When is the Right Time to Learn a Second Language?

It has been empirically proven and universally agreed that younger learners effectively learn a second language more so than older learners. This is supported by the Critical Period Hypothesis which states there is a fixed span of years where language acquisition can take place naturally and effortlessly (Ellis 32). Scientifically, the optimal age for language acquisition is within the first ten years of life when the brain retains its plasticity and flexibility. However, there is a great deal of variation nowadays which does not always justify the Critical Period Hypothesis as standard.

Ellis makes six distinguishable categories when referring to various areas of second language acquisition. The Critical Period Hypothesis is crucial in the development of sounds where language learning capacity is at its climax in young children until the age of puberty. There is also the desire to integrate culturally and communicate with native speakers and this is more prominent in young children because children are less inhibited than adults.

Research also has shown that adults possess a high level of cognitive abilities which should also be considered an important factor in extending the age of puberty as the optimal age for second language acquisition. Adult learners rely on general inductive learning abilities in learning a second language and can apply themselves studially to language learning. Also, adults may experience more negotiation in meaning and are capable of storing both first and second language together. However, achieving native-like competence may be difficult in neurological and sensory areas which are prominent in younger children.

The degree of exposure in formal contexts of second language learning determines the degree of native-like proficiency where pruberty is the cut-off mark. in order to validate the Critical period Hypothesis where the degree of native levels of proficiency in young children is concerned, exposure must be maintained in proportion to the first second. In this respect, Neufeld's study (1978) of adult native speakers of English studying intensively both Chinese and Japanese, "is significant in postulating that under the right conditions adults can achieve native ability in pronunciation - the area of language generally considered to be the most difficult for adults to acquire" (Neufeld as cited in Ellis 32).

The research to date suggests that there might be multiple critical and sensitive periods for different aspects of second language acquisition. (Ellis 1994) In formal settings where native like proficiency is not the goal, the optimal age of starting second language acquisition is probably between ten to twelve years.

Works Cited
Ellis, Rod. Second Language Acquisition. Oxford UP, 1994.