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What is the ideal age to learn a new language if we want to master it on a par with native speakers? In search of an answer to this question, one of the largest linguistic studies was carried out, thanks to which it was possible to learn a lot about the peculiarities of learning the native and foreign languages.
As we age, our ability to learn a new language does decline, but nothing can hinder a motivated person. The best example of this is Margarita Melnikova, who translated and dubbed this article. Blind from birth, she mastered English perfectly and became a professional translator and speaker. There are a lot of people like her - remember this when something does not work out for you and you want to feel sorry for yourself.
Recent research has shown that, contrary to popular belief, the ability to master the intricacies of the grammatical structure of a language persists even into late adolescence.
The older you get, the more difficult it is for you to learn to speak French like a Parisian. But no one knows for sure where the very point of no return is - the age, with the onset of which it is more difficult to learn, for example, the rules for agreeing nouns and verbs in a new language. In one of the largest linguistic research studies ever conducted - a massive internet poll that responded to two-thirds of a million potential respondents - researchers from three Boston universities found that children are able to master a second language perfectly before the age of eighteen. Previously, it was believed that this age threshold is lower by about ten years. But the results of the study also showed that in order to master grammar at a native speaker level, it is desirable to start learning a language before ten years.
The team of scientists, which included psychologist Stephen Pinker, among others, collected and analyzed data on the age of the respondents, the level of English proficiency, and the length of the study period. To reliably establish at what age the ability to fully master grammar is lost, specialists required the participation of more than half a million people in the study. So, scientists came to the world's largest platform - the Internet.
They developed the Which English? With tasks on the knowledge of the rules for the coordination of nouns and verbs, the use of pronouns, prepositions, relative clauses and other linguistic constructions. Based on the responses received, the algorithm determined which language is native to the respondents and which version of English (Canadian, Irish, or Australian) they use. Some tasks, for example, suggested phrases that seem grammatically incorrect to a Chicago resident, but absolutely correct to a Manitoba resident (Canada).
Josh Hartshorne, an associate professor of psychology at Boston College who conducted the study as a research fellow at MIT, says scientists have achieved a massive response by offering respondents "some decent reward." As a small gift after completing the survey, the site tried to guess the origin of the respondent. “If the algorithm correctly calculated that you were, for example, German-American, you had a good reason to say, 'Well, well! It's the wonders of science! ”If the guess turned out to be wrong, you could laugh:“ Ha ha! Here's a computer that is awkward! “In any case, it turned out exciting and funny. People had something to think about and chat with friends, ”explains Hartshorne.
Hartshorne's tactics worked. At the peak of the test's popularity, 100,000 users a day visited its page. The test was shared 300,000 times on Facebook. It hijacked the front page of the social news network Reddit and became the most talked about on the 4chan platform, sparking a deep discussion about how the algorithm manages to identify native speakers of a particular language based on grammar knowledge. The study involved native speakers of thirty-eight languages, including 1% of the Finnish population.
Based on the results of the grammar test, as well as data on the duration of the study of English by the respondents, scientists have developed a program that predicts how long it will take you to master the language and at what age it is better to start learning it. The results showed that before the age of eighteen, the ability to master a new language, at least its grammar, is most pronounced, after which there is a sharp decline. However, in order to master the language at the native level, the study must begin before the age of ten.
There are three main reasons leading to a decrease in the ability to master a language after eighteen years: a change in social circle, the restrictions imposed by the native language, and the continuing development of the brain. At eighteen, young people usually graduate from school, then continue their studies or get a full-time job. As soon as this happens, there may be no time, internal resources left to learn a second language, or the situation will not allow you to study the language as before. In other cases, the structure of the first language conflicts with the rules of the second, limiting the possibilities of mastering the latter. And, finally, the changes occurring in the adolescent brain and incessant until the age of 27-30 can make it difficult to master a second language to one degree or another.
This does not mean that after twenty we cannot learn a new language. There are many examples of how people learned a foreign language in adulthood, and our ability to learn new vocabulary persists for life. However, most of us will not be able to master grammar at the level of a native speaker, and we are unlikely to speak a foreign language without an accent. Since the test was written, it was not possible to analyze the accent, but previous research showed that the "critical age" of mastering a foreign speech at the native speaker level comes even earlier.
Despite the fact that the study was conducted only in English, scientists believe its results are applicable to other languages. Already developed similar tests in Spanish, and Mandarin (the official language of the People's Republic of China, Taiwan and Singapore - approx Newochom. ).
However, in terms of language learning, the question of "how" is much more important than "when". People who studied English by immersion (being in an English-speaking country more than 90% of the time) speak the language much better than those who mastered it in the classroom. “If there is a choice: to start learning a language earlier, in my country, or later, through immersion, I would prefer the immersion method,” says Hartshorne. - Our data show the key role of immersion in the language environment. This role is much more significant even in comparison with age characteristics”.
But the most shocking conclusion of scientists is that it takes thirty years for native speakers to fully master even their native language. The study found little progress - about 1% - in people who spoke English for thirty years compared to those who spoke English for twenty years. This effect is seen in both native speakers and non-native speakers of English.
Charles Young, a computer linguist at the University of Pennsylvania, was not surprised by the results, given the grammar rules that we learn only as a teenager, such as how to turn an adjective into a noun. “These rules reflect the finest facets of language,” explains Young. "You see, we learn some words and morphology quite late, already as teenagers."
The enthusiasm of the research scientists is not shared by all linguists. Elissa Newport, professor of neuroscience at Georgetown University and a specialist in language acquisition, is skeptical. “Most literary sources indicate that the development of the syntax and morphology of a language occurs in the first five years of life, not thirty,” says Newport. "The claims that it takes thirty years to master a language are in direct conflict with all previous research."
While the idea of the study - the desire to identify the critical age for mastering a new language - is not bad, Newport said, the incredible results stem from the flaws in the evaluation method used by scientists. “If you test 600,000 people with the wrong questions, you're not getting reliable, valid data,” Newport said. "Instead of creating a new test, scientists should look at an existing language acquisition tool to see if it really helps determine how well people know English."
Hartshorne hopes to build on the success of Which English? in the new vocabulary quiz. However, he admits that he has difficulty achieving the same massive response, as people are reluctant to share the results of a test that they did poorly. If your vocabulary literacy turns out to be 99%, you think, "Great, why not brag!" But the fact is that 50% of people have below average vocabulary, and they are unlikely to want to share this discovery with the world.
As we age, our ability to learn a new language does decline, but nothing can hinder a motivated person. The best example of this is Margarita Melnikova, who translated and dubbed this article. Blind from birth, she mastered English perfectly and became a professional translator and speaker. There are a lot of people like her - remember this when something does not work out for you and you want to feel sorry for yourself.
Recent research has shown that, contrary to popular belief, the ability to master the intricacies of the grammatical structure of a language persists even into late adolescence.
The older you get, the more difficult it is for you to learn to speak French like a Parisian. But no one knows for sure where the very point of no return is - the age, with the onset of which it is more difficult to learn, for example, the rules for agreeing nouns and verbs in a new language. In one of the largest linguistic research studies ever conducted - a massive internet poll that responded to two-thirds of a million potential respondents - researchers from three Boston universities found that children are able to master a second language perfectly before the age of eighteen. Previously, it was believed that this age threshold is lower by about ten years. But the results of the study also showed that in order to master grammar at a native speaker level, it is desirable to start learning a language before ten years.
The team of scientists, which included psychologist Stephen Pinker, among others, collected and analyzed data on the age of the respondents, the level of English proficiency, and the length of the study period. To reliably establish at what age the ability to fully master grammar is lost, specialists required the participation of more than half a million people in the study. So, scientists came to the world's largest platform - the Internet.
They developed the Which English? With tasks on the knowledge of the rules for the coordination of nouns and verbs, the use of pronouns, prepositions, relative clauses and other linguistic constructions. Based on the responses received, the algorithm determined which language is native to the respondents and which version of English (Canadian, Irish, or Australian) they use. Some tasks, for example, suggested phrases that seem grammatically incorrect to a Chicago resident, but absolutely correct to a Manitoba resident (Canada).
Josh Hartshorne, an associate professor of psychology at Boston College who conducted the study as a research fellow at MIT, says scientists have achieved a massive response by offering respondents "some decent reward." As a small gift after completing the survey, the site tried to guess the origin of the respondent. “If the algorithm correctly calculated that you were, for example, German-American, you had a good reason to say, 'Well, well! It's the wonders of science! ”If the guess turned out to be wrong, you could laugh:“ Ha ha! Here's a computer that is awkward! “In any case, it turned out exciting and funny. People had something to think about and chat with friends, ”explains Hartshorne.
Hartshorne's tactics worked. At the peak of the test's popularity, 100,000 users a day visited its page. The test was shared 300,000 times on Facebook. It hijacked the front page of the social news network Reddit and became the most talked about on the 4chan platform, sparking a deep discussion about how the algorithm manages to identify native speakers of a particular language based on grammar knowledge. The study involved native speakers of thirty-eight languages, including 1% of the Finnish population.
Based on the results of the grammar test, as well as data on the duration of the study of English by the respondents, scientists have developed a program that predicts how long it will take you to master the language and at what age it is better to start learning it. The results showed that before the age of eighteen, the ability to master a new language, at least its grammar, is most pronounced, after which there is a sharp decline. However, in order to master the language at the native level, the study must begin before the age of ten.
There are three main reasons leading to a decrease in the ability to master a language after eighteen years: a change in social circle, the restrictions imposed by the native language, and the continuing development of the brain. At eighteen, young people usually graduate from school, then continue their studies or get a full-time job. As soon as this happens, there may be no time, internal resources left to learn a second language, or the situation will not allow you to study the language as before. In other cases, the structure of the first language conflicts with the rules of the second, limiting the possibilities of mastering the latter. And, finally, the changes occurring in the adolescent brain and incessant until the age of 27-30 can make it difficult to master a second language to one degree or another.
This does not mean that after twenty we cannot learn a new language. There are many examples of how people learned a foreign language in adulthood, and our ability to learn new vocabulary persists for life. However, most of us will not be able to master grammar at the level of a native speaker, and we are unlikely to speak a foreign language without an accent. Since the test was written, it was not possible to analyze the accent, but previous research showed that the "critical age" of mastering a foreign speech at the native speaker level comes even earlier.
Despite the fact that the study was conducted only in English, scientists believe its results are applicable to other languages. Already developed similar tests in Spanish, and Mandarin (the official language of the People's Republic of China, Taiwan and Singapore - approx Newochom. ).
However, in terms of language learning, the question of "how" is much more important than "when". People who studied English by immersion (being in an English-speaking country more than 90% of the time) speak the language much better than those who mastered it in the classroom. “If there is a choice: to start learning a language earlier, in my country, or later, through immersion, I would prefer the immersion method,” says Hartshorne. - Our data show the key role of immersion in the language environment. This role is much more significant even in comparison with age characteristics”.
But the most shocking conclusion of scientists is that it takes thirty years for native speakers to fully master even their native language. The study found little progress - about 1% - in people who spoke English for thirty years compared to those who spoke English for twenty years. This effect is seen in both native speakers and non-native speakers of English.
Charles Young, a computer linguist at the University of Pennsylvania, was not surprised by the results, given the grammar rules that we learn only as a teenager, such as how to turn an adjective into a noun. “These rules reflect the finest facets of language,” explains Young. "You see, we learn some words and morphology quite late, already as teenagers."
The enthusiasm of the research scientists is not shared by all linguists. Elissa Newport, professor of neuroscience at Georgetown University and a specialist in language acquisition, is skeptical. “Most literary sources indicate that the development of the syntax and morphology of a language occurs in the first five years of life, not thirty,” says Newport. "The claims that it takes thirty years to master a language are in direct conflict with all previous research."
While the idea of the study - the desire to identify the critical age for mastering a new language - is not bad, Newport said, the incredible results stem from the flaws in the evaluation method used by scientists. “If you test 600,000 people with the wrong questions, you're not getting reliable, valid data,” Newport said. "Instead of creating a new test, scientists should look at an existing language acquisition tool to see if it really helps determine how well people know English."
Hartshorne hopes to build on the success of Which English? in the new vocabulary quiz. However, he admits that he has difficulty achieving the same massive response, as people are reluctant to share the results of a test that they did poorly. If your vocabulary literacy turns out to be 99%, you think, "Great, why not brag!" But the fact is that 50% of people have below average vocabulary, and they are unlikely to want to share this discovery with the world.
