Age + Aptitude - week 11
Section outline
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Choose either the passage about age or language aptitude in Ellis (2008) - of course, you can read both if you want, they are rather short - and answer the questions below.
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Ellis, R. (2008). Age. The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: OUP, 484-494.
1. What are some commonly held beliefs about age and SLA?2. What is the critical period hypothesis?
3. Is there a best age to learn a FL? Support your answer by what you have read in the article.
Further reading: Singleton, D. (2014). Is there a best age for learning a second language? In D. Singleton & V. Cook. Key topics in SLA. UK: Multilingual Matters.
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Ellis, R. (2008). Language Aptitude. The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: OUP, 494–499.
There is just one question today:
If someone said: "I am not a language person, I just don't have the talent". What would you tell them about the relationship between language aptitude and language learning? Support your view by what you have read about the research.
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