The Age-Factor in Second Language Acquisition. Is There a Critical Period?

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Didactics - English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,3, University of Kassel (Anglistik), course: Englische Fachdidaktik, language: English, abstract: Second language acquisition, in particular English, is nowadays more important than ever before. As a consequence, it is of great importance to improve second language education at school. In order to do this, learner factors as for instance age, motivation or aptitude have to be considered more closely. The present research paper considers the question if second language learning can be affected by age, particularly if there is a critical period that can affect the learning success in a negative way. The common sense that children are the most successful language learners will be examined and compared to contrary opinions. In a last step, the results will be used to draw conclusions for second language instruction.