Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the question of age in relation to second-language learning. Specific variables investigated were the auditory discrimination and oral production of Spanish sounds. Two test were constructed: (1) The auditory discrimination test used minimal pairs of Spanish sounds, and (2) the oral production test used words that differed in only one sound. Both tests were given individually to a group of randomly chosen English monolingual speakers. A group of children (1 st-graders) and a group of adults (12th-graders) were tested to determine if both tests taken together would show one group to have a higher foreign language aptitude than the other group. While it was hypothesized that children would perform better than adults, the multivariate analysis of variance indicated that, with both tests taken together, adults were superior in auditory discrimination and oral production, supporting the idea that adults because of their cognitive advantage and maturity are more efficient and successful in these two aspects of foreign-language learning. Children did not exhibit the facility that early-foreign-language-learning advocates have postulated.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Asher, J., & Garcia, R. (1969). The optimal age to learn a foreign language.Modern Language Journal, 53, 334–341.
Asher, J., & Price, B. (1967). The learning strategy of total physical response: Some age differences.Child Development, 38, 1219–1227.
Bailey, N., Madden, C., & Krashen, S. (1974). Is there a “natural sequence” in adult second language learning?Language Learning, 24, 235–243.
Brown, J.W., Dietz, D.J., Fritz, R.K., Jenkins, E., Mazzetti, R., Posada, R, & Merryman, E. (1972). A testing of the audio-active voice reflector in the foreign language classroom.Modern Language Journal, 56, 144–147.
Cochrane, R., & Sachs, J. (1979). Phonological learning by children and adults in a laboratory setting.Language and Speech, 22 (Part 2), 145–149.
Fathman, A. (1975). The relationship between age and second language productive ability.Language Learning, 25, 245–253.
Guiora, A.Z., Brannon, R.C., & Dull, C.Y. (1972). Empathy and second language learning.Language Learning, 22, 111–130.
Harris, R.J. (1975).A primer of multivariate statistics. New York: Academic Press.
Krashen, S.D. (1973). Lateralization, language learning, and the critical period: Some new evidence.Language Learning, 23, 63–74.
Krashen, S.D. (1975). The critical period for language acquisition and its possible bases.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 263, 211–224.
Krashen, S.D., Sferlazza, V., Feldman, L., & Fathman, A.K. (1976). Adult performance on the Slope Test: More evidence for a natural sequence in adult second language acquisition.Language Learning, 26, 145–151.
Ladefoged, P. (1982)A course in phonetics. (2nd ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Lamendella, J.T. (1977). General principles of neurofunctional organization and their manifestation in primary and nonprimary language acquisition.Language Learning, 27, 155–196.
Lenneberg, E.H. (1967).Biological foundations of language. New York: Wiley.
Neufeld, G.G. (1978). On the acquisition of prosodic and articulatory features in adult language learning.Canadian Modern Language Review, 34, 163–174.
Olson, L., & Samuels, S.J. (1973). The relationship between age and accuracy of foreign language pronunciation.Journal of Education Research, 66, 263–268.
Oyama, S. (1967). A sensitive period for the acquisition of a non-native phonological system.Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 5, 261–283.
Penfield, W. (1952–1953). A consideration of the neurophysiological mechanisms of speech and some educational consequences. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.Daedalus, 82, 199–214.
Penfield, W. & Roberts, L. (1959).Speech and brain mechanisms, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Pertz, D.L., & Bever, T.G. (1975). Sensitivity to phonological universals in children and adolescents.Language, 51, 149–162.
Schumann, J.H. (1975). Affective factors and the problem of age in second language acquisition.Language Learning, 25, 209–235.
Scovel, T. (1969). Foreign accents, language acquisition, and cerebral dominance.Language Learning, 19, 245–253.
Seliger, H.W., Krashen, S.D., & Ladefoged, P. (1975). Maturational constraints in the acquisition of second language accent.Language Sciences, 36, 20–22.
Snow, C., & Hoefnagel-Hohle, M. (1978). The critical period for language acquisition: Evidence from second language learning.Child Development, 49, 1114–1128.
Stern, H. (1976). Optimal age: Myth or reality?Canadian Modern Language Review, 32, 283–294.
Taylor, B.P. (1974). Toward a theory of language acquisition.Language Learning, 24, 23–35.
Thorpe, W.H., & Zangwill, O.L. (Eds.). (1961). Sensitive periods in learning of animals and men: A study of imprinting with special reference to the introduction of cyclic behavior. InCurrent problems in animal behavior. London: Cambridge Unversity Press.
Winitz, H. (1981). Input considerations in the comprehension of first and second language.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 379, 296–308.
Winitz, H., & Bellerose, B. (1965). Phoneme-cluster learning as a function of instructional method and age.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 4, 98–102.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This article is based on a dissertation submitted by Alba A. Rosenman to the Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education, Ball State University. The research was supported in part by a Graduate Student Research Grant from Ball State University. I am grateful to Dr. Larry Henriksen for his help in the statistical design and analysis of the data and to Dr. Herbert Stahlke for phonetic analysis.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rosenman, A.A. The relationship between auditory discrimination and oral production of Spanish sounds in children and adults. J Psycholinguist Res 16, 517–534 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067082
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067082