Age differences in foreign language learning

  1. Miren Jasone Cenoz Iragui
Aldizkaria:
ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics

ISSN: 0019-0810

Argitalpen urtea: 2002

Zenbakia: 135-136

Orrialdeak: 125-142

Mota: Artikulua

Beste argitalpen batzuk: ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics

Laburpena

This article is based on the results of a project that analyses the linguistic development of English as a third language at different ages in a bilingual program. Specifically, it examines the influence of the age of introduction of English as a foreign language on general proficiency. Participants were 60 secondary school students who had Basque and/or Spanish as their first language and Basque as the language of instruction except for the subjects Spanish and English. All the students had studied English for six years but they had started learning English at different ages. Half of the students started learning English in grade 6 and the other half in grade 3. All the participants completed a battery of tests and questionnaires including different measures of proficiency in English: story telling, listening comprehension, composition, grammar and cloze test. The results indicate that older learners present a higher level of proficiency in English. The differences between older and younger students are discussed as related to several factors involved in foreign language learning.