Foreign language learning in the third age: A pilot feasibility study on cognitive, socio-affective and linguistic drivers and benefits in relation to previous bilingualism of the learner.

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In the course of reading development children become familiar with letter strings and learn to distinguish between lexical and non-lexical items. In previous studies, the N1 component of the ERP was shown to reflect print tuning but also to be sensitive to lexical effects. It remains unclear, however, whether these two aspects of orthographic processing occur at the same time or in different time windows during the lengthy N1 component. Moreover, it is unclear whether these processes develop late or occur already at early stages of literacy acquisition and whether this is similar for native languages and languages acquired later in life. To address these questions, 27 children were tested longitudinally, i.e. before (mean: 7.6 years) and after one year of classroom-based English instruction. Additionally, 22 adult speakers of English as a foreign language (mean: 25.1 years) were investigated. A 128-channel EEG was recorded while participants performed a one-back task with native German words, English words, pseudowords and false-font strings. The event-related EEG analysis of early and late N1 phases revealed early effects related to print tuning and late effects related to lexical processing in the native, but not in the second language of adult readers. In the absence of lexicality effects in children, print tuning effects were found across both early and late N1 segments. The temporally distinct N1 sensitivities to print and lexicality reflect temporal dynamics of visual word processing, which seem to depend on reading expertise or maturation.

Recent findings (see, for example, Muñoz and Singleton, 2011) indicate that age of onset is not a strong determinant of instructed foreign language (FL) learners’ achievement and that age is intricately connected with social and psychological factors shaping the learner’s overall FL experience. The present study, accordingly, takes a participant-active approach by examining and comparing second language (L2) data, motivation questionnaire data, and language experience essays collected from a cohort of 200 Swiss learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) at the beginning and end of secondary school. These were used to analyse (1) whether in the long run early instructed FL learners in Switzerland outperform late instructed FL learners, and if so the extent to which motivation can explain this phenomenon, (2) the development of FL motivation and attitudes as students ascend the educational ladder, (3) the degree to which school-level variables affect age-related differences, and (4) learners’ beliefs about the age factor. We set out to combine large-scale quantitative methods (multilevel analyses) with individual-level qualitative data. While the results reveal clear differences with respect to rate of acquisition in favor of the late starters, whose motivation is more strongly goal- and future-focused at the first measurement, there is no main effect for starting age at the end of mandatory school time. Qualitative analyses of language experience essays offer insights into early and late starters’ L2 learning experience over the course of secondary school, capturing the multi-faceted complexity of the role played by starting age.