Concept Meaning
Critical period The period of time during which certain behaviours or skills appear to
be acquired with particular speed and ease, and without external
intervention.
Imprinting Rapid learning in a young animal, in which it begins to pattern
behaviour on an adult model.
Sensitive period Experiences have an effect on the brain, which is especially strong
during a limited period of development.
Critical Period In SLA, the view that there is a critical period favouring language
Hypothesis acquisition, after which native-speaker-like ability cannot be attained.
Study by Lenneberg, Onset of critical period is at 2 years of age; the end at puberty, or at
1967 13 years of age, based on neurological and clinical evidence.
Study by Birdsong, 1999 CPH states that there is a limited developmental period during which
it is possible to acquire a language, be it L1 or L2, to normal, native-
like levels. Once the window of opportunity is passed, however, the
ability to learn language declines.
Long, 1993 The notion of the critical period does not stipulate that adult learners
cannot reach very high levels of L2 proficiency; rather, it predicts that
beyond a certain age, learners cannot reach native speaker levels of
proficiency.
Lateralization Process by which cognitive functions become localized to one or the
other of the brain’s hemispheres.
Steven Pinker, 1994 Language-acquisition circuitry is not needed once it has been used; it
should be dismantled if keeping it around incurs any costs.
Thomas Bever, 1981 Early L2 acquisition aids in keeping the acquisition skill intact.
Elman et al., 1996 Connectionist framework: the ability to learn may change over time –
not as function of any explicit change in the mechanism, but rather as
an intrinsic consequence of learning itself.
“Less is more” Children’s more limited cognitive resources entail that they focus on
hypothesis smaller parts of input, which benefits them since this forces a child to
attend to the small linguistic units like morphemes or words that carry
meaning. adults tend to store larger, more complex units of input,
which ultimately cannot be registered as accurately, due to their
more developed cognition.
Speech learning model Mechanisms underlying L1 acquisition remain intact in L2 learning,
but a number of factors affect L2 learning success (quality and
quantity of L2 input, and continued exposure to the L1).
Feral child Term given to the rare cases of children who have grown up in
situations deprived of regular human interaction and normal language
exposure.
Victor Boy around 12 years of age found in the forest in Aveyron, France. He
was unable to learn to speak.
Genie Found in 1970 at the age of 13. She received psychological support.
Linguists tried to teach her English, with limited success. She did
manage to acquire some vocabulary and replicate basic word order
patterns; her grasp of syntax and morphology remained weak and her
production of sentences remained basically telegraphic. There might
have been complicating factors (psychological and cognitive deficits).
L2 pronunciation Individuals who begin learning an L2 after early childhood, will have a
non-native-like accent in their L2. Individuals who are exposed to
another language throughout childhood, will have no detectable
accent in either language.
Critical period The period of time during which certain behaviours or skills appear to
be acquired with particular speed and ease, and without external
intervention.
Imprinting Rapid learning in a young animal, in which it begins to pattern
behaviour on an adult model.
Sensitive period Experiences have an effect on the brain, which is especially strong
during a limited period of development.
Critical Period In SLA, the view that there is a critical period favouring language
Hypothesis acquisition, after which native-speaker-like ability cannot be attained.
Study by Lenneberg, Onset of critical period is at 2 years of age; the end at puberty, or at
1967 13 years of age, based on neurological and clinical evidence.
Study by Birdsong, 1999 CPH states that there is a limited developmental period during which
it is possible to acquire a language, be it L1 or L2, to normal, native-
like levels. Once the window of opportunity is passed, however, the
ability to learn language declines.
Long, 1993 The notion of the critical period does not stipulate that adult learners
cannot reach very high levels of L2 proficiency; rather, it predicts that
beyond a certain age, learners cannot reach native speaker levels of
proficiency.
Lateralization Process by which cognitive functions become localized to one or the
other of the brain’s hemispheres.
Steven Pinker, 1994 Language-acquisition circuitry is not needed once it has been used; it
should be dismantled if keeping it around incurs any costs.
Thomas Bever, 1981 Early L2 acquisition aids in keeping the acquisition skill intact.
Elman et al., 1996 Connectionist framework: the ability to learn may change over time –
not as function of any explicit change in the mechanism, but rather as
an intrinsic consequence of learning itself.
“Less is more” Children’s more limited cognitive resources entail that they focus on
hypothesis smaller parts of input, which benefits them since this forces a child to
attend to the small linguistic units like morphemes or words that carry
meaning. adults tend to store larger, more complex units of input,
which ultimately cannot be registered as accurately, due to their
more developed cognition.
Speech learning model Mechanisms underlying L1 acquisition remain intact in L2 learning,
but a number of factors affect L2 learning success (quality and
quantity of L2 input, and continued exposure to the L1).
Feral child Term given to the rare cases of children who have grown up in
situations deprived of regular human interaction and normal language
exposure.
Victor Boy around 12 years of age found in the forest in Aveyron, France. He
was unable to learn to speak.
Genie Found in 1970 at the age of 13. She received psychological support.
Linguists tried to teach her English, with limited success. She did
manage to acquire some vocabulary and replicate basic word order
patterns; her grasp of syntax and morphology remained weak and her
production of sentences remained basically telegraphic. There might
have been complicating factors (psychological and cognitive deficits).
L2 pronunciation Individuals who begin learning an L2 after early childhood, will have a
non-native-like accent in their L2. Individuals who are exposed to
another language throughout childhood, will have no detectable
accent in either language.
