This paper attempts to sum up, in non-technical terms, the essential differences between the acquisition of a first and a second language. It represents a conviction that a large number of the key concepts of TESOL can be drawn out of this type of comparison. The opening paper presented to the Pre-Convention Study Groups at the TESOL Convention,…

This article examines the evidence and arguments for and against the position that young children are better equipped to profit from foreign language studies than adults, with special reference to FLES programs. Adult and child learning patterns are compared, along with the formal and informal contexts of language acquisition. (CLK)

One of the essential differences between teaching a first and a second language is that the former is merely learned whereas the latter must usually be taught. This difference, while not absolute, still has enormous consequences. Although the "natural method" of second-language teaching is often championed, there is no way whereby the…

A preprint from a forthcoming pamphlet of the National Conference on Research in English. (Author)

In order to gain some insight into the issue of optimum age for second language learning, the experiment described in this report was based on the negative hypothesis that there is no significant difference in the ability of randomly selected subjects, kindergarten through grade six, to imitate critical sounds and sound clusters embedded in words…

The experiments described in this report seek to investigate the characteristics of speech perception using an approach which considers the development of the perception of "voicing," both as it occurs naturally and as it might occur in the laboratory. Investigating voicing discrimination and perception training among adults, infants, and…

The purpose of this study is to test the commonly held assumption that younger children are superior to those who are older in learning to speak a second language with a good accent. Students from the elementary, junior high, and college levels are tested after receiving identical instruction in German phonemes. Post-test results indicate that…

In line with the psychologists' viewpoint on child development, an argument is made for reconsidering the timing and type of modern language instruction in the school. Evidence of the receptiveness of children to language learning from birth to age eleven is discussed, along with the efficacy of learning through a direct, or school, experience.…

A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE RESEARCH ON FLES REVEALS THE NEED FOR GREATER STUDY IN MANY AREAS IN ORDER TO FULLY EVALUATE FLES PROGRAMS. SOME FINDINGS INDICATE THAT YOUNG CHILDREN CAN ACQUIRE PRONUNCIATION SKILLS MORE RAPIDLY AND EASILY THAN ADULTS, BUT IN OTHER AREAS OF LANGUAGE STUDY THERE IS A STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT THE TIME SPENT IN STUDY IS A MORE…

The different learning abilities of senior citizens and ways that older students can successfully maximize their learning effort in a class essentially designed for younger learners are discussed. Because of a regressed transformational drill behavior, the pedagogical hypothesis and the teaching strategy must de-emphasize a consistent audiolingual…

Teaching pronunciation is more like gymnastics than linguistics because it involves converting a series of mental processes into motor activity. Many variables contribute to the facility with which a student will learn pronunciation, but age causes the greatest variation in standards of pronunciation learning between individuals. Though increased…

Teachers and students in the English as a second language classes at the West New York (New Jersey) Adult Learning Center participated in a study to determine which patterns of classroom interaction and student characteristics were most highly related to the acquisition of oral proficiency in English. Differences in teaching styles and…

A study to determine the effects of certain teaching methods on English proficiency is summarized. Participants were students and teachers of English as a second language at the West New York (New Jersey) Adult Learning Center. A pretest, observation, post test design was used. Data on student background characteristics such as age, sex, previous…