Age and acquisition by Brown

Think about an answer for
these questions.

1. What exactly is the relationship between age and language learning?

The way that the person is going to learn, if is young it could be easier, on the contrary of is older it could be more difficult.

2. Do children learn language faster? What do they learn faster?

Because they are not focus of forms and rules, they internalize what they are listening and watching, for that reason is because they learn faster, because they acquire without analyze.  

3. Is it impossible for adults to achieve fluency?

If they do not use their monitor all the time and if they practice over and over again, they can achieve fluency.

QUESTIONS

1. In your opinion which 3 of the 7 myths are of importance to dispell? Why? (page 50)

1.  The first one because, when we learn a second language is not only by repetition all the time, because we need significant meaning of the concepts that we are learning.

5. Number five, because we can learn how to write a word without listening it before.

7. Number 7 because is important to show some differences of grammatical structures to children, because they might make some mistakes and if we do not explain and try to fix those mistake children will not understand what is wrong.

2. Refer and explain 3 out of the 5 topics from the cognitive psychologist Ausubel. (page 51)

The rote learning practice of audio-lingual drills lacked the meaningfulness necessary for successful first and second language acquisition.  That is to say, even if students memories if there is no significant meaning there is not learning.

Adults learning a foreign language could, with their full cognitive capacities, benefit from deductive presentations of grammar; because they analyze and they are aware of forms and rules.  

The native language of the learner is not just an interfering factor- it can facilitate learning a second language.  Because sometimes students will find similar factors, concepts that they will connect with their first language. 

3. Explain the possible comparisons and contrasts between children and adult acquisition. (page 52)

-First and second language acquisition in children (c1-c2) holding age constant.  –Second language acquisition in children and adults (c2-a2) holding second language constant.  –First language acquisition in children and second language acquisition in adults (c1-a2)   

4. Refer to the CPH according to: (page 54) Lenneberg (1967) and Bickerton (1981) “The over the hill possibility”

This is by age of 12 or 13, when it comes to the possibility of successful second language learning.   

5. Discuss three points about the hemispheric lateralization. (page 54)

Left hemisphere seems to control intellectual, logical, and analytic functions including language functions, while right hemisphere controls functions related to emotional and social needs.

Some scholars contended the lateralization is completed about at the age of puberty, and some said it’s about five.

Thomas Scovel applied this lateralization concept to the second language acquisition.

6. What do we mean by biological accent-related (page 55)

The development of a socially bonding accent at puberty.  According to Scovel; ‘an accent emerging after puberty is the price we pay for our preordained ability to be articulate apes.’  

7. What is the role of the right hemisphere in learning a L2? (page 55)

There is significant right hemisphere participation, and it consist of the ‘strategies of acquisition’; of guessing at meanings and of using formulaic utterances.