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Cited by 1,090Language Development and DisordersEFL/ESL Teaching and LearningNeurobiology of Language and Bilingualism

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 111 of the 111 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Maturational constraints on language development.

Open access
Long, Michael H.·1990·Studies in Second Language Acquisition
DOI 10.1017/s0272263100009165
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Abstract

This article reviews the second language research on age-related differences, as well as first language work needed to disambiguate some of the findings. Five conclusions are drawn, (a) Both the initial rate of acquisition and the ultimate level of attainment depend in part on the age at which learning begins. (b) There are sensitive periods governing language development, first or second, during which the acquisition of different linguistic abilities is successful and after which it is irregular and incomplete. (c) The age-related loss in ability is cumulative (not a catastrophic one-time event), affecting first one linguistic domain and then another, and is not limited to phonology, (d) The deterioration in some individuals begins as early as age 6—not at puberty as is often claimed. (e) Affective, input, and current cognitive explanations for the reduced ability are inadequate. The capacity for language development is maturationally constrained, and its decline probably reflects a progressive loss of neural plasticity, itself possibly associated with increasing myelination.

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Cites

Show all 110 references

Research works printed but not linked: 32

  1. Neufeld, 1977, Language learning ability in adults: A study on the acquisition of prosodic and articulatory features, Working Papers on Bilingualism, 12, 45
  2. Hinde, 1970, Animal behavior
  3. McKinney V. (1983). First language learning in deaf persons beyond the critical period. Unpublished PhD thesis, Clairemont Graduate School, Clairemont, CA.
  4. Harley B. (1982). Age-related differences in the acquisition of the French verb system by anglophone students in French immersion programs. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Toronto.
  5. Guiora A. , & Schonberger R. (1989, May). Native pronunciation of bilinguals. Paper presented at the first annual JAAL conference, Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo.
  6. Mayberry, 1983, Language in sign: International perspectives on sign language, 83
  7. Krashen, 1982, Child-adult differences in second language acquisition, 202
  8. Curtiss, 1980, The critical period and feral children, UCLA Working Papers in Cognitive Linguistics, 2, 21
  9. Bland, 1966, A self-controlled audio-lingual program for children, French Review, 40, 266
  10. Bellugi U. (1967). The acquisition of negation. Unpublished PhD thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
  11. Bley-Vroman, The logical problem of foreign language learning, Linguistic Analysis
  12. Ekstrand, 1978, Didakometry, 60
  13. Adiv E. (1980). An analysis of second language performance in two types of immersion programs. Unpublished PhD thesis, McGill University, Montreal.
  14. Bateson, 1973, Constraints on learning, 77
  15. Ekstrand, 1976, Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of Applied Linguistics, 3, 179
  16. McLaughlin, 1984, Second-language acquisition in childhood: Volume 1. Preschool children
  17. Snow, 1987, Sensitive periods in development: An interdisciplinary perspective, 183
  18. Hatch, 1977, Optimal age or optimal learners?, Workpapers in TESL, 11, 45
  19. Scarcella, 1982, Child-adult differences in second language acquisition, 175
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  21. Schmidt, 1981, Interaction, acculturation and the acquisition of communicative competence, University of Hawaii Working Papers in Linguistics, 13, 29
  22. Young R. (1981). Sign language acquisition in a deaf adult: A test of the critical period hypothesis. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Georgia, Athens.
  23. Wald, 1986, Diversity and diachrony. Current issues in linguistic theory, 53, 153
  24. Curtiss, 1988, Linguistics: The Cambridge Survey: Vol. 2. Linguistic theory: Extensions and implications, 96
  25. Scovel, 1981, Proceedings of the 5th Congress of AILA, 389
  26. Patkowski M. (1980a). The sensitive period for the acquisition of syntax in a secondary language. Unpublished PhD thesis, New York University, New York.
  27. Snow, 1983, Second language acquisition studies, 141
  28. Krashen, 1982, Child-adult differences in second language acquisition
  29. Slobin, 1982, Language acquisition: State of the art, 128
  30. Curtiss, 1982, Exceptional languages and linguistics, 285
  31. Ritchie, 1978, Second language acquisition research, 33
  32. David S. (1985). The acquisition of the phonological features of a second dialect. Unpublished master's thesis, University of South Carolina, Columbia.

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Metadata

Authors
Long, M. H.
Affiliations
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US)
Corresponding author
Long, Michael H.
ORCID
Long, Michael H.
Venue
Studies in Second Language Acquisition
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
1990-09
Volume
12
Issue
3
Pages
251-285
ISSN
  • 0272-2631 (ISSN-L)
  • 1470-1545
DOI
10.1017/s0272263100009165
OpenAlex
W2034658764
Cited by
1,090
References
110
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 39 · 2019: 67 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 56 · 2014: 47 · 2013: 49 · 2012: 58
FWCI
13.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 6642 d)
Locations
Studies in Second Language Acquisition (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
Keywords
critical period hypothesis, sensitive period, age of onset, second language acquisition, first language development, language loss, neuroplasticity, myelination, phonological development

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