Standard 2 – Knowledge of Human Development and Learning Artifact 1 Joely Rogers

Standard 2 – Knowledge of Human Development and Learning

The teacher understands how children and adults learn and develop and can provide
learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social, and personal development.

Artifact I for Standard Two: Knowledge of Human Development and Learning

Name of Artifact: AGE – How Critical is it?

Date: Summer 2010

Course: FL664 Second Language Acquisition: Theory and Practice

Rationale

One of the common excuses I have heard from adults regarding their refusal to

study a 2nd language is “But, I’m too old. Everyone knows you can’t learn a 2nd language

after high school.” Personal motivation (or lack of it) aside, this excuse has its basis in the

Critical Period Hypothesis, hereafter known as CPH, which states that there is a

“biologically determined period of life when language can be acquired more easily and

beyond which time language is increasingly difficult to acquire” (Brown, 2007, p. 57).

In support of Standard 2, Knowledge of Human Development and Learning, I

offer the artifact “AGE – How Critical is it.” This artifact is from an assignment in FL664

Second Language Acquisition: Theory and Practice, which required us to explain the

CPH in our own words, discuss current research about it and also reference our own

personal experiences as a second language learner. While I believe the CPH has merit

with regards to pronunciation, I am not convinced that age is an absolute barrier to

learning a new language itself. I do; however, feel that teachers should be aware of the

CPH and remain informed about any current research related to it. I am including this

artifact in Standard 2 because it demonstrates my familiarity with the CPH, which is a

 Standard 2 – Knowledge of Human Development and Learning Artifact 1 Joely Rogers

hypothesis of human development and learning that is directly tied to my future career as

a second language teacher.

 Standard 2 – Knowledge of Human Development and Learning Artifact 1 Joely Rogers

References

Brown, H.D. (2007). Principles of language learning and teaching. White Plains, NY:

Pearson Education.
 Standard 2 – Knowledge of Human Development and Learning Artifact 1 Joely Rogers

Artifact I: AGE – How Critical is it?

Instructions: Read Brown, Chapter 3, Age and acquisition, pp. 54-83 and Gass &
Selinker, Chapter 12, pages 405-416 (12.5) and respond to the following exercises.

2. Brown, Chapter 3 and Gass and Selinker, Chapter 12: Explain the Critical Period
Hypothesis in your own words, including what researchers have found out and also
referring to your own personal experience as a second language learner (or that of
someone you know well).

Questions about the critical period for language learning were one of the first

things people asked me about when I started graduate school for teaching English as a

second language. They didn’t know they were asking about it, but they were with

questions like “I’m over 30. Should I just give up on ever learning a foreign language?”

“Is it true that you can’t learn a language after high school?” The Critical Period

Hypothesis states that there is a critical period, which correlates to biological age, beyond

which a 2nd language becomes increasingly more difficult to acquire. One of the theories

of why this is the case has to do with brain lateralization.

The human brain is composed of a left and right hemisphere and starts out fairly

undifferentiated at birth, but as the brain matures certain functions, such as language use,

become lateralized (fixed) into a particular hemisphere of the brain. Brain lateralization

occurs sometimes during adolescence; after which the learning of a 2nd language and

achieving native-like pronunciation in it (supposedly) becomes a biologically difficulty.

I am not convinced by the Critical Period Hypothesis, but in the case of perfect

pronunciation, I think it might be fairly close to dead-on. My rationale for this is that I

started learning French at age 38, and while I can read well and understand the gist of

conversations; there are some words, for example the French ‘r’ and ‘u,’ that I absolutely

cannot pronounce correctly. At this point, it doesn’t seem to be a matter of practicing the
 Standard 2 – Knowledge of Human Development and Learning Artifact 1 Joely Rogers

words more often. I have many friends who are 2nd language learners of English and it

does, in general, seem like the earlier they started their English training the closer their

speech is to native-like proficiency. However, I do think the critical period might be

longer for some people than others; extending well past adolescence. I think brain

imaging studies on child, adolescent and adult 2nd language learners may be the key to

getting a clearer understanding of what we are calling the “critical period.”