Adult L2 Acquisition Research Articles

The effect of Age Toward Learning a Second Language

Age has long been perceived as a pivotal factor influencing proficiency in acquiring a second or foreign language. The disparity between child and adult second language (L2) learning is widely acknowledged, with children often deemed more adept and rapid learners compared to adults. The prevailing notion suggests that adults cannot attain native-like fluency in a second language, indicating a potential limitation in adult L2 acquisition. Furthermore, there is a notion of a critical period during which language acquisition is most effective and success in second language learning is attainable. Nevertheless, the debate surrounding this topic has persisted among language researchers for numerous years. This article endeavors to delve into this contentious issue, aiming to elucidate whether the success of second language learning is indeed constrained by age. Through a systematic review methodology within a descriptive qualitative framework, this study examines previous research to discern patterns, insights, and contradictions in the literature regarding the impact of age on second language acquisition. By critically evaluating existing findings, this research aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between age and proficiency in learning a second language

Auditory processing as perceptual, cognitive, and motoric abilities underlying successful second language acquisition: Interaction model.

A growing amount of attention has been given to examining the domain-general auditory processing of individual acoustic dimensions as a key driving force for adult L2 acquisition. Whereas auditory processing has traditionally been conceptualized as a bottom-up and encapsulated phenomenon, the interaction model (Kraus & Banai, 2007) proposes auditory processing as a set of perceptual, cognitive, and motoric abilities-the perception of acoustic details (acuity), the selection of relevant and irrelevant dimensions (attention), and the conversion of audio input into motor action (integration). To test this hypothesis, we examined the relationship between each component and the L2 outcomes of 102 adult Chinese speakers of English who varied in age, experience, and working memory background. According to the results of the statistical analyses, (a) the tests scores tapped into essentially distinct components of auditory processing (acuity, attention, and integration), and (b) these components played an equal role in explaining various aspects of L2 learning (phonology, morphosyntax) with large effects, even after biographical background and working memory were controlled for. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Wanna contraction in first language acquisition, child second language acquisition, and adult second language acquisition

Abstract Contraction of want to to wanna is sometimes possible (e.g., Who do you want to/wanna stay with ___ ?), but sometimes impossible (e.g., Who do you want ___ to/*wanna stay?). This contrast is attributable to the grammatical constraint that a wh-trace blocks the contraction of want and to. Most first language (L1) and second language (L2) acquisition studies testing learner knowledge of this constraint have used elicited production tasks and focused on adult participants, with inconsistent results. Using a child-friendly acceptability judgment task, the current study shows that children as young as 3;11 and both child and adult L2 learners have target-like knowledge of the constraint on wanna contraction. This result is in line with the position that L1 acquisition, child L2 acquisition, and adult L2 acquisition are qualitatively similar.

The importance of psychological and social factors in adult SLA: The case of productive collocation knowledge in L2 Swedish of L1 French long-term residents

AbstractThe study investigates how psychological and social factors relate to productive collocation knowledge in late L2 learners of Swedish (French L1) (N = 59). The individual factors are language aptitude (measured through the LLAMA aptitude test), reported language use, social networks, acculturation, and personality. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that positive effects were found for LLAMA D (phonetic memory), LLAMA E (sound-symbol correspondence), reported language use, and length of residence (LOR). Furthermore, a negative effect was found for the personality variable Open-mindedness. These variables explained 63% (adjusted R²) of the variance, which represents large effects compared to other studies on individual factors. In sum, the findings confirm earlier results on the importance of language aptitude and language use for productive collocation knowledge. They also add evidence of the importance of personality and LOR. In sum, cognitive and social factors combine to explain different outcomes in adult L2 acquisition.

Learning on the Field: L2 Turkish Vowel Production by L1 American English-Speaking NGOs in Turkey

This study adopts the Speech Learning Model to investigate the first language (L1) influence as well as the effects of the length of residence and second language (L2) exposure on American English-speaking learners of Turkish in their productions of Turkish unrounded–rounded vowel pairs, with a particular focus on the vowel categories “new” to American English speakers (/y/, /œ/, and /ɯ/). L1 (English) and L2 (Turkish) speech samples were collected from 18 non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers. L2 experience was defined by whether the worker lived in an urban or regional environment in Turkey. Participants’ audio productions of the word list in L1 and L2 were segmented and annotated for succeeding acoustic analyses. The results show an interesting front–back variability in the realisations of the three vowels, including further back variants of the front vowels (/y/, /œ/) and more forward variants of the /ɯ/ vowel, with a substantial degree of interspeaker variability. While the analysis revealed no significant results for the length of residence, language experience was found to have a significant effect on the production of /y/ (F2) and /ɯ/ (F1/F2). This study forms a first step into the research of adult L2 acquisition in Turkish with a focus on L2 in the naturalistic workplace environment, rather than instructed settings. The findings of this study will contribute to the development of teaching materials for NGO workers learning Turkish as their L2.

What factors predict perceived nativelikeness in long-term L2 users?

This study investigated what psychological and social factors predict ‘perceived nativelikeness’ in late second language (L2) learners of French (L1 Swedish) ( N = 62) with a minimum length of residence (LOR) of 5 years in France. The included factors were: language aptitude (LLAMA), acculturation (VIA), personality (MPQ), target language engagement and social networks (number of relations in L2). LOR and Length of French studies were also included as extraneous variables. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that positive effects were found for LLAMA D (sound recognition), acculturation (VIA France and VIA Sweden), number of relations in L2 and LOR. A negative effect was found for the personality variable Social initiative. The strongest effects were found for LLAMA D, Social initiative and LOR. All variables together explained 25% (adjusted R²) of the variance in the sample, which represents medium-sized effects in relation to other studies on individual factors. In sum, these findings confirm results from earlier studies on the importance of language aptitude and acculturation in late L2 acquisition. They also add evidence of the importance of personality, social networks, and LOR. On a more general note psychological and social factors combine to explain different outcomes in adult L2 acquisition, although the effects of psychological variables are deemed somewhat stronger.

Interhemispheric functional brain connectivity predicts new language learning success in adults.

Investigating interhemispheric interactions between homologous cortical regions during language processing is of interest. Despite prevalent left hemisphere lateralization of language, the right hemisphere also plays an important role and interhemispheric connectivity is influenced by language experience and is implicated in second language (L2) acquisition. Regions involved in language processing have differential connectivity to other cortical regions and to each other, and play specific roles in language. We examined the interhemispheric interactions of subregions of the inferior frontal gyrus (areas 44 and 45), the adjacent area 9/46v in the middle frontal gyrus, the superior temporal gyrus (STG), and the posterior inferior parietal lobule (pIPL) in relation to distinct and specific aspects of L2 learning success. The results indicated that the connectivity between left and right areas 44 and 9/46v predicted improvement in sentence repetition, connectivity between left and right area 45 and mid-STG predicted improvement in auditory comprehension, and connectivity between left and right pIPL predicted improvement in reading speed. We show interhemispheric interactions in the specific context of facilitating performance in adult L2 acquisition that follow an anterior to posterior gradient in the brain, and are consistent with the respective roles of these regions in language processing.

Language activation in dual language schools: the development of subject-verb agreement in the English and Spanish of heritage speaker children

ABSTRACT Cross-linguistically, monolingual children produce target-like inflected verbs much earlier than they can reliably distinguish between singular and plural subject-verb agreement morphology in comprehension (i.e. Johnson, V., J. de Villiers, and H. Seymour. 2005. “Agreement Without Understanding? The Case of Third Person Singular /s/.” First Language 25: 317-333; Pérez-Leroux, A. T. 2005. “Number Problems in Children.” In Proceedings of the 2005 Annual Conference of the Canadian Linguistics Association, edited by C. Gurski, 1-12. https://cla-acl.artsci.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/actes-2005/Perez-Leroux.pdf). In heritage speakers, Spanish agreement morphology shows optionality due to reduced input, especially when children transition to English schooling (i.e. Montrul, S. 2004. The Acquisition of Spanish: Morphosyntactic Development in Monolingual and Bilingual L1 Acquisition and Adult L2 Acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins; Jacobson, P. 2012. “The Effects of Language Impairment on the use of Direct Object Pronouns and Verb Inflections in Heritage Spanish Speakers: A Look at Attrition, Incomplete Acquisition and Maintenance.” Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 15 (1): 22–38). We investigate how simultaneous heritage bilingual children’s interpretation and use of subject-verb agreement in English and Spanish may be modulated by increased input and activation of Spanish in dual language education (DLE). 125 participants aged 3–7 (42 heritage children, 40 English monolinguals, 39 Spanish-dominant children) took part in a fill-in-the-blanks task and a picture-matching task. In English, bilingual comprehension accuracy surpassed that of the monolinguals. In Spanish, bilingual production lagged behind that of the Spanish-dominant children and language output was found to be a greater predictor of productive accuracy than increased activation of Spanish in DLE. The implications of these results for theories of bilingualism and DLE are discussed.

Understanding High Performance in Late Second Language (L2) Acquisition—What Is the Secret? A Contrasting Case Study in L2 French

Adult L2 acquisition has often been framed within research on the Critical Period Hypothesis, and the age factor is one of the most researched topics of SLA. However, several researchers suggest that while age is the most important factor for differences between child and adult SLA, variation in adult SLA is more dependent on social and psychological factors than on age of onset. The present qualitative study investigates the role of migratory experience, language use/social networks, language learning experience, identity and attitudes for high performance among Swedish L1 French L2 users in France. The study constitutes an in-depth thematic analysis of interviews with six high-performing individuals and four low-performing individuals. The main results show that the high performers differ from the low performers on all dimensions, except for attitudes towards the host community. High performers are above all characterized by self-reported language aptitude and an early interest in languages, which appears to have led to rich exposure to French. Also, they exhibit self-regulatory behaviors and attribute importance to being perceived as a native speaker of French—both for instrumental and existential reasons.

Asymmetrical Complexity in Languages Due to L2 Effects: Unserdeutsch and Beyond

This study examines asymmetries between so-called inherent and contextual categories in relation to the morphological complexity of the nominal and verbal inflectional domain of languages. The observations are traced back to the influence of adult L2 learning in scenarios of intense language contact. A method for a simple comparison of the amount of inherent versus contextual categories is proposed and applied to the German-based creole language Unserdeutsch (Rabaul Creole German) in comparison to its lexifier language. The same procedure will be applied to two further language pairs. The grammatical systems of Unserdeutsch and other contact languages display a noticeable asymmetry regarding their structural complexity. Analysing different kinds of evidence, the explanatory key factor seems to be the role of (adult) L2 acquisition in the history of a language, whereby languages with periods of widespread L2 acquisition tend to lose contextual features. This impression is reinforced by general tendencies in pidgin and creole languages. Beyond that, there seems to be a tendency for inherent categories to be more strongly associated with the verb, while contextual categories seem to be more strongly associated with the noun. This leads to an asymmetry in categorical complexity between the noun phrase and the verb phrase in languages that experienced periods of intense L2 learning.

Second Language Acquisition at Interfaces: A Study of the Word Order Variation in the Chinese Nominal Domain.

This study is aimed to re-examine the Interface Hypothesis via investigating the adult L2 acquisition of the word order variation of numeral classifier indefinites at the syntax-semantics and syntax-discourse interfaces in L2 Chinese. A computerized acceptability judgment task was administered to 41 advanced and intermediate adult Korean learners of Chinese to collect data in accuracy and reaction times. For accuracy, it was found that the advanced L2 learners have not acquired the target phenomenon to a native-like level and did not score significantly higher than the intermediate L2 learners at both the syntax-semantics and syntax-discourse interfaces. For reaction times, while no significant differences were reported between the syntax-semantics and syntax-discourse interface items for the advanced L2 learners, developmental progress was observed on the syntax-semantics but not the syntax-discourse interface phenomenon. The findings suggest that the internal versus external interface dichotomy should not suffice to account for the acquisition difficulty and processing costs of different linguistic properties in L2 acquisition.

TERMINOLOGY MATTERS ON THEORETICAL GROUNDS TOO!

AbstractHerein, we provide counterargumentation to some of Domínguez, Hicks, and Slabakova's claims that the termincomplete acquisitionis conceptually necessary on theoretical grounds for describing the outcome grammars of heritage language bilingualism. Specifically, we clarify their claim that previous challenging of the term in our and others’ work is primarily based on a misconceived belief that incompleteness is intended to describe heritage speakers. We contextualize and problematize their appropriation of descriptive constructs in the adjacent fields of child L1, child 2L1, and adult L2 acquisition as a basis for supporting their general thesis. Relatedly, we conclude that a fundamental blurring of development and ultimate attainment issues is at the core of what, in our view, is flawed reasoning. While we empathize with the well-intentioned spirit of Domínguez et al.’s article—to provide a forum for respectful discussion—we invite the field to engage more directly with the inherent quandary of labeling the coherent grammars of heritage bilinguals in their own right as “incomplete” on the basis of differences to standard varieties.

Syntax-Pragmatik-Schnittstelle am Beispiel der Fokussierung im Spanisch-Erwerb deutschsprachiger Lerner

Abstract As a phenomenon at the syntax-pragmatics interface, focus marking can cause particular difficulties in adult L2 acquisition and may never be fully acquired, whereas native-like competence can be achieved with formal syntactic properties. The present study examines this so-called Interface Hypothesis by analysing the strategies that monolingual German-speaking learners use to mark information focus in Spanish. Analyses of the test results show that around 97 % of the test subjects prefer to maintain the unmarked constituent order and mark focus in situ, irrespective of their proficiency level. In comparison with Spanish natives (Gabriel 2010, Heidinger 2014), the results show a divergence from the behaviour of native speakers, as the latter use various strategies. This indicates that the German-speaking learners do not make use of the variation of focus marking strategies the Spanish language provides, but rather adhere to in situ focalization, which is also the dominant focus-marking strategy in German. Furthermore, the results of the present study highlight that strategies for marking focus are scarcely taken into account in language teaching classes.

Transfer and semantic universals in the L2 acquisition of the English article system by child L2 learners

ABSTRACTL2 learners’ problems with English articles have been linked to learners’ L1 and their access to universal semantic features (e.g., definiteness and specificity). Studies suggest that L2 adults rely on their L1 knowledge, while child L2 learners rely more on their access to semantic universals. The present study investigates whether child L2 learners access features like adult L2 learners (i.e., reassembling the features of the L1) or as L1 acquirers (i.e., choosing from the inventory of universal features). We evaluated the acquisition of English articles in 30 Spanish-speaking children learning English as their L2 and found that they transfer knowledge from their L1 much in the same way as do adults. However, the error analysis also suggests that article acquisition in child L2 learners is restricted by Universal Grammar resembling L1 acquisition. In conclusion, we propose that article acquisition in child L2 learners patterns with both adult L2 and L1 acquisition.

Acquisition of the imparfait in L2 French in adults and children: The same or different?

In this study, we provide a comparison of adult and child L2 acquisition in relation to their use of the imparfait form in L2 French. Previous research on this form shows that it is an area of considerable difficulty, being lexically and functionally restricted in use even in advanced stages of acquisition. In the study presented here, we compare our child and adult learners in an immersion setting, where the adult learners were studying at a French university, while the children were attending a French immersion school. Their use of the imparfait is explored through a longitudinal lens, where we look in particular at its use to mark different aspectual values, as well as its lexical use with different verbs. The findings indicate that, while both groups benefit from the immersion context, the children’s development seems to be more rapid and more stable: once they start using the imparfait productively, they use it for a greater range of its aspectual values and in a more autonomous way than the adults. The results are discussed with regard to age of onset and the development of L1 and L2 discourse capacities.

HOW EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE AFFECTS ONLINE L2 PROCESSING

Form-focused instruction studies generally report larger gains for explicit types of instruction over implicit types on measures of controlled production. Studies that used online processing measures—which do not readily allow for the application of explicit knowledge—however, suggest that this advantage occurs primarily when the target structure is similar in the first language (L1) and the second language (L2). This study investigated how explicit knowledge of a structure that does not exist in the L1 affects the initial stage of adult L2 acquisition. Fifty-one Dutch L1 speakers received a short auditory exposure (instruction) to a new language that included differential object marking (DOM), in which animate but not inanimate direct objects are preceded by a preposition. For 26 learners, the instruction was complemented by a brief rule explanation. Afterward, learners’ online processing and explicit knowledge of DOM were measured by means of eye-tracking (visual world paradigm) and oral grammaticality judgments. Results show that metalinguistic information promoted learners’ performance on the grammaticality judgment task. Although differences between the groups were also found on the eye-tracking measure, learners were not able to use DOM to predict the following object.

Individual differences in phonetic drift by English-speaking learners of Spanish

Second language learning affects L1 pronunciation even in early stages of adult L2 acquisition (e.g., Guion 2003, Chang 2012), an effect sometimes called “phonetic drift.” English voiceless stops assimilate to Korean stops in novice L1 English-L2 Korean learners in Korea, arguably due to English voiceless stops and Korean aspirated stops being linked to the same phonological category (Chang 2012), and the “novelty” of the Korean language input with its longer VOTs (Chang 2014). We tested whether novice L1 English-L2 Spanish learners in the United States also show assimilatory L2-to-L1 effects. Stronger typological and orthographic similarities might lead speakers to equate English and Spanish stops, but phonetic differences—short-lag VOT on voiceless stops and pre-voicing of voiced stops in Spanish—might impede L2-to-L1 assimilation. Monolingual English college-students were recorded every other week for the first 12 weeks of an introductory Spanish course. VOT data show considerable individual differences—some subjects show assimilation, some dissimilation, between English and Spanish stops. This suggests that while orthography and typological similarity may play a role, how a learner’s first and second language interact in novice adult L2 acquisition is also affected by individual factors such as perceptual sensitivity to phonetic differences, sociolinguistics considerations, and possibly speaker strategies for maintaining contrast (e.g., Nielsen 2011).

Effects of L1 language background and L2 experience on adult L2 acquisition of five suprasegmentals

This study investigated how various adult groups with different mother tongues and diverse levels of experience with an L2 acquire the suprasegmental phonetic cues of the L2 speech. Two hundred subjects in ten groups took part in the experiment. The results show that the L1 language background and L2 experience exhibit dissimilar influences on the acquisition of the L2 suprasegmentals. More specifically, the L1 background impacts the fluency of L2 speech more strongly in the early stage, while L2 experience mitigates the L1 effect dramatically in the later stage for the adult L2 learners. The acquisition of L2 suprasegmental cues, however, triggers an uneven influence on native speakers’ judgments of the fluency of L2 speech; speech rate has the most influence on judging L2 fluency, while F0 range has the least. Among three L1 groups, comparatively inexperienced Japanese learners of Korean control these cues well compared to English and Mandarin learners of Korean as an L2.

Language Learning Methodology for Adults: A Study of Linguistic Transfer

The purpose of the present research is to bring together the evidence on transfer in adult L2 and L3 language acquisition and investigate the use and the relationship between languages in contact. The role of linguistic transfer (Odlin, 1989) i.e. the imposition of previously learned patterns onto a new learning situation, has a facilitation or inhibition effect on the learner's progress in mastering a new language (L2 or L3). Our findings reveal that the cross-linguistic influence occurs both from the direction of the L2 to the L3 and from the L3 to the L2 (Odlin, 2003; Jarvis and Pavlenko, 2008). In the case of our participants, in the acquisition of L2 as the foreign language, the L3 is the language that they have more contact with its influence is higher than the interferences of their own mother tongues (Devís, 2013). Such a result has important consequences for language teaching; primarily because it informs us about the methods to be used with adult students. Finally, this study and others studies show that transfer can be used as an effective learning strategy in multiple language learning.

Steven Brown and Jenifer Larson-Hall: Second Language Acquisition Myths: Applying Second Language Research to Classroom Teaching

In this volume, Brown and Larson-Hall offer an approachable introduction to second language acquisition for preservice and inservice teachers, and others interested in how people learn additional languages. As in other volumes of the University of Michigan Press ‘Myths’ series, each of the eight chapters responds to a different ‘myth’ or misunderstanding about the field. The ‘myths’ are common folk-wisdom: children are better language learners; bilingualism means speaking two languages perfectly; drills, reading, and listening alone lead to language acquisition; and more. Chapter 1 centres on questions of age and second language acquisition. The authors briefly survey research surrounding first language (L1) acquisition, and move into childhood second language (L2) acquisition with a review of work by Collier (1989) and Cummins (1979, 1980, 1981a, 1981b). Next, the recent Latter-day Saints (LDS) Missionary studies (Dewey and Clifford 2012) inform the adult L2 acquisition discussion, and provide background for comparing L2 acquisition in childhood vs. adulthood. Finally, the authors review and critique the critical period hypothesis.