The role of age in second language acquisition

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English - Pedagogy, Didactics, Literature Studies, grade: 1,3, Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald (Chair in English Linguistics), course: Aspects of bilingualism, language: English, abstract: Broadly defined, bilingualism refers to knowledge and command of two or more languages, albeit to different degrees. Due to the variety of factors that define dual language speakers and hearers bilingualism comes in many shapes and sizes (Grosjean 1998, In: Montrul: 17). That kind of definition summarizes and characterizes the broadness of the term bilingualism. It holds various definitions, and is therefore considered as notational term. In general, the degree of proficiency that must be achieved in at least two languages to define a speaker as bilingual, stays in a debate between linguists, and therefore makes it difficult to give a clear definition of a bilingual speaker. However, in the field of language acquisition, it is not only the definition that offers controversies among the linguists.For example, there is the debate that concerns the advantages and disadvantages of being a bilingual, emerging from the concern a child might be confused linguistically, cognitively, emotionally, and possibly even morally (Meisel 2004: 91). These kind of statements lead to the general assumption that monolingualism is the norm although, today bilinguals are in the majority (cf. Baker 2010: 68). On the one hand, early second language acquisition is seen as a danger for children, on the other hand, children are considered to be better in language learning.This paper with the title The role of age in second language acquisition will concentrate on the controversial opinions towards the influence of age in second language acquisition. It is based on the assumption that children are better in language learning, and it will discuss the influence of age in second language acquisition by comparing different linguistic positi