On The Effects Of The Critical Period Upon Chinese Learners’ English Language Proficiency

Language should be studied as early as possible. However, as for the issue whether the age is also as early as possible for the foreign language learning or the second language learning, scholars put forward different points of views toward Lenneberg’s (1967) Critical Period Hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, people can learn a language easily during a period of time, and the critical period for language learning is from the age of2years old to the end of early stage of puberty (10-12years old). Before the age of puberty, the language learners are in physiological and psychological development and their brains are very plastic and adaptable. In China, English learning has held a more and more significant position. English has also been announced as a mandatory subject for Primary3graders by Chinese Ministry of Education all over China since2001. Children in some places even start to learn English in elementary Grade One. Then the starting age of English learners is becoming younger and younger in China. In reaction to this situation, the author selects the freshmen from Northeastern University as research participants, in order to study what effects the critical period of English learning have on learners’ English proficiency and find out the optimal age onset of English learning for Chinese learners.The author uses questionnaire as the research instrument of the study. The questionnaire investigates269freshmen from Northeastern University about their age onset of English learning, scores of College Entrance Test of English and proficiency in each English linguistic aspect. Then the author employs SPSS17.0to collect the data and make a quantitative analysis about the questionnaire. The descriptive characteristics, reliability and validity, and the correlation between variables of the questionnaire are analyzed. From the analysis, the Cronbach alpha coefficient of the questionnaire is.798(>0.7), which shows that the questionnaire is acceptable and feasible. The validity of questionnaire is analyzed from the face, content and construct validity. At last, the result of the research shows that the critical period has effect on the learners’ English proficiency, reflected in different linguistic aspects of English. For example, critical period hypothesis has the most significant impact on English learning in English pronunciation and listening comprehension. According to the scholars’ theoretical foundation and the data analysis, the author concludes that age6is the optimal age onset of English Learning for Chinese English learners. Furthermore, the effects of Critical Period Hypothesis on Chinese learners’ English proficiency in different linguistic aspects can provide beneficial implications to both the Chinese children’s English learning and teachers’ English teaching. However, in view of the regional differences, the starting grade for English learning should also be adjusted according to the local conditions.