Sensitive periods for second language acquisition: A reaction time study of the syntactic processing of English by Korean-English bilinguals
Shim, Rosa Jin-young
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125921
Description
Title
Sensitive periods for second language acquisition: A reaction time study of the syntactic processing of English by Korean-English bilinguals
Author(s)
Shim, Rosa Jin-young
Issue Date
1990
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Mack, Molly
Department of Study
Linguistics
Discipline
Teaching English as a Second Language
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Teaching English as Second Language
Second language acquisition
Ultimate proficiency
Age-related differences
Sensitivity period for language processing speed
Language
eng
Abstract
The primary goal of this research project was to find out how the ultimate proficiency in a second language is affected by the age at which learners begin learning the language. A further goal was to determine the differences and similarities in language processing by native and non-native speakers of English. The major questions under consideration were: 1) How is age related to second language acquisition and ultimate competence in a second language? 2) Can early learners become as competent as native speakers? 3) Is there a difference in age groups in terms of difficulty with specific structures of the English language? And 4) If there is, how can we benefit from this knowledge in terms of ESL instruction? Answers to these research questions were attained by a reaction time study that was modeled after Johnson and Newport's study (1989). The results showed a striking difference in mean reaction time for native versus non-native groups, even for early (childhood) bilinguals. In fact, there was a greater difference between the native speakers and early bilinguals them between any two of the non-native groups. Thus a hypothesis was proposed that there 1s a sensitive period for attaining native-like speed in language processing which ends before the age of three. Evidence was also round for the maturational effect that resulted in a decrease of language processing speed as the age of onset for the L2 was increased. Similar results were found for error rate. The most significant difference was found between the early childhood group and the late adolescent group leading to the formulation of the hypothesis that the sensitive period for the acquisition of accuracy in syntactic judgment ended in early childhood. In sum, the success in the acquisition of a second language certainly seemed to be enhanced by early exposure to that language. In terms of grammatical categories, the results indicated possible universal learnability factors that caused more difficulty in certain specific structures of the English language than in others.
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