POST #16: The Critical Period Hypothesis and The Influence of L1 on the Acquisition of L2

OBJECTIVE:

• Students present about The Critical Period Hypothesis and The Influence of L1 on the Acquisition of L2.

I. THE CRITICAL PERIOD HYPOTHESIS

Retrieved from criticalperiodhtypothesis.blogspot.com  

This is a great link for more information on the topic. Here you can access the Johnson and Newport (1989) studies for reading.

Does age affect the acquisition of a language?

Lennerberg Critical Period Hypothesis

Genie Wileys's case "Feral Child"

Group presentation here
Group video here

II. The Influence of native tongue in the acquisition of a second language

Image taken from: https://letcteachers.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/pizarro-cognates.jpg?w=432&h=288

There are several phrases to choose from when referring to the phenomenon of Language transfer: L1 interference, linguistic interference, and crosslinguistic influence.
This is the situation arisen when a speaker applies knowledge of linguistic features from one language to another language. It is a common phenomenon when someone does not have a native-level command of a second language.
Language Transfer is caused by such phenomena as borrowing patterns from the mother tongue, extending patters from the target language, and expressing meanings using the vocabulary and syntax which are already known (Richards, Platt, & Platt, 1992).


Examples of language transfer errors made by speakers of Spanish when they speak English:

Vocabulary	Transfer error	Real meaning in Spanish
Actually	Actualidad	En realidad
Carpet	Folder	Alfombra
Library	Librería	Biblioteca

I will read my book and the yours also.(Voy a leer mi libro y el tuyo también.)
Our uncle is doctor. (Nuestro tio es doctor.)
The other childs got lost. (Los otros niños se perdieron.)
He found two shirts of different colors and bought the blue. (El encontro dos camisas de diferentes colores y compró la azul.)
For what did they come? (¿Para qué vinieron?)
I live here since 1995. (Vivo aqui desde 1995.)
Every child should assist to school. (Todos los niños deben asistir a la escuela.)

One definition of transfer is the influence resulting from the similarities and differences between the target language and any other language that has been previously (and perhaps imperfectly acquired) (Odlin, 1989, p. 7).

Group presentation here
Group video here

HOMEWORK:

• Check the blog
• Keep reading the article Popular Ideas about Language Learning