Age Effects On The Achievements In Second Language Acquisition By Chinese EFL Learners

Studies of second language acquisition conflict as to whether Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) and its core notion of "the earlier, the better" can be taken as theoretical bases for early second language learning. Both proponents and opponents of CHP find themselves supported by various studies, which causes the age issue to be a most heated and long-standing debate topic still. However, the 2011 recommendation in the "National Syllabus for Primary English Teaching" to start English instruction at primary-3 was much influenced by the core notion; such a recommendation has caused the actual expansion of pre-secondary English instruction nationwide. Taking into account the limited number of empirical studies on the effect of primary English instruction, follow-up studies seem essential if the debate about the value of early foreign language instruction is ever to be settled as claimed by Singleton. This motivates my research interests.Personally, I hold the following two points:(a) For Chinese EFL learners, the appropriateness of "earlier-is-better" notion is hard to approve. Even if an age effect can be detected, the age factor can't equally affect English achievements at distinct periods of time and/or distinct aspects of English. (b) The learning environment should be a focus of age effect study, we should be exceedingly cautious about translating any findings from age effect studies, either conducted in second or foreign language environment, even in different foreign language situations, into personal practice or public policy in China.To demonstrate the aforementioned viewpoints, the present study sets out to discuss the age issue by differing fundamental concept of age effect from critical period effect, and newly designs the frame first by redefining the term of "age factor", second by introducing the retrospective method, and third by setting up dynamic-like observation of English achievements in short-/mid-/long-term. In this way, this dissertation sets itself apart from the other studies focusing on the age issue of Chinese EFL learners. In details, some operational issues of the study have been clarified:(a) Age of onset (AoO) is redefined as the time when a learner first started the classroom instruction of a foreign language in school, it is taken as the criterion for participant selection and division (i.e. kindergarten starters, primary 1-3 starters, primary 4-6 starters and secondary-1 starters in the present study), which also makes the comparison between distinct groups of AoO workable. (b) Reflecting on the methods of age effect studies in foreign language environment, the retrospective method is more appropriate and introduced into the present study. Such method makes it possible to determine three periods of time for observation--- at the end of junior-3, senior-3 and college-2. Then, English scores in junior school, in College Entrance Examination, and scores in CET-4 as well as scores of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing were collected with the help from school and college archives offices, and respectively defined as short-term, mid-term, long-term English achievements in accordance with the educational system in China. With this being done, the present study aims to explore three questions:(1) Are there any significant differences between distinct AoO groups in their short-term English achievements?(2) If so/or not, do such differences continue/or appear in the mid-/long-term English achievements or in their scores of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing in CET-4?(3) If the age of onset is proved not to be the most important predictor of learners' long-term English achievements, whether other possible factors affect the achievements and how?In order to answer the above three questions, various statistical measures such as Descriptive Analysis, One-way ANOVA, Multiple Comparison, ANCOVA, Correlation Analysis, and Multifactor Regression Analysis were applied respectively in three empirical studies. Results on Study 1-3 indicated:(1) As for mean English scores, there were some differences in mean English scores at various learning stages among distinct groups of AoO and in Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing scores of College English Test (Band-4), but no consistent advantage can be found for any earlier AoO group; moreover, secondary-1 starters caught up and even surpassed their counterparts in final school-year English scores at junior-3, English scores in College Entrance Examination and scores in CET-4. As for between-group difference, there were statistically significant differences only in short-term achievements (i.e. final school-year English scores at junior-1 and junior-2), not in mid-/long-term achievements; there were only statistically significant in scores of Speaking, not of Listening, Reading or Writing in CET-4.(2) The main effects of AoO were non-significant in Speaking scores of CET-4 when covariates like L1 influence, L2 input and other IDs were controlled; IDs as a single variable can predict 62.9% of the differences in Speaking scores of CET-4, the predictor variables (L1 influence, other IDs) as a group had 70.7% predictive power of the differences in scores of Speaking in CET-4.Thus, the present study suggests that for class-based English instruction in Chinese language environment, an earlier start (e.g. kindergarten or lower grades of primary school) would not inevitably lead to better achievements in the future stages of English learning as expected. The available evidence does not support the notion of "the earlier, the better" or misinterpretation as "the earliest, the best".The findings of the present study may contribute to revise some spurious beliefs about theories of early foreign language learning, to clarify the essential differences in age effect study between Chinese instruction environment and other language acquisition contexts, and to provide some reference for the determination of the optimal age of English learning and instruction.While preschool and primary foreign language instruction is going on, the study of the age effects on foreign language achievements should be continued.