Speaking Accent-Free in L2 Beyond the Critical Period: The Compensatory Role of Individual Abilities and Opportunity Structures

Jörg Dollmann,Markus Weißmann,Irena Kogan

doi:10.1093/applin/amz029

Jörg Dollmann, Markus Weißmann + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amz029

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Abstract

AbstractGiven the controversies surrounding the critical period hypothesis on second-language (L2) learning outcomes, this study focuses on the phonological aspect of language acquisition—the strength of the foreign accent in L2. Drawing on data from a large-scale representative data set on immigrant adolescents in Germany—CILS4EU-DE—we first demonstrate that there is a critical period (CP) up to the age of around 10, after which obtaining oral language skills without a foreign accent becomes less likely. Second, we provide evidence that native-like language skills can be achieved after the CP if certain preconditions related to learning efficiency and language exposure are met. Our analyses indicate that higher cognitive abilities and exposure to a language environment with intensive and manifold contacts with native speakers can compensate for disadvantages caused by a late start in L2 acquisition. The results are discussed in the context of the linguistic and sociological scholarship of language acquisition and immigrant assimilation.

Highlights

There is considerable evidence that the relationship between second-language (L2) learning outcomes and the age of a learner can be summarized with a simple rule of thumb: ‘earlier is better’ (Birdsong and Molis 2001: 235)
Results remain robust once excluding the third generation from the analyses: this group mostly frequently stated not having any second language spoken in the family
8 Since ‘immigrant background’ in the contextual data provided by microm is defined by the name of the residents, a person with a German sounding name, which could as well be an Austrian or a Swiss person, will be defined as someone without an immigrant background

Summary

Introduction

There is considerable evidence that the relationship between second-language (L2) learning outcomes (and here, the accentedness of L2 speech) and the age of a learner can be summarized with a simple rule of thumb: ‘earlier is better’ (Birdsong and Molis 2001: 235). 4 Due to the inclusion of a specific birth cohort (birth years 1994–96), there is a strong correlation between age at arrival and length of residence, making it difficult to disentangle effects of both variables. In Appendix A2 of Supplementary Material, we include additional analyses making use of the (slight) variation between both variables, and the general results remain largely stable when including length of residence in the analyses.

Results

Conclusion