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1、AnnualReviewofAppliedLinguistics(2001)21,77–89.PrintedintheUSA.Copyright©2001CambridgeUniversityPress0267-1905/01$9.505.AGEANDSECONDLANGUAGEACQUISITIONDavidSingletonTheideathatthereisanagefactorinlanguagedevelopmenthaslongbeen—andcontinuestobe—ahotlydebatedtopic.Thisreviewbeginsbybriefly
2、revisitingsomeoftheearlyperspectivesonthisissue;itgoesontosketchsomeoftherelevantfindingswhichemergedinthethreedecadesfollowingtheonsetinthelate1960sofseriousempiricalinvestigationoftheagefactorinL2acquisition;and,finally,inthethirdsectionofthesurvey,ithonesinontheresultsofsomemorerecent
3、lypublishedage-relatedresearch.Thearticleconcludeswithashortdiscussion—inthelightoftheforegoing—of(a)thedegreeofabsolutenessoftheagefactorinL2acquisition;and(b)thenotionthattheremaybenotone,butanumber,ofage-relatedfactorsatwork.EarlyPerspectivesMuchearlywritingontheagefactorandL2acquisit
4、ionwasbasedonanecdoteandassumption.Tomb(1925)writesofthe“commonexperience”inthedaysoftheBritishRajofhearingEnglishchildreninBengalfluentlyconversingwithdomesticstaffinEnglish,Bengali,Santali,andHindustani,whiletheirparentshadbarelyenoughHindustanitoissueorders.Stengel’s(1939)Freudiananal
5、ysisoftheroleofageinL2learningisalsobasedonmereimpressionism.Penfield’sadvocacyofearlyexposuretoL2sonpurportedlyneurophysiologicalgrounds(Penfield&Roberts,1959)infactowesmoretohisownexperienceofimmersinghischildreninGermanandFrenchthantohisworkasascientist(seeDechert,1995).EvenLenneberg’
6、scontributioninthe1960s(Lenneberg,1967)wasbasedpartlyonfolkwisdom,notablyhisclaim—unaccompaniedbyevidence—thatafterpubertyL2learningrequires“laboredeffort”andforeignaccentscannotbe“overcomeeasily.”EmpiricalContributionsfromtheLate1960sOnwardsAge-focusedresearchofthelastthirtyyearsorsohas
7、oftenbeenlinkedtotheevaluationofearlyL2instructioninschools.Suchstudieshaveconsistently7778DAVIDSINGLETONfoundaprogressivediminutionofanyadvantageconferredbyearlyexposuretoanL2(see,e.g.,Burstall,Jamieson,Cohen,&Hargreaves,1974;Oller&Nagato,1974;StankowskiGratton,1980).Inv
