Gabriel Robinson A2 2.

39
Does Learning a Language have a
Time Limit?
Gabriel Robinson, 2.39
There is a hypothesis held in high-esteem by many linguists and language experts that
predicts the existence of a certain indo in early life in hich language is most easily
ac!uired - and after hich it may be impossible to spea" such a language fluently.
#ommonly$ it is recognised as the Critical Period %ypothesis$ and is the sub&ect of a
long-standing debate in linguistics - hether language ac!uisition is biologically lin"ed
to age.
'roposed by (enneberg )*9+,-$ the hypothesis also suggests that any language
learned after the end of such a period ould be learned ith great difficulty at a much
sloer pace.
.trong e/idence for such a hypothesis exists in the study of those depri/ed of language
at an early age - such as feral children and those ith deaf parents.
The former category is perhaps more ell-"non to the general public0 especially the
case study of Genie$ a girl ho as restrained alone to a single room until the age of
*1. The /ictim of se/ere parental abuse$ Genie as punished hene/er she made any
sound$ and as a result failed to de/elop language during her childhood$ as ell as poor
motor s"ills and stamina. 2hen found$ she struggled to ac!uire language$ but did
ac!uire something - hat might be described as the basics of language. Genie could
use ords as labels and to describe$ enough so that she could be understood.
%oe/er$ her main difficulty as in grammar0 the years of a/ersion to language had
impaired any ability to use grammar effecti/ely and therefore as not fluent in her
speech. .he could$ hoe/er$ recall past e/ents$ such as those before she could e/en
spea"$ hich as considered ma&or by the scientists studying her at the time.
The latter category is also fairly important in determining the /alidity of the #ritical
'eriod %ypothesis. A study of to hearing children of deaf parents shoed that the
children ere still able to ac!uire language from the tele/ision and from school$
hoe/er areas of their language ere noticeably ea". This suggests that hilst the
#ritical 'eriod may exist$ it is not a certainty that language ill de/elop. The indo is
especially sensiti/e to language ac!uisition$ meaning that during this time is hen
children are most susceptible to pic"ing up language. (i"e the children from the study$
Gabriel Robinson A2 2.39
all children must need to be stimulated linguistically by their parents in order to become
fluent.
Another much-debated matter is the length and position of this sensiti/e indo. 3t is
generally belie/ed that$ if this hypothesis is correct$ language must be learned by the
onset of puberty to become fluent. Ta"e the case of Genie again$ for example$ ho$
hen rescued toards the end of her fourteenth year$ found it impossible to become
fluent. 4iologically$ this is logical. The great neurological and psychological
de/elopments that occur during puberty ould coincide ith a decrease in the ability to
learn language.
#ertainly$ this may also be the reason that learning a second language after puberty is
so much harder than the first time. 3 studied .panish for fi/e years in secondary school$
and 3 am incredibly far from fluent. 3t could be argued that$ hoe/er$ this may be due to
the contrast to the language in hich you are already fluent. 5urthermore$ ithout being
placed in a situation in hich this particular language is spo"en fluently )for example$
.pain-$ there may be less of a moti/ation to learn language.
#hildren ho learn to or more languages simultaneously hoe/er$ "non as bi- or
poly-linguals$ tend to ha/e no difficulty in sitching beteen the to during
con/ersation. This suggests that the #ritical 'eriod is also /ital in becoming fluent in a
second or third language.
.o hy ould this #ritical 'eriod exist6
.ome say that has e/olutionarily ad/antageous0 %urford$ for example$ belie/ed
language ac!uisition to be an adaptation that has sur/i/al /alue for humans$ and that
"noing a language correlates positi/ely ith an indi/idual7s reproducti/e ad/antage.
This supports 8oam #homs"y9s 98ati/ist9 approach to language ac!uisition ho e
are born ith an ability to gain a language and adds to it by saying that it must be
e/olutionary.
2hate/er the reason for its existence$ the #ritical 'eriod may be more than &ust a
hypothesis there is strong enough e/idence )such as Genie- to claim that it does exist
and is an ad/antage in e/olution.