at least there are insufficient scientific evidences to support it， according to the current research. The common people， who start to learn English even if after 12 years old， can master English well because of the needs for work or the strong motivation to study. （劉振前， 2006： 232-268） The children， the teenagers and the adults have their respective characteristics in the second language acquisition. The educators should make out the suitable teaching plans during the process of the teaching according the respective characteristics of the teenagers and the adults.

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