Reflection # 4

Why do you think that it is so difficult for researchers to agree on the CPH (Critical Age Hypothesis). Give explicit examples from the readings. Also give examples from your own experience.
I think the reason for which it’s so difficult (or even impossible) for researchers to agree on CPH is that there are too many factors involved in the processes they are studying: language acquisition and aging. Those two processes are very complex even when taken separately; when trying to combine them, the result is a myriad of possibilities that many times contradict each other. In language learning, for example, there is the field of neurobiology which can explain how language acquisition is localized on different parts of the brain or how different neurons are responsible for different language sectors develop at different ages (Diller, Seliger; Kim, Relkin, Kyoung-Min and Hirsch, Perani et al., Abulatepi et al.). Aging alters (or modifies) the learning process (any learning, not only languages) starting with the language acquisition that may start in utero (Singleton and Ryan), and continuing with the difficulty mature learners have with abstract features (Hawkins among others), the tendency of adolescents to “construct theories” that may inhibit “natural” learning (Inhelder and Piaget), the increased reliance on “problem-solving cognitive structures” (Felix), and many other aspects of maturation that influence the way we learn. Affective-motivational factors also play a role in language learning and in CPH, further complicating it.

I think for educators the most important contribution of CPH is the fact that we can adapt our teaching styles and approaches depending on the age (besides many other things) of our students. For example, keeping in mind that young children have access to UG while adults may not, that adults rely more on problem-solving structures and have difficulties with abstract concepts or features (need for grammar and rules), that children can acquire native pronunciations and accents while adults can’t, etc. These factors can make us decide where we are going to focus on our teaching and how we can better tap into students’ resources.

I have seen examples of people learning a language at 12 and having a native accent, while others still have an accent even learning the language at the same age. However, I think I’ve never seen anyone who learned a language as an adult having a native accent, so I believe that there may be a CP for accent acquisition. I agree with the fact that adults rely more on structures and that we have more difficulty grasping abstract knowledge, in fact, I’ve never seen anyone who acquire (well) a language as an adult without some structured learning, while I’ve seen kids just “getting it” naturally.