Reading Habits of University Students in North Macedonia

Kechan, Ana

Özet

This article reexamines the role of age in second language acquisition through a critical lens, challenging traditional interpretations of the Critical Period Hypothesis. While the hypothesis suggests age-related limitations in achieving native-like proficiency, contemporary evidence underscores the brain's lifelong adaptability and the significant roles of social, cognitive, and contextual factors. Drawing on insights from neurolinguistics, naturalistic, and classroom-based studies, this review reveals that late learners can achieve high levels of proficiency, often mediated by individual motivation, social integration, and quality input. It critiques the simplistic dichotomy of early versus late learning, emphasizing the nuanced interplay of variables like learner environment and instructional quality. Through the framework of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory, the article posits age as one of many dynamic and interdependent factors influencing second language acquisition, shifting focus from deterministic views to more holistic, adaptive perspectives. These findings call for a re-evaluation of age-centric policies in education, advocating for pedagogical strategies that align with learners' developmental and experiential contexts. The implications extend beyond theoretical discourse, urging educational practices to leverage the potential for language acquisition across the lifespan.

Anahtar kelimeler

Kaynaklar

Abrahamsson, N., & Hyltenstam, K. (2009). Age of onset and nativelikeness in a second language: Listener perception versus linguistic scrutiny. Language Learning, 59(2) , 249-306. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00507.x
Baumert, J., Fleckenstein, J., Leucht, M., Köller, O., & Möller, J. (2020). The long‐term proficiency of early, middle, and late starters learning English as a foreign language at school: A narrative review and empirical study. Language Learning , 70 (4), 1091–1135. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12414
Bergmann, C., Meulman, N., Stowe, L., Sprenger, S., & Schmid, M. (2015). Prolonged L2 immersion engenders little change in morphosyntactic processing of bilingual natives. Neuroreport , 26 (17), 1065–1070. https://doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0000000000000469
Birdsong, D. (2014). The Critical Period Hypothesis for second language acquisition: Tailoring the coat of many colors.`1 In M. Pawlak and L. Aronin (Eds.) Essential topics in applied linguistics and multilingualism (pp. 43–50). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01414-2_3
Birdsong, D. (2018). Plasticity, variability and age in second language acquisition and bilingualism. Frontiers in Psychology, 9 , https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00081
Bowden, H. W., Steinhauer, K., Sanz, C., & Ullman, M. T. (2013). Native-like brain processing of syntax can be attained by university foreign language learners. Neuropsychologia, 51 (13), 2492–2511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.09.004
Chen, T., & Hartshorne, J. K. (2021). More evidence from over 1.1 million subjects that the critical period for syntax closes in late adolescence. Cognition, 214 , 104706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104706
Cook, V., & Singleton, D. (2014). Key topics in second language acquisition . Multilingual Matters.
De Bot, K., Lowie, W., & Verspoor, M. (2007). A Dynamic Systems Theory approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , 10, 7-21. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728906002732
DeKeyser, R. (2003). Implicit and explicit learning. In C. Doughty & M. Long (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 313–348). Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470756492.ch11
DeLuca, V., Miller, D., Pliatsikas, C., & Rothman, J. (2019). Brain adaptations and neurological indices of processing in adult second language acquisition. In The handbook of the neuroscience of multilingualism (pp.170–196). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119387725.ch8
Dollmann, J., Kogan, I., & Weißmann, M. (2020). Speaking accent-free in L2 beyond the critical period: The compensatory role of individual abilities and opportunity structures. Applied Linguistics, 41, 787–809. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amz029
Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The psychology of second language acquisition. Oxford University Press.
Flege, J. E. (2019). A non-critical period for second-language learning. In A. Mette Nyvad, M. Hejná, A. Højen, A. Bothe Jespersen & M. Hjortshøj Sørensen (Eds.), A sound approach to language matters: In honor of Ocke-Schwen Bohn (p. 501–541). Aarhus University. https://doi.org/10.7146/aul.322.218
Freed, B. F. (Ed.). (1995). Second language acquisition in a study abroad context. John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.9?locatt=mode:legacy
Gutchess, A. (2014). Plasticity of the aging brain: new directions in cognitive neuroscience. Science, 346 (6209), 579–582. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1254604
Huang, B. H. (2016). A synthesis of empirical research on the linguistic outcomes of early foreign language instruction. International Journal of Multilingualism , 13 (3), 257–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2015.1066792
Huang, B., Chang, Y.-H. S., Niu, L., & Zhi, M. (2018). Examining the effects of socio-economic status and language input on adolescent English learners’ speech production outcomes. System, 73 , 27–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.07.004
Huang, B. H., Chang, Y.-H. S., Zhi, M., & Niu, L. (2020). The effect of input on bilingual adolescents’ long-term language outcomes in a foreign language instruction context. International Journal of Bilingualism , 24 (1), 8–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006918768311
Hyltenstam, K. (1992). Non-native features of non-native speakers: On the ultimate attainment of childhood L2 learners. In R.J. Harris (Ed.), Cognitive processing in bilinguals (pp.351-368). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-4115(08)61505-8
Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation . Edward Arnold.
Jaekel, N., Schurig, M., Florian, M., & Ritter, M. (2017). From early starters to late finishers? A longitudinal study of early foreign language learning in school. Language Learning , 67 (3), 631–664. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12242
Jia, G., & D. Aaronson (2003). A longitudinal study of Chinese children and adolescents learning English in the United States. Applied Psycholinguistics 24, 131–161. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716403000079
Johnson, J. & Newport, E. (1989). Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology, 21(1), 60–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(89)90003-0
Kasparian, K., & Steinhauer, K. (2016). Confusing similar words: ERP correlates of lexical-semantic processing in first language attrition and late second language acquisition. Neuropsychologia , 93 , 200–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.10.007
Kasparian, K., & Steinhauer, K. (2017). When the second language takes the lead: Neurocognitive processing changes in the first language of adult attriters. Frontiers in Psychology , 8 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00389
Kinsella, C., & Singleton, D. (2014). Much more than age. Applied Linguistics, 35(4), 441–462. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amu032
Klimova, B., & Pikhart, M. (2020). Current research on the impact of foreign language learning among healthy seniors on their cognitive functions from a positive psychology perspective: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, 11 , 765. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00765
Krashen, S. (1973). Lateralisation, language learning and the critical period: Some new evidence. Language Learning 23 (1), 63–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1973.tb00097.x
Lantolf, J. P., & Thorne, S. L. (2006). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development . Oxford University Press.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (1997). Chaos/complexity science and second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 18 (2), 141–165. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/18.2.141
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2015). Complexity theory. In B. VanPatten & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition (2nd ed., pp. 227–244). Routledge.
Lenneberg, E.H. (1967). Biological foundations of language . Wiley.
Long, M. (2013). Maturational constraints on child and adult SLA. In G. Granena & M. Long (Eds.), Sensitive periods, language aptitude and ultimate attainment (pp. 3–41). John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.35.01lon
Marinova-Todd, S. (2003). Comprehensive analysis of ultimate attainment in adult second language acquisition . Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University.
Marinova-Todd, S.H., Marshall, D.B., & Snow, C.E. (2000). Three misconceptions about age and L2 learning. TESOL Quarterly, 34 (1) , 9–34. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588095
Muñoz, C. (2003). Variation in oral skills development and age of onset. In M.P. García Mayo & M.L. García Lecumberri (Eds.), Age and the acquisition of English as a second language (pp. 161–181). Multilingual Matters.
Muñoz, C. & Singleton, D. (2011). A critical review of age-related research on L2 ultimate attainment: State of the art article. Language Teaching 44 (1), 1-35. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444810000327
Murphy, V. A. (2014). Second language learning in the early school years: Trends and contexts . Oxford University Press.
Nenert, R., Allendorfer, J.B., Martin, A.M., Banks, C. Vannest, J., Holland, S.K. & Szaflarski, J.P, (2017). Age-related language lateralisation assessed by fMRI: The effects of sex and handedness. Brain Research , 1674, 20-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2017.08.021
Penfield, W.G. & Roberts, L. (1959). Speech and brain mechanisms . Atheneum.
Piske, T., Flege, J.E., MacKay, I.R.A., & Meador, D. (2002). The production of English vowels by fluent early and late Italian-English bilinguals. Phonetica, 59(1), 49–71. https://doi.org/10.1159/000056205
Pfenninger, S. E. & Singleton, D. (2017). Beyond age effects in instructional L2 learning: Revisiting the age factor . Multilingual Matters.
Pfenninger, S. E. & Singleton, D. (2019). Starting age overshadowed: The primacy of differential environmental and family support effects on L2 attainment in an instructional context. Language Learning, 69(S1), 207–234. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12318
Pfenninger, S., Festman, J., & Singleton, D. (2023). Second language acquisition and lifelong learning . Routledge.
Pliatsikas, C., Moschopoulou, E., & Saddy, J. D. (2015). The effects of bilingualism on the white matter structure of the brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 112 (5), 1334–1337. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1414183112
Ramírez Gómez, D. (2017). Language teaching and the older adult: The significance of experience . Multilingual Matters.
Rossi, E., Díaz, M., Kroll, J. F., & Dussias, P. E. (2017). Late bilinguals are sensitive to unique aspects of second language processing: Evidence from clitic pronouns and word order. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 342. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00342
Sebastián-Gallés, N., Echeverría, S., & Bosch, L. (2005). The influence of initial exposure on lexical representation: Comparing early and simultaneous bilinguals. Journal of Memory and Language, 52 (2), 240–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2004.11.001
Singleton, D. (2005). The critical period hypothesis: A coat of many colours. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 43(4), 269–285. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral.2005.43.4.269
Singleton, D. & Leśniewska, J. (2021). The critical period hypothesis in second language acquisition: An unfalsifiable embarrassment? Languages , 6(3), https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6030149
Singleton, D. & Zaborska, D. (2021). Adults learning additional languages in their later years: The pain, the profit and the pleasure. Journal of Multilingual Theories and Practices, 1 (1), 112-124. https://doi.org/10.1558/jmtp.15361
Steinhauer, K., & Kasparian, K. (2020). Brain plasticity in adulthood: ERP evidence for L1 attrition in lexicon and morphosyntax after predominant L2 use. Language Learning , 70 (S2), 171–193. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12391

Yorumlar

Henüz yorum yok. Makale hakkındaki soru ve görüşlerinizi bekliyoruz.

[1] Abrahamsson, N., & Hyltenstam, K. (2009). Age of onset and nativelikeness in a second language: Listener perception versus linguistic scrutiny. Language Learning, 59(2) , 249-306. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00507.x

[2] Baumert, J., Fleckenstein, J., Leucht, M., Köller, O., & Möller, J. (2020). The long‐term proficiency of early, middle, and late starters learning English as a foreign language at school: A narrative review and empirical study. Language Learning , 70 (4), 1091–1135. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12414

[3] Bergmann, C., Meulman, N., Stowe, L., Sprenger, S., & Schmid, M. (2015). Prolonged L2 immersion engenders little change in morphosyntactic processing of bilingual natives. Neuroreport , 26 (17), 1065–1070. https://doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0000000000000469

[4] Birdsong, D. (2014). The Critical Period Hypothesis for second language acquisition: Tailoring the coat of many colors.`1 In M. Pawlak and L. Aronin (Eds.) Essential topics in applied linguistics and multilingualism (pp. 43–50). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01414-2_3

[5] Birdsong, D. (2018). Plasticity, variability and age in second language acquisition and bilingualism. Frontiers in Psychology, 9 , https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00081

[6] Bowden, H. W., Steinhauer, K., Sanz, C., & Ullman, M. T. (2013). Native-like brain processing of syntax can be attained by university foreign language learners. Neuropsychologia, 51 (13), 2492–2511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.09.004

[7] Chen, T., & Hartshorne, J. K. (2021). More evidence from over 1.1 million subjects that the critical period for syntax closes in late adolescence. Cognition, 214 , 104706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104706

[8] Cook, V., & Singleton, D. (2014). Key topics in second language acquisition . Multilingual Matters.

[9] De Bot, K., Lowie, W., & Verspoor, M. (2007). A Dynamic Systems Theory approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , 10, 7-21. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728906002732

[10] DeKeyser, R. (2003). Implicit and explicit learning. In C. Doughty & M. Long (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 313–348). Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470756492.ch11

[11] DeLuca, V., Miller, D., Pliatsikas, C., & Rothman, J. (2019). Brain adaptations and neurological indices of processing in adult second language acquisition. In The handbook of the neuroscience of multilingualism (pp.170–196). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119387725.ch8

[12] Dollmann, J., Kogan, I., & Weißmann, M. (2020). Speaking accent-free in L2 beyond the critical period: The compensatory role of individual abilities and opportunity structures. Applied Linguistics, 41, 787–809. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amz029

[13] Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The psychology of second language acquisition. Oxford University Press.

[14] Flege, J. E. (2019). A non-critical period for second-language learning. In A. Mette Nyvad, M. Hejná, A. Højen, A. Bothe Jespersen & M. Hjortshøj Sørensen (Eds.), A sound approach to language matters: In honor of Ocke-Schwen Bohn (p. 501–541). Aarhus University. https://doi.org/10.7146/aul.322.218

[15] Freed, B. F. (Ed.). (1995). Second language acquisition in a study abroad context. John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.9?locatt=mode:legacy

[16] Gutchess, A. (2014). Plasticity of the aging brain: new directions in cognitive neuroscience. Science, 346 (6209), 579–582. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1254604

[17] Huang, B. H. (2016). A synthesis of empirical research on the linguistic outcomes of early foreign language instruction. International Journal of Multilingualism , 13 (3), 257–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2015.1066792

[18] Huang, B., Chang, Y.-H. S., Niu, L., & Zhi, M. (2018). Examining the effects of socio-economic status and language input on adolescent English learners’ speech production outcomes. System, 73 , 27–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.07.004

[19] Huang, B. H., Chang, Y.-H. S., Zhi, M., & Niu, L. (2020). The effect of input on bilingual adolescents’ long-term language outcomes in a foreign language instruction context. International Journal of Bilingualism , 24 (1), 8–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006918768311

[20] Hyltenstam, K. (1992). Non-native features of non-native speakers: On the ultimate attainment of childhood L2 learners. In R.J. Harris (Ed.), Cognitive processing in bilinguals (pp.351-368). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-4115(08)61505-8

[21] Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation . Edward Arnold.

[22] Jaekel, N., Schurig, M., Florian, M., & Ritter, M. (2017). From early starters to late finishers? A longitudinal study of early foreign language learning in school. Language Learning , 67 (3), 631–664. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12242

[23] Jia, G., & D. Aaronson (2003). A longitudinal study of Chinese children and adolescents learning English in the United States. Applied Psycholinguistics 24, 131–161. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716403000079

[24] Johnson, J. & Newport, E. (1989). Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology, 21(1), 60–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(89)90003-0

[25] Kasparian, K., & Steinhauer, K. (2016). Confusing similar words: ERP correlates of lexical-semantic processing in first language attrition and late second language acquisition. Neuropsychologia , 93 , 200–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.10.007

[26] Kasparian, K., & Steinhauer, K. (2017). When the second language takes the lead: Neurocognitive processing changes in the first language of adult attriters. Frontiers in Psychology , 8 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00389

[27] Kinsella, C., & Singleton, D. (2014). Much more than age. Applied Linguistics, 35(4), 441–462. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amu032

[28] Klimova, B., & Pikhart, M. (2020). Current research on the impact of foreign language learning among healthy seniors on their cognitive functions from a positive psychology perspective: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, 11 , 765. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00765

[29] Krashen, S. (1973). Lateralisation, language learning and the critical period: Some new evidence. Language Learning 23 (1), 63–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1973.tb00097.x

[30] Lantolf, J. P., & Thorne, S. L. (2006). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development . Oxford University Press.

[31] Larsen-Freeman, D. (1997). Chaos/complexity science and second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 18 (2), 141–165. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/18.2.141

[32] Larsen-Freeman, D. (2015). Complexity theory. In B. VanPatten & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition (2nd ed., pp. 227–244). Routledge.

[33] Lenneberg, E.H. (1967). Biological foundations of language . Wiley.

[34] Long, M. (2013). Maturational constraints on child and adult SLA. In G. Granena & M. Long (Eds.), Sensitive periods, language aptitude and ultimate attainment (pp. 3–41). John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.35.01lon

[35] Marinova-Todd, S. (2003). Comprehensive analysis of ultimate attainment in adult second language acquisition . Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University.

[36] Marinova-Todd, S.H., Marshall, D.B., & Snow, C.E. (2000). Three misconceptions about age and L2 learning. TESOL Quarterly, 34 (1) , 9–34. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588095

[37] Muñoz, C. (2003). Variation in oral skills development and age of onset. In M.P. García Mayo & M.L. García Lecumberri (Eds.), Age and the acquisition of English as a second language (pp. 161–181). Multilingual Matters.

[38] Muñoz, C. & Singleton, D. (2011). A critical review of age-related research on L2 ultimate attainment: State of the art article. Language Teaching 44 (1), 1-35. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444810000327

[39] Murphy, V. A. (2014). Second language learning in the early school years: Trends and contexts . Oxford University Press.

[40] Nenert, R., Allendorfer, J.B., Martin, A.M., Banks, C. Vannest, J., Holland, S.K. & Szaflarski, J.P, (2017). Age-related language lateralisation assessed by fMRI: The effects of sex and handedness. Brain Research , 1674, 20-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2017.08.021

[41] Penfield, W.G. & Roberts, L. (1959). Speech and brain mechanisms . Atheneum.

[42] Piske, T., Flege, J.E., MacKay, I.R.A., & Meador, D. (2002). The production of English vowels by fluent early and late Italian-English bilinguals. Phonetica, 59(1), 49–71. https://doi.org/10.1159/000056205

[43] Pfenninger, S. E. & Singleton, D. (2017). Beyond age effects in instructional L2 learning: Revisiting the age factor . Multilingual Matters.

[44] Pfenninger, S. E. & Singleton, D. (2019). Starting age overshadowed: The primacy of differential environmental and family support effects on L2 attainment in an instructional context. Language Learning, 69(S1), 207–234. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12318

[45] Pfenninger, S., Festman, J., & Singleton, D. (2023). Second language acquisition and lifelong learning . Routledge.

[46] Pliatsikas, C., Moschopoulou, E., & Saddy, J. D. (2015). The effects of bilingualism on the white matter structure of the brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 112 (5), 1334–1337. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1414183112

[47] Ramírez Gómez, D. (2017). Language teaching and the older adult: The significance of experience . Multilingual Matters.

[48] Rossi, E., Díaz, M., Kroll, J. F., & Dussias, P. E. (2017). Late bilinguals are sensitive to unique aspects of second language processing: Evidence from clitic pronouns and word order. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 342. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00342

[49] Sebastián-Gallés, N., Echeverría, S., & Bosch, L. (2005). The influence of initial exposure on lexical representation: Comparing early and simultaneous bilinguals. Journal of Memory and Language, 52 (2), 240–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2004.11.001

[50] Singleton, D. (2005). The critical period hypothesis: A coat of many colours. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 43(4), 269–285. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral.2005.43.4.269

[51] Singleton, D. & Leśniewska, J. (2021). The critical period hypothesis in second language acquisition: An unfalsifiable embarrassment? Languages , 6(3), https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6030149

[52] Singleton, D. & Zaborska, D. (2021). Adults learning additional languages in their later years: The pain, the profit and the pleasure. Journal of Multilingual Theories and Practices, 1 (1), 112-124. https://doi.org/10.1558/jmtp.15361

[53] Steinhauer, K., & Kasparian, K. (2020). Brain plasticity in adulthood: ERP evidence for L1 attrition in lexicon and morphosyntax after predominant L2 use. Language Learning , 70 (S2), 171–193. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12391