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Brain's window for language learning open until adulthood
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<p class="m_6997507299971863482gmail-summary">Study of nearly 700,000 people reveals more about cognitive capabilities for new language learning</p>
<p class="m_6997507299971863482gmail-meta_institute">Boston College</p>
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<p><b>IMAGE: </b>Nearly 700,000 respondents participated
in an online research survey to examine second language learning.
Researchers say their new findings point to prime language learning
years extending nearly to adulthood, far...
<a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/169275.php" target="_blank">view <span class="m_6997507299971863482gmail-no-break-text">more <i class="m_6997507299971863482gmail-fa m_6997507299971863482gmail-fa-angle-right"></i></span></a></p>
<p class="m_6997507299971863482gmail-credit">Credit: Image courtesy Games With Words, <a href="http://www.gameswithwords.org" target="_blank">www.gameswithwords.org</a></p>
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<p>Chestnut Hill, Mass. (5/1/2018) - In a study of nearly 700,000
English speakers, researchers from Boston College, MIT and Harvard have
discovered the optimal years to learn a second language extend to the
cusp of adulthood, the team reports today in the online edition of the
journal <i>Cognition</i>.</p>
<p>It has long been known that children learn language more easily than
adults, but determining exactly when that ability declines has been
something of a mystery.</p>
<p>Benefitting from a massive study population and new research methods
that allowed them to separate interconnected factors in language
acquisition, the team reports that the window for language learning is
open approximately a decade longer than previously thought - until the
age of 17.4 years of age.</p>
<p>The new findings hold implications for neuroscience, linguistics,
developmental psychology and public policy, according to the co-authors
of the report, titled "A Critical Period for Second Language
Acquisition: Evidence from 2/3 Million English Speakers."</p>
<p>"What we've found gives us a dramatically different understanding
about why children learn a new language more efficiently and completely
than adults," said Boston College Assistant Professor of Psychology
Joshua K. Hartshorne, a co-author of the study with MIT Professor Joshua
B. Tenenbaum and Harvard Professor Steven Pinker.</p>
<p>The findings are the first to estimate how long humans can learn
grammar and how that ability changes with age. The ability extends to
early adulthood before it begins to decline, the researchers found. This
proved so for both "easy" and "difficult" syntaxes the team used in
their study.</p>
<p>The findings define a clear "critical period for language acquisition" that lasts much longer than previously thought.</p>
<p>"Explaining this 'critical period for language acquisition' is
crucial not only for understanding why humans, but not animals or
machines, learn language, but also for research questions on neural
development and plasticity, bilingual education, foreign language
education, treatment of disorders that affect language, and early
childhood stimulation," Hartshorne said.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands of respondents from around the world took the
survey through a quiz the researchers offered online through the site <a href="http://www.gameswithwords.org" target="_blank">http://www.gameswithwords.org</a>, Hartshorne said.</p>
<p>He added that earlier studies focused on how much language a
seven-year-old could expect to eventually learn, rather than how quickly
a seven-year-old learns language.</p>
<p>"This has upended standard theoretical accounts of language learning," said Hartshorne.</p></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="m_6997507299971863482gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<wbr>=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~<wbr>haroldfs/</a> <br><br>------------------------------<wbr>-------------------</div>
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