Sensitive Period In Critical Period

The process by which language is learnt or acquired differs by theory, specifically two alternate perspectives display the basis of nature and nurture. The first theory to be discussed stems off the basis of nurture, the behaviourist theory. This theory draws upon the concept of nature, suggesting behaviour is learnt through experience and reinforced by rewards (Fellows & Oakley, 2014). This perspective states children learn from and imitate their surroundings and they are rewarded by responses and the success of their communication, this is an exemplar of acquisition

The critical period hypothesis is a controversy in linguistics and acquiring language, in the extent if the language acquisition is related to age. Which this hypothesis states that there is a certain age which is the ideal time to acquire a fully command of language, and after this time it becomes much more harder and needs a lot of effort to acquire language whether it’s first or second language. In other words the childhood period is the perfect time to acquire language, which in adulthood it becomes more difficult to acquire language. This hypothesis raised the question if there is a real period for language acquisition. And this is what motivates the scholars to do studies and experiments on the critical period hypothesis. Moreover that most scholars

In 1781 the Articles of Confederation became the government of United States of America, a fragile new nation. This new government was just enough to hold the Country together in that period of time. Although, the effectiveness of these Articles can be debated. These Articles were in effective in the that it got the United States through a very Critical Period of time, but were also ineffective enough they had to eventually be replaced for the good of Country.

Examines how language develops from infancy into adulthood. Focuses on the modularity debate of how language is organized in the brain. Some theorize that language is domain-specific in that the brain has processes dedicated to the task of language learning and comprehension. Others focus on a domain-general theory for language learning where the processes used to learn language are the same processes used in other situations such as problem solving.

In contrast, “some adults have been known to acquire an authentic accent in a second language after the age of puberty, but such individuals are few and far between” (Brown, p.61, 2007). A study conducted by an anthropologist named Sorenson in the 1960’s conflicts with the Critical Period Hypothesis by proving that adults can in fact attain a perfect fluent second language acquisition just like a native speaker. This became evident when Sorenson studied the Tukano culture in South America in which people have to marry outside their ethnic group. Therefore, they marry someone who speaks another language. Once they marry into their spouse’s ethnic community they immediately start learning that specific language. Sorenson reported, “during adolescence,

According to the study of Alba, Logan, Lutz and Stults (2002), this three-generation model of language shift was documented

At the age of 3 months we see early signs of phonology; children will turn their heads, and stop crying once hearing parent’s voices. They indicate contentment and amusement by smiling, and repeating sounds (e.g. cooing). (Berk, 2003). In addition babies 4-7 months notice new sounds such as the telephone. They also respond to “no” and changes in tone of voice. Early sound discrimination skills are beginning to emerge. At 6 months of age, long before they are ready to talk, babies start to organise speech into the phonemic categories of their own language. (Berk, 2003). Semantics develops at the age from 8months-1 year old as they respond to sounds such as doorbells and telephones. And begin to babble repeated consonants and vowels. The Nativist theory states that language acquisition is a biological phenomenon such as the child’s ‘inner clock’ theory and any role play between child and carer and by the environment is something less important, which theoretically means that nature will take its course and the child will develop its own

This neural plasticity has been shown to decrease with increasing age; it has been hypothesized that this gradual decline occurs around age four (Szagun & Stumper, 2012; Tomblin et al., 2005). Due to this decline in neural plasticity, many believe that there is a critical or sensitive period for language learning. The critical period concept states that there is a period of time where language must be learned, or it will not be able to be learned, while the sensitive period concept states that while there is a period of time where language must be learned, it is not absolute (Hoff, 2009). Theorists have not been in agreement about how exactly the ideas of sensitive and critical periods manifest. John Locke theorized that an overall sensitive period encompasses critical phases which are both interconnected and intersecting. In this idea, development of one component of language may provoke the development of another component or multiple components. Other theorists speculate that there may be different critical periods for different language

The “critical period” is a theory that states the most beneficial time for a child to learn a second languages is from age two until puberty (Vanhove). Studies have shown it is easier for children to acquire a second language than it is for adults. The main reasoning behind this phenomenon, is that as children grow into adults, their ability to perceive sound deteriorates (Tran). Also, in adults, the

These cases firmly recommend a critical period for language acquisition (Hoff, 2005). Further aid for the possibility of a critical period of language learning is found among younger kids whose communication

Chomsky (Steinberg 2011) views language as an innate ability children carry; this views centers the idea that the process of acquiring language is rooted in organized cognitive structures, and these traits are considered fundamentally biological. Chomsky (Steinberg 2011) states that each child has the potential to learn language with a lan-guage acquisition device (LAD). The LAD contains linguistic universals, one being the ability to speak a universal amount of utterances which Chomsky labels this knowledge as linguistic crea-tivity (Steinberg 2011). It also provides for the ability to learn the complexities of a language rapidly and uniformly. Chomsky, and other research has provided a wealth of knowledge to ex-plain language development, but it has its limitations. Whether language is hard wired or a learned experience, we know language has universal components that are shared among many languages and are a part of language development. This paper will try take a point of view that encompasses both of these perceptive. The model that best suits this idea is the interactionist

Psychology continues making break-through revelations that explain and enlighten many cognitive pathways that are black boxes. Everyone is fluent in at least one language, but as it continues to become popular, people are learning languages left and right. Although toddlers do not start speaking before their first year, they begin learning abstract language as early as the third trimester of pregnancy and are able to differentiate languages. People with continuous exposure to a language outperform peers who have never been exposed to it. But what about those who are removed from their environment and are never exposed to the language again.

There are several theories regarding language development. Work by Chomsky, Piaget and Kuhl are critical. Studies by Chomsky, as examined by Albery, Chandler, Field, Jones, Messer, Moore and Sterling (2009); Deloache, Eisenberg & Siegler (2003) argued for the innateness of language acquisition due to its complexity. Development is assisted by a language acquisition device (LAD) and universal grammar both of which holding the propensity for commonalities throughout all languages. LAD is the key to the Syntax rule. The knowledge to master the rules is held unconsciously. Chomsky concludes exposure through auditory channels as being the only requirement for learning. Arguably Kuhl (2010) writes infantile exposure to language through auditory channels only, does not contribute effectively to learning indicating the importance of human interaction. Piaget, as discussed by Ault (1977) postulated language as not being part of the earliest stages of development. Signifying within sensorimotor stage, between birth and two years, the child’s development is too reflexive. Gleitman, Fridlund and Reisberg (2004) discuss the critical period hypothesis and suggest the young brain being more suited to acquisition than the adult brain. Lenneberg (1967) (as cited in Gleitman et al 2004) advocates, brain maturation closes language acquisition capacity window. Kuhl (2010) identified, within the critical period babies develop

As a child develops along their journey to acquire language, they go through several steps, of which all are crucial to the successful mastering of their native tongue. There is debate over whether the period of acquisition known as babbling is the first or second stage – Berk (1991) mentions that they class babbling as the first stage, but note that there is a previous stage before that, known as the ‘cooing’ stage; following this, this essay will refer to babbling as the second stage of language acquisition. To introduce a general overview of this particular stage, Berk (1991) explains that cooing usually develops into babbling at around 6

The theory suggests that the little kid’s brain has a cellular receptivity to language acquisition. This receptivity may be a function of cellular plasticity or elasticity which is controlled by a sort of biological clock. With age, the biological clock changes the cellular plasticity, which reduces the organism’s capacity to learn langugage. Penfield and Roberts predict that an optimal age period for L2 learning is between 4 and 8 because of greater brain plasticity.