Sensitive periods, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment

Erscheinungsjahr 2013
ISBN: 978-90-272-1311-2
Verlag: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Buch, Englisch, Band 35, 295 Seiten, Gewicht: 720 g

Reihe: Language Learning & Language Teaching

Research on second language acquisition (SLA) has identified language aptitude and age of onset (AO), i.e., the age at which learners are first meaningfully exposed to the L2, as robust predictors of rate of classroom language learning and level of ultimate L2 attainment in naturalistic settings, respectively. It is not surprising, therefore, that recent years have witnessed a surge of interest in the combination of age and aptitude as a powerful explanatory factor in SLA, and central to a viable SLA theory. The chapters in this volume provide new studies and reviews of research findings on age effects, bilingualism effects, maturational constraints and sensitive periods in SLA, the sub-components of language aptitude and the development of new aptitude measures, the influence of AO and aptitude in combination on SLA, aptitude-treatment interactions, and the implications of the research findings for language education policy and tailored language instruction.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Granena, Gisela

Long, Mike

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Fremdsprachenerwerb und -didaktik
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Psycholinguistik, Neurolinguistik, Kognition
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Angewandte Sprachwissenschaft
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Lehrerausbildung, Unterricht & Didaktik Allgemeine Didaktik Literatur, Deutsch, Fremdsprachen (Unterricht & Didaktik)

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of contributors
Introduction and overview
Part I. Age differences and maturational constraints
Maturational constraints on child and adult SLA
Maturational constraints on lexical acquisition in a second language
Age of acquisition effects or effects of bilingualism in second language ultimate attainment?
Part II. Aptitude constructs and measures
Cognitive aptitudes for second language learning and the LLAMA Language Aptitude Test*
New conceptualizations of language aptitude in second language attainment
Optimizing post-critical-period language learning
Part III. Age, aptitude and ultimate attainment
Reexamining the robustness of aptitude in second language acquisition
Memory-based aptitude for nativelike selection: The role of phonological short-term memory
High-level proficiency in late L2 acquisition: Relationships between collocational production, language aptitude and personality
Part IV. Implications for educational policy and language teaching
Some implications of research findings on sensitive periods in language learning for educational policy and practice
Aptitude-treatment interaction studies in second language acquisition: Findings and methodology
Subject index