Critical evidence: a test of the critical-period hypothesis for second-language acquisition.

@article{citeulike:265624, abstract = {The critical-period hypothesis for second-language acquisition was tested on data from the 1990 U.S. Census using responses from 2.3 million immigrants with Spanish or Chinese language backgrounds. The analyses tested a key prediction of the hypothesis, namely, that the line regressing second-language attainment on age of immigration would be markedly different on either side of the critical-age point. Predictions tested were that there would be a difference in slope, a difference in the mean while controlling for slope, or both. The results showed large linear effects for level of education and for age of immigration, but a negligible amount of additional variance was accounted for when the parameters for difference in slope and difference in means were estimated. Thus, the pattern of decline in second-language acquisition failed to produce the discontinuity that is an essential hallmark of a critical period.}, address = {Stanford University, CA 94305, USA. hakuta@stanford.edu}, author = {Hakuta, K. and Bialystok, E. and Wiley, E. }, citeulike-article-id = {265624}, issn = {0956-7976}, journal = {Psychol Sci}, month = {January}, number = {1}, pages = {31--38}, posted-at = {2008-03-27 23:32:26}, priority = {2}, title = {Critical evidence: a test of the critical-period hypothesis for second-language acquisition.}, url = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12564751}, volume = {14}, year = {2003} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:265624 L3 - citeulike-article-id:265624 TI - Critical evidence: a test of the critical-period hypothesis for second-language acquisition. JF - Psychol Sci VL - 14 IS - 1 SP - 31 EP - 38 AD - Stanford University, CA 94305, USA. hakuta@stanford.edu SN - 0956-7976 N2 - The critical-period hypothesis for second-language acquisition was tested on data from the 1990 U.S. Census using responses from 2.3 million immigrants with Spanish or Chinese language backgrounds. The analyses tested a key prediction of the hypothesis, namely, that the line regressing second-language attainment on age of immigration would be markedly different on either side of the critical-age point. Predictions tested were that there would be a difference in slope, a difference in the mean while controlling for slope, or both. The results showed large linear effects for level of education and for age of immigration, but a negligible amount of additional variance was accounted for when the parameters for difference in slope and difference in means were estimated. Thus, the pattern of decline in second-language acquisition failed to produce the discontinuity that is an essential hallmark of a critical period. AU - Hakuta, K AU - Bialystok, E AU - Wiley, E PY - 2003/01// UR - http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12564751 ER -