Language and Age

Nadya Pratiwi (23030160115)

Bilqis Isti N (23030160125)
Misrofah (23030160196)
 Definition
Language is one of the most powerful emblems of social
behavior. In the normal transfer of information through language,
we use language to send vital social messages about who we are,
where we come from, and who we associate with.
To a lesser extent sociolinguists have focused on age, ethnicity
and networks as social factors.
 Language in Childhood

According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,

“childhood” is – very obviously - “a time or state of being a child.” Although
there are children around in everyday life, people don’t seem to place great
importance on their linguistic behavior. But indeed, the basis for future
linguistic or communicative competence is set during those first years in life
It is important to find out “how language assists the child to become a full
fledged member of society” (Cook and Gumperz 37). Sapir explains that
“language is a great force of socialization, probably the greatest that exists,”
(Chambers 152).
 mainly they spend the peer relations and other
surrounded by time with their factors gain huge
importance, not only
family friends socially but also
members linguistically.
 Generally it can be said, that “most children by the age of four or
five (and many even earlier) can correctly pluralize and the major
infrastructure of language has been completed by the ages six to eight
(..)” (Thinkquest). From the sociolinguistic view children “appear to
learn it so that they can join the conversation instead of using language
to look after their physical needs” (Chambers 152).
Children grow up in
different surroundings, in
different social
environments.
Social class is hard to
identify, but generally one
could say that it is
determined by differences
in income, education
and/or social prestige
 Language in Adulthood
Though typically made up of individuals aged 18–25, emerging adulthood
can span a number of years on either side, encompassing for some a period of
life stretching into the mid‐thirties, or for others, a short period of only one to
2 years after leaving secondary school. (Dougla S. Bigham)
A process of language learning by adults (post puberty individuals) usually
called second language acquisition.
Individuals natural ability
to acquire spoken
language without
deliberate effort begins to
diminish sharply at about
the age of puberty (12-14
years of age). Teenagers
exposed to a new language
after this age will acquire it
with definite interference
from whatever language or
languages they had been
exposed to before puberty.
Although every child, regardless of intellectual level, is equally gifted at acquiring
language, it does not seem to be the case with adults. Some adults can learn a second
language with something close to native fluency; others will retain a distinct foreign
accent even after decades of practice. Differences in adult ability to master the
grammar of a second language seem only in part connected to individual differences in
general intelligence; the ability to learn languages in adulthood seems to be a talent
apart from what we usually label as general intelligence.
 Differences in adult abilities to learn languages are even more apparent at the
phonetic level: some adults have a natural talent for imitating the voices of other
people; other adults do not have this talent at all. This talent for phonetic mimicry
in adults definitely does not depend on general intelligence. People of very limited
intellectual abilities sometimes have amazing abilities to imitate people's voices (cf.
the Truman Capote story Johnny Bear, about an idiot savant with amazing mimicry
ability.)

Although there does seem to be differences in the ability of individual adults to

learn a second language, any adult of reasonable abilities, if given enough time,
enough opportunity, and--most importantly--having enough desire, can learn to
communicate in any language.

Sc: http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test4materials/secondlangacquisition.htm