L2 learner age from a contextualised perspective

Jelena Mihaljeviä‘ Djigunoviä‘

doi:10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.3.3

Abstract

In this qualitative study the author focuses on age effects on young learners’ L2 development by comparing the L2 learning processes of six young learners in an instructed setting: three who had started learning English as L2 at age 6/7 and three who had started at age 9/10. Both earlier and later young beginners were followed for three years (during their second, third and fourth year of learning English). The participants’ L2 development was measured through their oral output elicited by a two-part speaking task administered each year. Results of the analyses are interpreted taking into account each learners’ individual characteristics (learning ability, attitudes and motivation, self-concept) and the characteristics of the context in which they were learning their L2 (attitudes of school staff and parents to early L2 learning, home support, in-class and out-of-class exposure to L2, socio-economic status). The findings show that earlier and later young beginners follow different trajectories in their L2 learning, which reflects different interactions which age enters into with the other variables.

Highlights

It has been one of the most interesting issues in SLA and L2 teaching research for a long time, the age factor is still the main focus of many researchers’interest
They reflect, on the one hand, a move away from the idea of biological maturation implied by the critical period hypothesis as the explanation of differences in SLA between younger and older learners and, on the other, a realization that age is difficult to disentangle from other variables and its impact on SLA can be better understood if we take into account its interactions with other factors
The findings of this study suggest that age effects on L2 development do exist and are probably mediated by individual learner characteristics and contextual factors

Summary

Introduction

It has been one of the most interesting issues in SLA and L2 teaching research for a long time, the age factor is still the main focus of many researchers’interest. In recent overview chapters of the age factor (e.g., DeKeyser, 2012; Muñoz & Singleton, 2011; Nikolov & Mihaljevi Djigunovi , 2006, 2011) it is possible to discern some new trends in viewing the age factor. They reflect, on the one hand, a move away from the idea of biological maturation implied by the critical period hypothesis as the explanation of differences in SLA between younger and older learners and, on the other, a realization that age is difficult to disentangle from other variables and its impact on SLA can be better understood if we take into account its interactions with other factors.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion