An Empirical Study on Age Variable

Zhiliang LIU

Abstract


Age is a very important variable in second language acquisition. For years, the effect of age in SLA (second language acquisition) is a disputable topic in the field of linguistics. However, the dispute focuses more on theoretical basis rather than the research of substantial evidence. Therefore, we have made a quantitative survey on the students’ scores (11 times) from junior 1 to senior 2 (5 years) in the middle school by analyses between those (over 30 students) who have learned English for 3 years in the primary school and those (about 400 students) who have not. Finally we come to the conclusion that the idea of “the younger, the better” in FLL (foreign language learning) should be doubted.

Key words: Age variable; CPH; Optimal age


Keywords


Age variable; CPH; Optimal age

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/n

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