Evaluating the Existence and Nature of the Critical Period Hypothesis in Second Language Acquisition
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2022
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Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics
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en
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Abstract
This paper seeks to investigate the existence and nature of the Critical Period Hypothesis
(CPH) in Second Language Acquisition (L2A). I conduct an extensive literature review into
many studies spanning five decades into many domains of research. I advocate for multiple
critical periods (CPs) for various aspects of language acquisition (morphology, syntax,
phonology, phonotactics, grammar, semantics, pragmatics) each with their own unique
discontinuity between ultimate attainment (UA) and age of acquisition (AoA). I expose gaps and
highlight sources of debate within current literature such as the validity of (UA) as a yardstick
for evaluating L2A proficiency, problematic statistical methodology for modeling the
discontinuities in the AoA-UA function, language acquisition transfer interference from first
language acquisition into L2A, individualistic traits such as language aptitude and motivation. I
examine methodological differences in existing literature with a particular focus on incorrect
assumptions and statistical techniques that lead to false conclusions being drawn about the shape
of the age of acquisition (AoA) and ultimate attainment (UA) function, in testing for the CPH.
Ultimately, I advocate for the re-analysis of past studies using different methodological
techniques to generate new AoA-UA function graphs to discern if there are real discontinuities or
not. I hypothesize that correct and repeatable statistical modeling and proper experimental design
will facilitate the discovery of multiple CPs that occur in a robust sequential order with unique
onsets, offsets, and discontinuities to each CP. I also hypothesize that individuals with common
L1s and interlanguage systems share unique predictable CP onset and offsets that are robust
within the group. This paper adds to the existing literature by first presenting an updated in-depth analysis of the current literature and proceeds to discuss how statistical errors in the existing
literature may be contributing to the lack of robust evidence for multiple CPs in L2A.