Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) - World Englishes

Proposed by Wilder Penfield and Lamar Roberts in 1959, the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) argues that there is a specific period of time in which people can ... Skiptocontent TomScovelwrites,“TheCPH[criticalperiodhypothesis]isconceivablythemostcontentiousissueinSLAbecausethereisdisagreementoveritsexactagespan;peopledisagreestrenuouslyoverwhichfacetsoflanguageareaffected;therearecompetingexplanationsforitsexistence;and,totopitoff,manypeopledon’tbelieveitexistsatall”(113).ProposedbyWilderPenfieldandLamarRobertsin1959,theCriticalPeriodHypothesis(CPH)arguesthatthereisaspecificperiodoftimeinwhichpeoplecanlearnalanguagewithouttracesoftheL1(aso-called“foreign”accentorevenL1syntacticalfeatures)manifestinginL2production(Scovel48).Ifalearner’sgoalistosound“native,”theremaybeage-relatedlimitationsor“maturationalconstraints”asKennethHyltenstamandNiclasAbrahamssoncallthem,onhow“native”theycansound.ReducingtheimpressionleftbytheL1iscertainlypossibleafterpuberty,buteliminatingthatimpressionentirelymaynotbepossible. KenjiHakutaetal.explainsthattherelationshipbetweenageandL1interferenceinL2productionisreallynotupfordebate: “Thediminishedaverageachievementofolderlearnersissupportedbypersonalanecdoteanddocumentedbyempiricalevidence….Whatiscontroversial,though,iswhetherthispatternmeetstheconditionsforconcludingthatacriticalperiodconstrainslearninginawaypredictedbythetheory”(31). Somelearnersmanagetoovercomethe“constraints”thatScovelbelievesare“probablyaccountedforbyneurologicalfactorsthataregeneticallyspecifiedinourspecies”(114),buttheselearnersareexceptionalratherthantherule.Itmaybebiology;itmaybeduetosomethingelse.Thedebatewillcontinue,butevidenceseemstoindicatethattheolderlearnersbecome,themoredifficultcompleteacquisitioncanbe. Media “DavidBirdsong,LookingInsideandBeyondtheCriticalPeriodHypothesis.” YouTube, uploadedbyIWLChannel,09May2016,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bo0C4dj7Mw. Application InstructorsshouldconsidertakingtheCPHintoaccountwhenassessingtheirstudents’oralcommunicationinthetargetlanguage.When“maturationalconstraints”areapotentialconcern,itseemsmorefairforinstructorstoweightcomprehensionmoreheavilythannativeness.AthoroughunderstandingoftheCPHcanalsohelpinstructorstocounteractadultlearners’“self-handicapping”byhelpingthelearnersunderstandthat,inspiteofconstraintsduetoaging,theyarestillcapableofacquiringmany–ifnotmost–aspectsofthetargetlanguage. Bibliography Hakuta,Kenji,etal.“CriticalEvidence:ATestoftheCritical-PeriodHypothesisforSecond-LanguageAcquisition.” PsychologicalScience,vol.14,no.1,2003,pp.31–38. JSTOR,www.jstor.org/stable/40063748. Hyltenstam,Kenneth,andNiclasAbrahamsson.“CommentsonStefkaH.Marinova-Todd,D.BradfordMarshall,andCatherineE.Snow’s‘ThreeMisconceptionsaboutAgeandL2Learning’:AgeandL2Learning:TheHazardsofMatchingPractical‘Implications’withTheoretical‘Facts.’” TESOLQuarterly,vol.35,no.1,2001,pp.151–170. JSTOR,www.jstor.org/stable/3587863. Nemer,Randa.“CriticalPeriodHypothesis.” Prezi, 04Dec.2013,https://prezi.com/zzuch40ibrlq/critical-period-hypothesis-sla/#. Scovel,Tom. LearningNewLanguages.Heinle&Heinle,2001. Searchfor: Search RecentPosts SomeRelevantPublishingOpportunities EnglishConversationHourisBack! Announcement:FreePoetryWorkshopwithChenChen(SponsoredbyPoetry@Tech) SubmittoRAMBLEMagazine! WhatIDidwithMySummerVacation,andWhyI’mNotEmbarrassed Archives January2022 October2021 September2021 May2021 April2021 March2021 February2021 January2021 December2020 November2020 October2020 September2020 August2020 July2020 April2020 March2020