Hengqi Ye

Psyc 712

Maureen Gillespie

What bilingualism is and how age differences can affect it

For almost every human being in the world, we communicate through language on a daily basis. The language an individual speaks mostly depends on the region he or she is from. For example, a person who was born and raised in America, England, or other English speaking countries, is mostly able to speak fluent English with a perfect local accent. Interestingly, unlike homogeneous counties such as Japan and Lesotho, most English-speaking countries are racially diverse with many immigrants coming from countries all over the world who originally speaking different languages. To fit into society, immigrants and first generation citizens from immigrant families are exposed to the local language a majority of the time, eventually become fluent in both languages, this is what we called bilingualism.

What is Bilingualism

According to Willenberg (2015), the definition of bilingualism is that within a certain society, an individual or a group of people are able to communicate in two languages by speaking and writing; the proficiency of these languages may vary. A bilingual person could be perfect at all aspects of their first language, including listening, speaking, writing, and reading but not necessarily be as perfect at their second language. There are no standards regarding the second language ability for a person or a group of people to be considered bilingual (Wilenberg, 2005). In simpler terms, bilingualism refers to a state of knowing two languages at the same time and being able to use both of them disregarding how well the person can utilize them. For example, a native-born French Canadian who is capable of perfectly speaking English and French and a Hong Kong high school student who is fluent in Cantonese (Chinese) but lacks of proficiency in English, although sounds unequal, are both examples of people considered bilingual by definition.

Importance of Bilingualism

Bilingualism is a worth-studying topic for people to pay attention to. With the development of globalization, bilingualism has become a mainstream culture in the modern era and is strongly related to our daily life. According to Marian and Shook (2012), most people in the world are either bilingual or multilingual. In 2006, the European Commission conducted a survey that says over half of the participants claimed being able to speak a different language other than their first language. The percentage of bilingual population is even higher in certain countries —for example, nearly all the citizens of Luxemburg and Latvia are capable of speaking two languages. In the year 2007, in the United States, over 20 percent of the people who are over five years old said they communicate with family members in a language that is not English. Compared with 1980, the bilingual population has increased 140 percent; it was such a shocking news since United States is known for its monolingual attribution. On the other hand, millions of Americans tend to use languages other than English in public places. In total, globally about two thirds of the children in the whole world are raised in a bilingual environment. Over the past decades, scientists are more and more focused on how bilingualism can modify our brain and benefit our cognitive neural system (Marian& Shook, 2012). To further emphasize the importance of bilingualism, a study conducted by Bialystok et al (2012), examined that because of advanced understanding of language-related factors, bilingual children can solve linguistic problems much better than monolingual children. Also, people who are bilingual at all ages tend to have better executive control than monolinguals. For children, executive control is a key element for academic success which is also a significant predictor of long-term well-being, both physiologically and materialistically (Bialystok et al, 2012). In the United States, because students were not required to be educated bilingually in early stages of academic life, people might not be able to recognize the significance of acquiring a second language. Bilingualism overall is still a significant and fascinating field for us to develop further.

Bilingualism Occurrence

As mentioned before, United States is not a bilingualism-widespread country. However, due to U.S immigration system, it is very common in the United States to meet individuals who are fluent in both English and another language. Also because of the racial and culture diversity in this country, bilingualism in United States is extremely diverse as well. As a personal reflection I would add that a friend of mine from Jersey City once told me that you can find speakers of almost all languages spoken in the world within a 20 miles’ radius from New York City. Unlike China where only English is the mandatory language subject since elementary school or Canada where French is a required course for most students. In America, bilingual speakers are usually able to utilize both languages perfectly which I cannot imagine the same thing happen in China. Whereas, according to Bialystok et al (2013), bilingual speakers usually did not choose to be bilingual by themselves. Instead, their bilingual ability came from their immigration family, childhood growth environment or simply because of academic requirement in later stages (Bialystok et al, 2013). Among these three factors, from the research study conducted by Johnson and Newport (1989), we can predict that people that have grown up in a recently immigrated family are more likely to be perfect in both languages, because their exposure to the second language happened the earliest in their life. Therefore, how can the differences in age affect people’s achievement in bilingualism?

Relation Between Age Effects and Grammar Learning

Every language has its certain rule that speakers must follow when speaking, and that is what we call grammar. In my own understanding, grammar is all about putting the correct order of different types of words in sentences. From my experience, I believe that some languages have relatively easy grammar but the grammar of certain languages are particularly complicated and confusing.

Johnson and Newport (1989) conducted a research study to examine how different ages can affect a person’s process of learning grammar of his/her second language. The general results of the study showed a strong relationship between age differences and grammar learning ability. The individuals who started learning English in the United States during their younger age acquired syntax knowledge better than those who learned English when they were older. Furthermore, once we reach puberty our syntax learning ability starts to decline. However, for individuals who are the age of ten or under, they show a stronger capability of learning the second language and mastering it as their first language. However, it is nearly impossible for adults to be able to use the grammar in their second language like a native-speaker (Johnson Newport, 1989). Finally, they can come up with a conclusion that once we are over age 10, the older we are, the less likely for us to perfectly use the grammar of our second language.

Relation Between Age Effects and phonology proficiency

For individuals who live in major cities in America such as New York, Chicago or Los Angeles, they are surrounded by different kinds of accents every day, but based on our real-life observation, people who have an accent when speaking English are usually adult immigrants. It is less likely to see a child in elementary school speaking English with a foreign accent.

According to Al Abdely and Thai (2016), to speak the second language as proficient as the first language is the most difficult part of learning a language, in most cases people tend to have a non-native accent when they are speaking the second language even when they have completely mastered other aspects of the second language such as writing, listening, and reading. The age which individuals begin learning a language is one of the key factors that contribute to the phonological difficulty (Al Abdely& Thai, 2016). To talk about the relation between age and phonology, we must first know about CPH (Critical Period Hypothesis). Critical Period Hypothesis was first mentioned by Penfield and Roberts (1959) and assumes there is a certain age for human beings to acquire perfect phonology in the second language. This age is what we call “critical period” (Penfield & Roberts, 1959). Years later, Flege (1987) discussed CPH, he claimed that there is no clear evidence to support CPH, claiming it is possible for both adults and children to have the native-level performance when speaking the second language (Flege, 1987). Next, Patkowski (1990) argued that Fled did not accurately present CPH and re-proved that there is an age-based limitation for second language learners.

From my own observation in life, I have experience seeing multiple people who are able to speak a second language in a native level; when I broke my elbows in the summer 2013, I spoke to the doctor who did my surgery in Mandarin, I could tell that he used to live in China mainland at least until 18 years old based on his perfect Mandarin accent and how educated he sounded. My American friend chatted with the doctor for a while when he came to the hospital to pick me up and was also shocked about how good the doctor’s English was. on the way home, I asked my friend about the doctor’s English proficiency, he shared with me that he did not believe the doctor once lived in China because he talked just like a native-born American. Therefore, I choose to believe that age-based limitation on perfecting the phonology of their second language does exist, but people can break it through by putting tremendous amount of effort into it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, from the articles that I have read regarding the subject, bilingualism is showing an upward trend of popularity with several studies to support the idea that it plays a significant role in our lives. Age factors do severely affect the ultimate performance of utilizing a second language but it is still possible for a person to use the language perfectly like a native speaker.

Reference

AL ABDELY, A. A., & THAI, Y. n. (2016). Learning English Vowels by Iraqi EFL Learners: Perceived Difficulty versus Actual Performance. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal Of English Language Studies, 22(1), 1-18.

Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., & Luk, G. (2012). Bilingualism: consequences for mind and brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(4), 240-250. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2012.03.001

FLEGE, J. E. (1987). A Critical Period for Learning to Pronounce Foreign Languages?. Applied Linguistics, 8(2), 162.

Johnson, J. S., & Newport, E. L. (1989). Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology, 21(1), 60-99. doi:10.1016/0010-0285(89)90003-0

Marian, V., & Shook, A. (2012). The cognitive benefits of being bilingual. Cerebrum: The Dana Forum On Brain Science, 201213.

PATKOWSKI, M. S. (1990). Age and Accent in a Second Language: A Reply to James Emil Flege. Applied Linguistics, 11(1), 73.

Penfield, W., & Roberts, L. (1959). Speech and brain-mechanisms. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1959.

Willenberg, I. (2015). Working with Bilingual Learners: An Introduction. English In Australia (0155-2147), 50(1), 86-96.