An Investigation On Starting Age And Achievements Of Foreign Language Learning In Formal Instruction

The evidence from a variety of studies and researches shows that age is one of important apparent individual factors affecting foreign language learning. Age differences in the process of foreign language learning are obvious. It is not only a hot issue in applied linguistics and psycholinguistics, but also a focus on concerning such subjects as pedagogy, psychology and physiology. Therefore, the research in this field is of great importance both in the English educational policy-making and course-planning of foreign language in China.There is a widely-held belief of "The younger, the better." for children to learn a foreign language. This is supported by the Critical Period Hypothesis which is adopted in the field of second language acquisition. According to the Critical Period Hypothesis, there is a period when language acquisition takes place naturally and effortlessly, and after the period it is possible to be completely successful. Penfield and Roberts (1959) argued that the optimal age for language acquisition falls within the first ten years of life. During the period the brain retains its plasticity, but with the onset of puberty, the plasticity begins to disappear.However, there is a heated debate among linguists and researches on the Critical Period Hypothesis. The controversy centers on whether children have absolute advantages in second language acquisition. They present their own views and try to sustain their views in experiments.In the writer's point, the Critical Period Hypothesis is too absolute and it still needs further exploration. In order to test whether the Critical Period Hypothesis can play a role in the process of foreign language learning, whether there exist an optimal age. The writer has made an investigation on starting age and achievements of foreign language learning in formal instruction. The results show that those exposed to English at an earlier age don't have absolute advantages over those at an later age. Based on the studies by some scholars home and broad and the writer's own research, the thesis put forward the following views:1. The Critical Period Hypothesis cannot plausibly be regarded as a scientific hypothesis. The hypothesis of critical period cannot play a role in foreign language learning in formal settings, especially in English learning. Age advantages is not important in foreign language learning in formal instruction. The foreign language learners who start learning English from different ages have their certain and respective advantages in the process of foreign language learning in formal settings. The notion of "The younger, the better." for children to learn a foreign language is obviously doubted. The so-called optimal age doesn't exist in foreign language learning, especially in formal instruction in China. Hence, the educational administrators and policy-makers should provide suitable and practical policies and effectiveteaching strategies to cater for learners of different ages with different characteristics so as to improve thelearners' ability of learning English at schools in China.2. The effects of different starting ages on foreign language learning in formal settings are not only connected with starting age. On the other hand, age doesn't make up the dominant superiority in foreign language learning until it is combined with the other factors, only by doing so can it produce effect and elaborate its superiority. Foreign language learning in the earlier age for children cannot guarantee their language superiority unless there are higher qualified teachers, painstakingly designed courses favorable foreign language environment. Furthermore, interest and good learning habits are also among them. Since foreign language learning and teaching is a dynamic complicated process that is presumablycontinuing throughout life, more evidence is needed to examine the different aspects of learning, variousstages, and styles, with the consideration of maturational, developmental, linguistic, and cognitive factors.Further research into the relationship between age and language mechanisms of foreign language learningand teaching will be conducted in the days of coming.