Critical Period: Definition, Hypothesis, Examples | StudySmarter

The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) holds that there is a critical time period for a person to learn a new language with native proficiency. Selectyourlanguage Suggestedlanguagesforyou: English(US) Americas English(US) Europe Deutsch(DE) English(UK) StudySmarter-Theall-in-onestudyapp. 4.8•+11kRatings Morethan3MillionDownloads Free English LanguageAcquisition CriticalPeriod All-in-onelearningapp Flashcards NotesNotes ExplanationsExplanations StudyPlanner Textbooksolutions Startstudying CriticalPeriod Save Print Edit Signuptouseallfeaturesforfree. 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TheCriticalPeriodHypothesis(CPH)holdsthatthereisacriticaltimeperiodforapersontolearnanewlanguagewithnativeproficiency. Thisperiodtypicallystartsataroundagetwoandendsbeforepuberty¹. Thehypothesisimpliesthatacquiringanewlanguageafterthiscriticalwindowwillbemoredifficultandlesssuccessful. Whatisthecriticalperiodinpsychology?Indevelopmentalpsychology,thecriticalperiodisthematuringstageofaperson,wheretheirnervoussystemisprimedandsensitivetoenvironmentalexperiences. Ifapersondoesn'tgettherightenvironmentalstimuliduringthisperiod,theirabilitytolearnnewskillswillweaken,affectingmanysocialfunctionsinadultlife. Ifachildpassesthroughthecriticalperiodwithoutlearningalanguage,itwillbeveryunlikelyforthemtogainnativefluencyintheirfirstlanguage².Graphoftheeaseoflanguageacquisition-StudySmarterDuringthecriticalperiod,apersonisprimedtoacquirenewskillsbecauseofthebrains'neuroplasticity. Theconnectionsinthebrain,calledsynapses,arehighlyreceptivetonewexperiencessincetheycanformnewpathways. Thedevelopingbrainhasahighdegreeofplasticityandgraduallybecomesless'plastic'inadulthood. Similartothecriticalperiod,researchersuseanothertermcalledthe'sensitiveperiod'or'weakcriticalperiod'. Thesensitiveperiodissimilartothecriticalperiodsinceit'scharacterizedasatimeinwhichthebrainhasahighlevelofneuroplasticityandisquicktoformnewsynapses. Themaindifferenceisthatthesensitiveperiodisconsideredtolastforalongertimebeyondpuberty,buttheboundariesarenotstrictlyset.FirstlanguageacquisitioninthecriticalperiodItwasEricLenneberginhisbookBiologicalFoundationsofLanguage (1967),whofirstintroducedtheCriticalPeriodHypothesisconcerninglanguageacquisition. Heproposedthatlearningalanguagewithhigh-levelproficiencycanonlyhappenwithinthisperiod.Languageacquisitionoutsideofthisperiodismorechallenging,makingitlesslikelytoachievenativeproficiency. Heproposedthishypothesisbasedonevidencefromchildrenwithcertainchildhoodexperiencesthataffectedtheirfirstlanguageability. Morespecifically,theevidencewasbasedonthesecases: Deafchildrenthatdidn'tdevelopnativeproficiencyinverballanguageafterpuberty.Childrenthatexperiencedbraininjuryhadbetterrecoveryprospectsthanadults. Itismorelikelyforchildrenwithaphasiatolearnalanguagethanitisforadultswithaphasia.Childrenwhowerevictimsofchildabuseduringearlychildhoodhadmoredifficultieslearningthelanguagesincetheywerenotexposedtoitduringthecriticalperiod.Genie,theferalchildAsachild,Geniewasavictimofdomesticabuseandsocialisolation.Thistookplacefromtheageof20monthsuntil13yearsold. Duringthisperiod,shedidn'tspeaktoanyoneandrarelyhadanyinteractionwithotherpeople. Thismeantthatshewasn'tabletodevelopadequatelanguageskills.Whenauthoritiesdiscoveredher,shecouldnotspeak. Overafewmonths,sheacquiredsomelanguageskillswithdirectteachingbuttheprocesswasquiteslow. Althoughhervocabularygrewovertime,shehaddifficultylearningbasicgrammarandmaintainingconversations. Thescientiststhatworkedwithherconcludedthatbecauseshewasn'tabletolearnalanguageduringthecriticalperiod,shewouldn'tbeabletoachievefullcompetencyinlanguagefortherestofherlife. Althoughshemadeclearimprovementsinherabilitytospeak,herspeechstillhadalotofabnormalities,andshehaddifficultywithsocialinteraction. ThecaseofGeniesupportsLenneberg'stheorytoanextent. However,academicsandresearchersstillargueaboutthistopic. SomescientistsclaimthatGenie'sdevelopmentwasdisruptedbecauseoftheinhumanandtraumatictreatmentshesufferedasachild,whichcausedherinabilitytolearnalanguage.SecondlanguageacquisitioninthecriticalperiodTheCriticalPeriodHypothesiscanbeappliedinthecontextofsecondlanguageacquisition. Itappliestoadultsorchildrenwhohavefluencyintheirfirstlanguageandtrytolearnasecondlanguage. ThemainpointofevidencegivenfortheCPHforsecondlanguageacquisitionisassessingolderlearners'abilitytograspasecondlanguagecomparedtochildrenandadolescents. Ageneraltrendthatcanbeobservedisthatyoungerlearnersgraspacompletecommandoverthelanguagecomparedtotheiroldercounterparts³. Althoughtheremaybeexampleswhereadultsachieveverygoodproficiencyinanewlanguage,theyusuallyretainaforeignaccentwhichisn'tcommonwithyoungerlearners. Itisbecauseofthefunctionthattheneuromuscularsystemplaysinthepronunciationofspeech. Adultsareunlikelytoattainanativeaccentsincetheyarebeyondthecriticalperiodtolearnnewneuromuscularfunctions. Withallthisbeingsaid,therearespecialcasesofadultswhoachievenear-nativeproficiencyinallaspectsofasecondlanguage. Forthisreason,researchershavefoundittrickytodistinguishbetweencorrelationandcausation. SomehavearguedthatCPHdoesn'tapplytosecondlanguageacquisition. Insteadofagebeingthemainfactor,otherelementssuchastheeffortputin,thelearningenvironment,andtimespentlearninghaveamoresignificantinfluenceonthelearner'ssuccess.CriticalPeriod-KeytakeawaysThecriticalperiodissaidtotakeplaceinadolescence,typicallyfrom2yearsolduntilpuberty.Thebrainhasahigherlevelofneuroplasticityduringthecriticalperiod,whichallowsnewsynapticconnectionstoform.EricLennebergintroducedthehypothesisin1967. ThecaseofGenie,theferalchild,offereddirectevidenceinsupportoftheCPH.ThedifficultyadultlearnershaveinlearningasecondlanguageisusedtosupporttheCPH.1. KenjiHakutaetal, CriticalEvidence:ATestoftheCritical-PeriodHypothesisforSecond-LanguageAcquisition, 2003.2. AngelaD.Friedericietal, Brainsignaturesofartificiallanguageprocessing:Evidencechallengingthecriticalperiodhypothesis, 2002.3. BirdsongD.,SecondLanguageAcquisitionandtheCriticalPeriodHypothesis.Routledge, 1999. CriticalPeriod Whatisthecriticalperiod? Thecriticaltimeforapersontolearnanewlanguagewithnativeproficiency. Whatmakesthecriticalperiodbetterforlearning? Thebrainismoreneuroplasticduringthisperiod,makingiteasierforapersontolearnanewskill. Whoproposedtheideaofthecriticalperiodinlanguageacquisition? EricLennebergproposedtheideainhisbook'BiologicalFoundationsofLanguage'(1967). Whyisitmoredifficultforadultstolearnasecondlanguagefluently? Adultsarebeyondthecriticalperiodsotheirbrainsarelessneuroplasticthanchildren,thismakesitmoredifficulttolearnanewlanguage. Howlongdoesthecriticalperiodlast? Thecommonperiodforthecriticalperiodisfrom2yearsolduntilpuberty.Althoughacademicsdifferslightlyontheagerangeforthecriticalperiod. FinalCriticalPeriodQuiz Question Whatperiodofaperson’slifeisthecriticalperiod? Showanswer Answer Fromaround2yearsolduntilpuberty. Showquestion Question Howareadolescentsmorecapableoflearninganewlanguagethanadults? Showanswer Answer Thebrainofadolescentshasahigherlevelofneuroplasticitysincetheyarestillinthecriticalperiod. Showquestion Question WhatfieldoflinguisticsdidLennebergplayamajorroleincreating? Showanswer Answer Lennebergplayedamajorroleinthedevelopmentofthefieldofbiolinguistics. Showquestion Question Wherewastheideaofthecriticalperiodfirstintroduced? Showanswer Answer Inthebook‘BiologicalFoundationsofLanguage’(1967)byEricLenneberg. Showquestion Question WhywasGenieunabletodevelopnativeproficiencyinherfirstlanguage? Showanswer Answer Shedidn’thavetheopportunitytodevelopbasiclanguageskillsduringthecriticalperiod. Showquestion Question TrueorFalse?Adultsareunabletodevelopnativeproficiencyinasecondlanguage. Showanswer Answer False.Itismoredifficult,butadultscanstilldevelopfullproficiencyinasecondlanguage. Showquestion Question TrueorFalse?Lennebergbelievedlanguagewasdevelopedthroughsocialmeans. Showanswer Answer False.Lennebergbelievedthatthecapacityforlanguageacquisitionwasinnateinallhumansandthatthelearningpathwayswerealreadythere. Showquestion Question TrueorFalse?Lennebergbelievedthataspokenlanguageenvironmentwasneededtolearnalanguage. Showanswer Answer True.Althoughheproposedthatlanguageacquisitionwasinnateinallhumans,hebelievedthattherightenvironmentwasalsonecessary. Showquestion Question Whatfactorsdeterminehowsuccessfulanadultisinlearningasecondlanguage? Showanswer Answer Theeffortputin,thetimespentlearning,thelearningenvironmentandtheirage. Showquestion Question Whydoadultswholearnasecondlanguageoftenhaveaforeignaccent? Showanswer Answer Theneuromuscularsystemofadultsislessadaptedforchangewhichaffectstheirpronunciationofanewlanguage. Showquestion Question Whatperiodofaperson'slifeisthecriticalperiod? Showanswer Answer Fromaroundtwoyearsolduntilpuberty. Showquestion Question Whyareadolescentsmorecapableoflearninganewlanguagethanadults? Showanswer Answer Thebrainofadolescentshasahigherlevelofneuroplasticitysincetheyarestillinthecriticalperiod. Showquestion Question Whatisthesensitiveperiod? Showanswer Answer Aperiodwhereapersonhasahighlevelofneuroplasticityandcanlearnnewskillsquickly. Showquestion Question Wherewastheideaof​​thecriticalperiodfirstintroduced? Showanswer Answer Inthebook'BiologicalFoundationsofLanguage'(1967)byEricLenneberg. Showquestion Question WhywasGenieunabletodevelopnativeproficiencyinherfirstlanguage? Showanswer Answer Theydidn'thavetheopportunitytodevelopbasiclanguageskillsduringthecriticalperiod. Showquestion Question Adultsareunabletodevelopnativeproficiencyinasecondlanguage. Showanswer Answer False Showquestion Question TrueorFalse?TheonlyreasonGeniedidn'tobtainnativeproficiencyinEnglishwasthatshedidn'tlearnduringthecriticalperiod. Showanswer Answer False.Althoughresearchersproposethattobeoneofthemainreasons,Geniewassubjecttoabuseandneglectwhichcouldhavealsocontributedtoherinabilitytolearn. Showquestion Question ThestudyofdeafchildrensupportedtheCPHinfirstlanguageacquisition. Showanswer Answer True.  Showquestion Question Whatfactorsaffecthowsuccessfulanadultiswhenlearningasecondlanguage? Showanswer Answer Theeffortputin,thetimespentlearning,thelearningenvironment,andtheirage. Showquestion Question Whydoadultswholearnasecondlanguageoftenhaveaforeignaccent? Showanswer Answer Theneuromuscularsystemofadultsislessadaptedtochangewhichaffectstheirabilitythepronunciationofanewlanguage. Showquestion MoreaboutLanguageAcquisition One-Wordstage LanguageAcquisitionDevice(LAD) Chomsky BehavioralTheory 60% oftheusersdon'tpasstheCriticalPeriodquiz!Willyoupassthequiz? 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