Introduction
There is an opinion that children absorb foreign languages like a sponge, which cannot be said about adults. The statement itself does not prove the existence of a critical period to start learning a foreign language. Nevertheless, it really is easier for children to master a second language that they hear around them (Gass et al., 2020). To prove the existence of a critical period for language learning, as well as to support this statement with quantitative data, modern scientists are conducting extensive research. One such study was the one in the article “A critical period for second language acquisition: Evidence from 2/3 million English speakers,” written by Joshua Hartshorne, Joshua Tenenbaum, and Steven Pinker. The original article appeared on pages 263-277 in issue 177 of Cognition in August 2018. The main problem discussed in the article is determining the evidence base for whether children do learn languages easier than adults.
The authors also took it as their goal to find out the real reasons for the decline in language learning ability as we age. This article was chosen for analysis for several reasons. First, the topic of cognitive decline with age is a hot topic in the scientific community (Gass et al., 2020). Its research directly affects the development of understanding of the processes that occur in the human body. Second, the research presented in the article offers an unprecedentedly large sample for such a topic. This provides a solid evidence base for the conclusions proposed by the scientists. I will critically evaluate this article and consider its strengths and weaknesses in my analysis. This article is well-written, and the research it provides critically describes the age-related cognitive decline in humans.
Article Summary
The article’s main point is that the degradation of language learning ability with age is indeed provable. Nevertheless, the reasons for this phenomenon are hard to prove for practical and conceptual reasons. On the one hand, there is a paucity of research on this topic at the moment. On the other hand, measuring the final achievements of students who started at different ages cannot reveal changes in essential learning ability (Hartshorne et al., 2018). Another point of the article is that the breadth of the sample can compensate for the lack of data. That is why the authors undertook to process a data set unprecedented in the history of such research. The article’s main arguments are based on quantitative data analyzed during processing information collected from the sample patients.
The authors argue that the irreversibility of language learning ability is confirmed by the fact that it steadily decreases with age. The methodology in this article stipulates the quantitative nature of the study. The authors of the study addressed the limitations by using a large data set, namely 669,498 native and non-native speakers of English (Hartshorne et al., 2018). They also used a computational model that estimates the trajectory of baseline learning ability by separating current age, age at first encounter, and years of experience. This allowed the authors to infer how the ability to learn grammar changes with age. They found that it persists until age 17 and then steadily declines. The authors state that this conclusion is proper for complex syntactic phenomena and those typically mastered in the early stages of language learning. The results confirm the existence of a critical period for language acquisition, but the age shift is much later than previously thought.
Critique
I consider this article to be an excellent example of quantitative research conducted on a large sample. One of the main strengths of the article is the evidence base and the researchers’ handling of the information (Hartshorne et al., 2018). The first point is due to the large sample and the qualitative analysis conducted on it. The second point is due to the analytical work that the researchers described in detail in their article. Nevertheless, a large sample and analytical analysis do not guarantee the success of the study. During my critical reading, I identified what I consider to be several serious flaws in this paper. The first of them is that the authors talk about the fairness of their conclusions for both light and complex syntactic constructions. However, the differences in the study of language can only be appreciated by a full understanding of it. In the early stages of learning, even children may find any syntactic constructions complex since they have to go through a stage of getting used to the new language.
Therefore, I am convinced that it is incorrect to compare the learning of those constructions that one learns in the early stages of learning with those that one goes through in the later stages. The second disadvantage is that with such a large sample, standard error had to be taken into account. The authors of the study did not pay enough attention to this value, which prevents a meaningful qualitative assessment of the results (Hartshorne et al., 2018). In my opinion, the article is clear enough to understand. For example, the authors explain the meaning of some terms along the way, which makes it easier to understand for people who are not previously familiar with them. The article is also relevant to its time because, with the globalization of the world, it has become popular to learn different languages for the freedom to travel. The study of languages is pertinent to both adults and children, and accordingly, research on the topic is relevant.
Conclusion
In summary, this article is a good example of quantitative analytical research. The main points of the article are the statements that the degradation of language learning abilities exists. However, the critical age is greater than previously expected. Researchers have found that up to the age of 17, cognitive abilities persist and then begin to decline irreversibly (Hartshorne et al., 2018). That is why it is much easier for children to learn a language than for adults. There are both positive and negative sides to this research paper. As positive aspects, one can single out a large sample and a qualitative analysis of the quantitative data obtained. Among the disadvantages, I answered the statement that the conclusions have become valid for both light and complex syntactic constructions. In addition, the researchers did not pay due attention to the standard deviation, which is wrong with such an extensive sample. This study is vital for the development of ideas about the degradation of human cognitive processes and opens a vast field for additional research. Further studies can be conducted to find out whether these processes can be slowed down in any way in adulthood.
References
Gass, S. M., Behney, J., & Plonsky, L. (2020). Second language acquisition: An introductory course (5th Ed). Routledge.
Hartshorne, J. K., Tenenbaum, J. B., & Pinker, S. (2018). A critical period for second language acquisition: Evidence from 2/3 million English speakers.Cognition, 177(1), 263-277.