外语学习年龄问题的传记性研究——成功外语学习者对外语教学的启示

A narrative study of the age of onset and its implications for foreign language teaching

外语教学起始年龄研究具有重大的理论意义和实践意义。长期以来,该问题与"外语学习年龄越小越好"的传统思想以及语言习得关键期假说绞缠在一起,在国内外引起了诸多争议。本文采用学习者传记定性研究方法,以中国当代42位著名外语教育专家的外语学习传记为样本,研究了外语学习与起始年龄的关系。文本定性解读显示,早学者(5～13岁)和晚学者(14～22岁)均没有把外语学习成功归咎于生物关键期。对年龄和自评成绩进行相关分析显示:结构样本中的早学组相关性很小,晚学组呈完全正相关;整体样本有一定的相关性。从这些成功外语学习者身上我们没有发现外语学习存在关键期,但好像存在"机遇窗口"(Birdsong2006)。早学外语是一把"双刃剑",既有优势也有风险;晚学外语,如果"机遇窗口"内具有良好的学习动机、优秀的师资环境、较好的语言学能和足够的外语接触,也有可能成功。

The study of the age of onset(AO)for foreign language learning is of considerable significance in educational theory and practice.A long standing debate over the issue of age has been complicated by the time-honored notion of 'the younger the better' and the classic hypothesis of 'language acquisition critical period'.This research sets out to examine the age-related factors that may have led to success in foreign language learning through a qualitative analysis of 42 autobiographies of contemporary renowned foreign language experts in China.The study demonstrates a moderate correlation between AO and self-assessed achievements in the whole database of early-starters and late-starters in spite of a weak correlation found in the early-starters.This finding partially confirms the 'window of opportunity'(WOP)in second language learning as proposed by Birdsong(2006)and does not support the 'critical period hypothesis'(CPH).An in-depth analysis of the database has also revealed the double-edged effects of foreign language learning for the early-starters and the other important factors leading to L2 success for the late starters within WOP such as strong motivation,competent teachers,and good language aptitude.