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1、AgePlayinganImportantRoleinSecondLanguageAcquisitionSecondLanguageAcquisition(SLA)hasagenerallaw,andduringtheprocessofacquisitionthelearnerspresenttheiruniquecharacteristics.Itisagreedthatindividuallearnershavedifferentresultsdependingonmanyvariableslikelearningopportunities,themotivationt
2、olearn,individualdifferences(age,sex,personalityfactorsetc)andlearningstylesinthesecondlanguageacquisitionprocess;Inreturn,itarisesadefiniteimpactonphysical,cognitive,emotionalandotherfactors.Inthisregard,itisnecessarytostudymethodsofindividualdifferences.Inparticular,asindividualdifferenc
3、esvary,itcreatesdirectimpactsonlearningachievementsandultimatelytheavailabilityofasecondlanguage.Therefore,insightsintotheindividuallearningfactorscanhelpteachersandlinguistsbetterunderstandtheacquisitionprocessandthesystematicrule,andcanhelpstudentsconsciouslydeveloptheirowninitiativesand
4、creativity,thusraisingthelearningefficiencyonascientificbasis.AgeisoneofthemostimportantaffectivefactorsinSLA.However,thereislittleagreementastohowfarindividualsofthesameagegroupfollowalinearpatternoflanguageacquisition.Thequestionofhowdevelopmentalstagesinteractwithindividuallearningdiffe
5、rencesisstillingreatdebate.Ontheonehand,thecommonnotionisthatyoungerlearnershavecertainadvantagesoverolderlearnersinsecondlanguagelearning,particularlyinpronunciationandaccent(Ellis,2008;Larsen-Freeman,2008;Mayberry&Lock,2003).TherelationshipbetweenageandsuccessinSLA,thoughcomplexinnature,
6、islinkedtotheCriticalPeriodHypothesis(CPH).Itisalsoknownas“thesensitiveperiod,”whichisdefinedas“theperiodduringwhichachildcanacquirelanguageeasily,rapidly,perfectly,andwithoutinstruction”(Richards&Schmidt,145).TheCPHsuggeststhataperiodoftime,betweenbirthandaroundtheagewhenachildenterspuber
7、ty,existsinwhichlearningasecondlanguagecanbeaccomplishedmorerapidlyandeasilythanfallingoutsideofthisperiodi.e.postpuberty(Larsen-Freeman&Long,2008).Forexample,Yamandaetal.(qtd.inSingleton,1989)studied30Japaneseelementaryschoolpupilsofseventotenagesold.Thesestu
