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This book examines the evidence relative to the idea that there is an age factor in first and second language acquisition, evidence that has sources ranging from studies of feral children to evaluations of language programmes in primary schools. It goes on to explore the various explanations that have been advanced to account for such evidence. Finally, it looks at the educational ramifications of the age question, with particular regard to formal second language teaching in the early school years and in ‘third age’ contexts.

Language acquisition --- Language and languages --- Langage --- Langage et langues --- Age factors --- Study and teaching --- Acquisition --- Facteurs liés à l'âge --- Etude et enseignement --- Age factors. --- Study and teaching. --- Age factors in language acquisition --- Ability, Influence of age on --- Foreign language study --- Language and education --- Language schools --- Language and languages Study and teaching --- Interpersonal communication in children --- Psycholinguistics --- Acquisition du langage --- L1 acquisition. --- L2 acquisition. --- L2 learning. --- L2 teaching. --- SLA. --- Second Language Acquisition. --- age factor. --- age in language learning. --- foreign language teaching. --- language learning. --- second language education. --- second language teaching.

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This book constitutes a holistic study of how and why late starters surpass early starters in comparable instructional settings. Combining advanced quantitative methods with individual-level qualitative data, it examines the role of age of onset in the context of the Swiss multilingual educational system and focuses on performance at the beginning and end of secondary school, thereby offering a long-term view of the teenage experience of foreign language learning. The study scrutinised factors that seem to prevent young starters from profiting from their extended learning period and investigated the mechanisms that enable late beginners to catch up with early beginners relatively quickly. Taking account of contextual factors, individual socio-affective factors and instructional factors within a single longitudinal study, the book makes a convincing case that age of onset is not only of minimal relevance for many aspects of instructed language acquisition, but that in this context, for a number of reasons, a later onset can be beneficial.

Language acquisition --- Classroom environment. --- Second language acquisition. --- Age factors. --- CLIL. --- L2 instructional learning. --- SLA. --- affective factors. --- age factor. --- age research. --- classroom L2 learning. --- crosslinguistic influence. --- early FL learning . --- foreign language learning. --- individual differences. --- language policies. --- language proficiency. --- literacy. --- multilevel modelling. --- psycholinguistics. --- second language acquisition. --- second language education. --- teenage learners. --- the role of age in language learning. --- young learners. --- younger is better in foreign language learning.

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This textbook offers an introductory overview of eight hotly-debated topics in second language acquisition research. It offers a glimpse of how SLA researchers have tried to answer common questions about second language acquisition rather than being a comprehensive introduction to SLA research. Each chapter comprises an introductory discussion of the issues involved and suggestions for further reading and study. The reader is asked to consider the issues based on their own experiences, thus allowing them to compare their own intuitions and experiences with established research findings and gain an understanding of methodology. The topics are treated independently so that they can be read in any order that interests the reader. The topics in question are: • how different languages connect in the mind; • whether there is a best age for learning a second language; • the importance of grammar in acquiring and using a second language; • how the words of a second language are acquired; • how people learn to write in a second language; • how attitude and motivation help in learning a second language; • the usefulness of second language acquisition research for language teaching; • the goals of language teaching.

Second language acquisition --- Language and languages --- Study and teaching --- Tweedetaalverwerving --- Second language acquisition. --- Study and teaching. --- Tweedetaalverwerving. --- Language and languages - Study and teaching