Age and Second Language Learning

Ramsey, Craig; Wright, E. N.

doi:10.1080/00224545.1974.9923189

Cited by 30 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…After seeing this consistent, emerging pattern among almost all the studies on age variation in second language acquisition for school purposes, Cummins (1981a) chose to reexamine the data from one study (Ramsey & Wright, 1974) that seemed to contradict the findings of other studies. Ramsey and Wright had concluded that students with an AOA of 6 to 7 were more advantaged in L2 development than older learners.…”

Section: School-age Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Long? A Synthesis of Research on Academic Achievement in a Second Language

Collier¹

1989

TESOL Quarterly

325

186

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To expand the current theoretical base in second language acquisition, this article proposes nine generalizations on optimal age, L1 cognitive development, and L2 academic achievement. These generalizations summarize the author's and others' research on second language acquisition for schooling purposes. In this synthesis, relationships among the following variables are considered: first language acquisition, second language acquisition, student age at the time of exposure to a second language, academic achievement (as measured by standardized tests in all subject areas), membership in a language majority or language minority community, and language(s) of instruction in school. The five new generalizations presented at the end of the article, which are based on research on academic achievement in a second language, merit additional research to validate and refine them.

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Section: School-age Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Long? A Synthesis of Research on Academic Achievement in a Second Language

Collier¹

1989

TESOL Quarterly

325

186

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“…In many cases, studies addressed multiple themes discussed in this article such as testing for English language proficiency and the use of accommodations. In several instances, studies and reports were commissioned by government agencies or national advisory boards (e.g., Commission on Instructionally Supportive Assessment, 2001;National Research Council, 2000), made up of individuals with well-established reputations in this field, or by research centers with expertise in this (text continues on p. 281) Reanalyzed the data set (Ramsey & Wright, 1974) …”

Section: Criteria For Selecting Studies and Reportsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Stakes Testing: Issues, Implications, and Remedies for English Language Learners

Solorzano

2008

Review of Educational Research

127

117

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This article discusses the issues and implications of high stakes tests onEnglish language learners (ELLs). As ELLs are being included in all high stakes assessments tied to accountability efforts (e.g., No Child Left Behind), it is crucial that issues related to the tests be critically evaluated relative to their use. In this case, academic achievement tests are analyzed relative to their norming samples and validity to determine their usefulness to ELLs. Also, commonly used language proficiency tests are examined relative to definitions of proficiency, technical quality, alignment with criteria for language classification and reclassification, and their academic predictive validity. Based on the synthesis of the literature, the author concludes that high stakes tests as currently constructed are inappropriate for ELLs, and most disturbing is their continued use for high stakes decisions that have adverse consequences. The author provides recommendations for addressing the issues related to high stakes tests and ELLs.

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“…Support for this hypothesis also comes from those studies that find that younger children out perform older children on the less cognitive-academic communicative skills Oyama, 1975;Ramsey and Wright, 1974;Seliger, Krashen, and Ladefoged, 1975;Snow and Hoefnage 1-Hoh1e, 1977;. Four studies are cited below, two of older children, and two of younger children, which directly examine the role of intelligence in cognitive-academic and communicative language skills.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Children residing here from 5 to 8 years had better pronunciation than those whose residence was 4 years or less. Ramsey and Wright (1974) obtained scores of English skills on 1200 immigrant children who had learned English as a second language and correlated these scores with age of arrival. A decrease in English language skills was related to arrival after 6 to 7 years of age.…”

Section: Age Of Arrivalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To plan effective second language programs for children, an in-depth understanding of young children's ability to learn a second language is Research on the relationship of age to ability to learn a second language has been of two types: (a) studies comparing subjects' age of arrival and length of stay in the country to second language ability, and <b) studies comparing the rate of second language acquisition of young children with those of older children and adults. Age of arrival has been found to affect the acquisition of native-like pronunciation: children younger than 10 years of age acquire better pronunciation than older children and adults Oyama, 1975;Ramsey & Wright, 1974;Seliger, Krashen, & Ladefoged, 1975 long-term studies of language acquisition (more than one year and up to five years of length of residency) support the results of age-on-arrival studies indicating that younger children perform equal to or better than older children and adults in pronunciation and oral ability Snow & Hoefnage 1-Hoh1e, 1977). In the one short-term study which compared young children 4 through 4-years-old, no significant difference in oral abililty was observed by age ( r = .28), but a significant difference was observed by age for aural ability ( r = .46, e. < .01) with older children performing significantly better than younger children .…”

Section: Developing Cultural Awarenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Second language learning in young children

Rosenbusch

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Age and Second Language Learning

Cited by 30 publications

References 1 publication

How Long? A Synthesis of Research on Academic Achievement in a Second Language

How Long? A Synthesis of Research on Academic Achievement in a Second Language

High Stakes Testing: Issues, Implications, and Remedies for English Language Learners

Second language learning in young children

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