Sensitive periods, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment

312 Pages·2013·3.14 MB·English

by  Gisela Granena

Sensitive periods, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment
Language Learning & Language Teaching (LL&LT)
The LL&LT monograph series publishes monographs, edited volumes and
text books on applied and methodological issues in the field of language
pedagogy. The focus of the series is on subjects such as classroom discourse
and interaction; language diversity in educational settings; bilingual
education; language testing and language assessment; teaching methods and
teaching performance; learning trajectories in second language acquisition;
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Editors
Nina Spada Nelleke Van Deusen-Scholl
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Center for Language Study
University of Toronto Yale University
Volume 35
Sensitive periods, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment
Edited by Gisela Granena and Mike Long
Sensitive periods,
language aptitude,
and ultimate L2 attainment
Edited by
Gisela Granena
Mike Long
University of Maryland
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Amsterdam / Philadelphia
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
8
the American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sensitive periods, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment / Edited by Gisela Granena,
Mike Long.
p. cm. (Language Learning & Language Teaching, issn 1569-9471 ; v. 35)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Second language acquisition. 2. Language awareness. 3. Communicative competence in
children. I. Granena, Gisela. II. Long, Michael H.
P118.2.S465 2013
401’.93--dc23 2013000301
isbn 978 90 272 1311 2 (Hb ; alk. paper)
isbn 978 90 272 1312 9 (Pb ; alk. paper)
isbn 978 90 272 7206 5 (Eb)
© 2013 – John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any
other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa
Table of contents
List of contributors vii
Introduction and overview ix
Gisela Granena & Mike Long
part i. Age differences and maturational constraints
Maturational constraints on child and adult SLA 3
Mike Long
Maturational constraints on lexical acquisition in a second language 43
Katherine Spadaro
Age of acquisition effects or effects of bilingualism in second language
ultimate attainment? 69
Emanuel Bylund, Kenneth Hyltenstam & Niclas Abrahamsson
part ii. Aptitude constructs and measures
Cognitive aptitudes for second language learning and the LLAMA
Language Aptitude Test 105
Gisela Granena
New conceptualizations of language aptitude in second
language attainment 131
Judit Kormos
Optimizing post-critical-period language learning 153
Catherine J. Doughty
part iii. Age, aptitude and ultimate attainment
Reexamining the robustness of aptitude in second language acquisition 179
Gisela Granena
Memory-based aptitude for nativelike selection: The role of phonological
short-term memory 205
Cylcia Bolibaugh & Pauline Foster
vi Sensitive Periods, Language Aptitude, and Ultimate L2 Attainment
High-level proficiency in late L2 acquisition: Relationships between
collocational production, language aptitude and personality 231
Fanny Forsberg Lundell & Maria Sandgren
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 259
Mike Long
Aptitude-treatment interaction studies in second language acquisition:
Findings and methodology 273
Karen Vatz, Medha Tare, Scott R. Jackson & Catherine J. Doughty
Subject index 293
List of contributors
Niclas Abrahamsson Fanny Forsberg Lundell
[email protected] [email protected]
Stockholm University Institutionen för franska
Centre for Research on Bilingualism italienska och klassiska språk
Universitetsvägen 10C Stockholms universitet
10691 Stockholm SE-106 91 Stockholm
Sweden Sweden
Cylcia Bolibaugh Pauline Foster
[email protected] [email protected]
St. Mary’s University College St. Mary’s University College
Waldegrave Road Waldegrave Road
Twickenham Twickenham
Middlesex TW14SX Middlesex TW14SX
United Kingdom United Kingdom
Emanuel Bylund Gisela Granena
[email protected] [email protected]
Stockholm University Program in Second Language
Centre for Research on Bilingualism Acquisition
Universitetsvägen 10C Jimenez Hall
10691 Stockholm University of Maryland
Sweden College Park, MD 20742
USA
Catherine J. Doughty
[email protected] Kenneth Hyltenstam
Center for Advanced Study of Language [email protected]
University of Maryland Stockholm University
Box 25 Centre for Research on Bilingualism
7005 52nd Avenue Universitetsvägen 10C
College Park, MD 20742 10691 Stockholm
USA Sweden
viii Sensitive Periods, Language Aptitude, and Ultimate L2 Attainment
Scott R. Jackson Maria Sandgren
[email protected] [email protected]
Center for Advanced Study Södertörns högskola
of Language Institutionen för samhällsvetenskaper
University of Maryland Alfred Nobels allé 7
Box 25 SE-141 89 Huddinge
7005 52nd Avenue Sweden
College Park, MD 20742
USA Katherine Spadaro
[email protected]
14 Ian St
Judit Kormos
Rose Bay NSW 2029
[email protected]
Australia
Department of Linguistics
and English Language
Medha Tare
Lancaster University 
[email protected]
Lancaster LA1 4YL 
Center for Advanced Study of Language
United Kingdom
University of Maryland
7005 52nd Avenue
Michael H. Long College Park, MD 20742
[email protected] USA
Program in Second Language
Acquisition Karen Vatz
Jimenez Hall [email protected]
University of Maryland 19 Pleasant St
College Park, MD 20742 Montpelier, VT 05602
USA USA
Introduction and overview
Gisela Granena & Mike Long
University of Maryland
Three decades of research on second language acquisition (SLA) have identified
age of onset (AO), i.e. the age at which learners were first meaningfully exposed
to the L2, as the variable that consistently accounts for the greatest proportion
of variance (typically around 30%) in ultimate second language (L2) attainment.
The second strongest predictor variable (typically accounting for 10%–20% of the
variance), research has shown, is language aptitude. It is not surprising, there-
fore, 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.
Research on maturational constraints on language learning has a long his-
tory, with well over 100 empirical studies published during the last 50 years
(for review, see, e.g. DeKeyser 2012; Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson 2003; Long
1990, this v olume; Meisel 2011; Montrul 2009). The inverse relationship between
AO and achievement is one of the most widely attested and widely accepted
findings in SLA. Some disagreement continues, however, as to the underlying
causes of age differences; compare, e.g. Birdsong (2005) and Bongaerts (1999)
arguing against maturational constraints, and DeKeyser and Larson-Hall (2005)
and Meisel (2011) arguing in favor. Nevertheless, the preponderance of evidence
points to the operation of a series of sensitive periods specific not just to linguistic
domains (phonology, morphology and syntax, etc.), but to classes of linguistic
features within domains (DeKeyser, Alfi-Shabtay & Ravid 2010; Granena 2012;
Spadaro 1996, this volume). Supposed counter-evidence is generally the result of
methodological problems with the studies concerned and/or faulty interpretation
of findings (DeKeyser 2006; Long 2005, 2007b).
Researchers are gradually moving on from documenting sensitive period
effects to studying alternative explanations for them. One idea, examined criti-
cally by Bylund et al. (this volume), is that first language (L1) entrenchment can
explain the data. Another is that age differences are due to an age-related decline in
the human capacity for implicit language learning, a decline that can be mitigated,
but not overcome, by the influence of language aptitude. DeKeyser (2000) claims
that high language aptitude is capable of supporting high, even near-native, levels