Psycholinguistics in Language Teaching: Critical Periods and Factors

This essay examines the field of psycholinguistics and its implications for language teaching. It begins by introducing the core concepts of psycholinguistics, including language production, perception, and acquisition, and then delves into the critical period hypothesis, which posits that there is an optimal time for language acquisition. The essay argues for the importance of early language exposure in children, supported by the idea that children's brains are highly adaptable during this period. It then explores whether children can equally acquire a second language during the critical period. The essay also discusses the cognitive and affective factors, such as inhibition, attitudes, anxiety, and self-esteem, that influence language acquisition success. The report emphasizes the importance of a stimulating environment, both emotional and physical, to encourage language development. Finally, the essay concludes by reinforcing the significance of psycholinguistics in understanding and improving language teaching methods.

Psycholinguistics in
Language Teaching

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
A) Critical Hypothesis Theory and the importance of early language exposure to children......3
B) Justification on whether in critical period child can acquire second language equally.........5
C) The success of language acquisition depends on cognitive and affective factors..................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Psycholinguistics is the study of two factors that are associated with this word –
psychology and linguistics. Psychology is the study of mind and behaviour whereas linguistics is
the study of language. So is is related to the relationship between the human mind and language
and studies the process that occurs in the human brain while producing and perceiving language.
Three main points related to psycholinguistics are language production, language perception and
language acquisition (Alrabai, 2015). In this project report the importance of exposing children
to language as early as possible so that language can be acquired by them will be discussed in
detail. Critical period hypothesis will also be explained with an opinion on whether the child
should be exposed to a second language during this period. Two important factors on which
language acquisition is dependent on i.e. cognitive and affective factors are also discussed in this
report so that a wide idea can be generated on how language acquisition in children cab be made
more efficient.
MAIN BODY
A) Critical Hypothesis Theory and the value of early exposure of children to language
Critical Period hypothesis was given by Montreal neurologist Wilder Penfield and co-
author Lamar Roberts in their book Speech and brain Mechanisms, 1959. This hypothesis says
that language learning is biologically connected to the age of a person. This hypothesis asserts
that there is an ideal time period when language can be easily acquired after which it becomes
more and more challenging and effort-full. It also states that the beginning years of life are the
most critical where a human being can easily acquire a first language if adequate stimulus is
provided (How can young children best learn languages?, 2016). After this period is lapsed and
no language input is given, it becomes difficult for the individual to achieve a full command on
language especially the grammatical system. Some aspects of language such as prefrontal
synthesis i.e. the conscious purposeful process of synthesizing mental images unlike dreaming or
memory recall, have strong critical periods and cannot be acquired if the critical period ends.
Other aspects of language however, such as phonological learning (organizing sounds into
meaning or language by children), grammar processing, vocabulary acquisition etc. have weak
critical periods and can be learned in later stages of life through training processes.

Critical period hypothesis thus clearly states the importance of early exposure of children
to language so that language acquisition can be made easier for them. The brains of infants are
energetic and perpetually active which makes them understand languages about twice as fast as
they actually speak it. Children begin to build their language skills from birth depending on the
sounds of speech they are exposed to. Children have an inborn ability to hear and differentiate
between the sounds of other languages so they can learn as many number of languages as they
are exposed to. When it comes to language, infants are pre-wired to learn (Ebbeck and
Waniganayake, 2017). They form connections between what they hear, smell, taste and touch
and grow new brain cells to process the new informations they are exposed to. This helps them
learn more than one language almost effortlessly which also expands their brain capabilities in
the areas of logic and maths.
Children should be exposed to languages as early as possible so that the critical period
does not end where the learning can be done quickly and easily. Emotional environment is as
important for a child's learning as the physical environment. They learn faster when they feel
secure, happy, valued and are listened to by their parents. A loving, stimulating and enriching
environment plays an important role in encouraging a child to learn faster. This should be
balanced with adult-led and child-led activities that are appropriate to the age of the child. Adult-
led activities are use of songs, stories, rhymes, games, art and craft, dance and movement etc.
which gives a child an exposure to different sounds and makes them familiar to languages.
Child-led activities such as playing with toys helps them learn about the shape, size, colour;
playing with other children develops their social skills such as taking turns and sharing etc. Both
these activities must be balanced so that it supports and broadens a child's language development
which encourages bona-fide and meaningful communication.
Exposure of children to sounds helps them map words onto objects that are present in the
world. During the period from birth to being lingually matured, children detect sounds or
gestures and learn how they are combined in meaningful sentences that will be used in
communication (Goh, 2018). This helps them in communicating with their parents about how
they feel, what they want etc. Language development is an important part in the overall
development of a child. It enables a child to communicate, express and understand feelings. It
also helps them in being rational and and able to solve problems along with making and holding
relationships. Leaning process can be encouraged in a child by the parents through a lot of

talking to children about the things that interest them which can be understood by the things they
point to, waving, babbling or using words. Learning process can be stimulated and encouraged
by talking to the children and responding to them. Stories can be read and visual images can be
used to induce learning in them . The more they are able to visualize the objects they are talked
to about, the more will the learning can become more easy to them (Hess and Shipman, 2017).
Babbling is the most important developmental stage during the first year which gradually
increases to saying their first words with meaning like 'dad', 'mom'. At this stage the child can
understand more than what they can say and can also follow simple instructions. After this their
vocabulary grows and they can start forming small sentences which gradually progresses towards
forming longer and more complex sentences.
B) Justification on whether in critical period child can acquire second language equally
An infant's developing brain is able to take on up to 10 new words per day. Language
skills are the primary part of learning which makes primary years of childhood crucial time when
children can learn a second language. So according to my opinion a child can acquire a second
language equally well when they are exposed to it during the critical period. Babies have a
remarkable capability to discriminate all the sounds of all languages and they enjoy to play with
languages and the way different languages sound. Language learning depends on the processing
of sounds. All the languages in the world comprises of about 800 or so sounds where each
language uses only 40 sounds. At birth, the baby brain has a remarkable capability of
differentiating between all the 800 sounds (Long, 2017). They enjoy to mimic the vocalization of
new and different words; play by creating a rhyme through repetition and even inventing their
own new words. Exposure of children to other language can help in tapping their inborn ability
to hear and distinguish between the sounds of other languages and make sense of what they are
hearing.
Critical period hypothesis can be further extended to second language acquisition (SLA)
which helps the children in easily acquiring second language at early stage making them fluent at
the second language as well. Babies show an equally strong brain response to two languages as
they do to one language. The brain of babies are more active and learning is fast in them so if a
second language exposure is given to them by the way of sounds, they can easily distinguish
between the sounds of two languages which can enhance their learning process. When they are
exposed to an additional language at an early age, they are benefited with the ability of

experimenting with that language as a natural part of their development process. Also, studies
suggest that learning another language can make children to perform better in standard mental
test because learning languages can develop listening, observation, problem-solving and critical
thinking. This helps the child in long-run in the later stages of life both personally and
professionally as their expanded brains can process information quickly and easily as compared
to monolingual children (Massenberg, Schulte and Kauffeld, 2017). They are able to think on a
wider aspect of life and are able to solve problems in a more innovative manner. They are also
able to come up with new ideas related to dealing with issues faced in their personal and
professional life.
Learning a second language can give the child a competitive advantage as they can deal
better on a global level and can easily interact with people belonging to other language group.
Business expansion in other countries can also be made easy as they can easily make the
investors understand about their ideas and proposals to which can help in building the interests
of investors in the business that is being expanded by them. Bilingual skills can thus help in
enhancing the earning potential of the person as they can expand their businesses on a global
platform. This ways long-term benefits can be gained through learning more than one languages.
Therefore, critical period is very important in a child's learning and development so they
must be continuously exposed to the sounds of other languages that can enable them to acquire
the second language. The brain of a child is like a sponge which can be shaped in whatever ways
intended. The experiences they are exposed to moulds the way in which they perceive the
learning process. Children who speak more than one language have expanded minds and can
better understand every situation they are exposed to (Richards, 2015). The overall development
of the child can be done by learning language which can be further reinforced through multi-
linguistic learning. Learning at early stages of life is effective as grammatically they can be made
strong as they can learn better any language that is taught to them making them fluent in
language along with being grammatically correct.
Therefore if a second language is to be taught to the child it is better that it is done in the
early stages of their life as at this stage the learning is fast and easy because the brain of infants
are very active and are ready to acquire and process any new information that is given to them.
In older stages of it becomes difficult to teach new language as the brain cells become less active
and are less open to new information that are given to them. Also at older stages the learning

process is slow and the ability to distinguish between different sounds of different languages
diminishes with age. Also connections with people belonging to different cultures can be made
easier as lingual connectivity can be established.
C) The success of language acquisition depends on certain factors
The success of language acquisition by a person depends on cognitive and affective
factors. These factors determine the ability of a person to easily grasp and learn a second
language. Affective factors are the set of feelings and attitudes that people have about
themselves and their surroundings. In second language acquisition these components play an
important role as they determine the attitude of the people towards learning process. These
affective factors are : inhibition, attitudes, levels of anxiety, self esteem (Sluckin, 2017).
Inhibition is the mechanism that inhibits or restricts a person from being exposed to new
things. If a child has high levels of inhibitions then the learning of a second language becomes
difficult and it will lower their capability of acquiring a new language skills. These children often
tend to sit back at home and play and find it difficult to associate themselves with other people.
They are also less participative in the class and often refrain from getting involved in extra-
curricular that take place in the class. Their speaking and pronunciation skills are also weak. But
they can still understand things that are taught to them through listening to the sounds of
different languages.
Attitude is the way a child reacts towards something new that is being taught to them. A
positive attitude towards learning can make acquisition of second language easier. If a child likes
one teacher over the other then it is more likely that the child will learn better the things taught
by the teacher they like the most. Their attitude determines the speed at which they can grasp the
new information that is been given to the children (Affective Factors Involved in Learning a
Foreign Language. 2014).
Levels of anxiety is the feeling of discomfort and unease while learning a second
language which can make the learning procedure slow. This anxiety can be due to various factors
such as immigration situations due to which a child has to learn a second language, social
pressure to perform well in academics, school tests and assignments. These levels of anxiety
prohibits the learning process and affects the acquisition of second language by the child.
Self esteem is the level of self confidence and self respect that a child has which affects
the learning process. It is the confidence of a person on their capabilities if they can perform a

task. Children who have high self esteem from the beginning years of their life tend to learn a
second language more easily.
Cognitive factors that affect the learning process are the ability of a person to memorize
the information, ability to understand, apply, analyse and evaluate an information that is given to
them. These factors are dependent on the characteristics of a person which determines the
success in acquiring a second language which are intelligence, language aptitude, language
learning strategies.
Intelligence is a measure of the mental capability of a person that can be measured by an
IQ (Intelligence Quotient) test. The IQ of a children help them in their learning and analysing
process. Children with high IQ are able to learn a second language easily and more quickly.
Intelligence is a factor that affects the grasping power of a child and helps in being academically
sound. Though a child with low IQ level can also learn a second language but might take longer
time than the child who has good intelligence (Tunmer and Hoover, 2017).
Language aptitude is another factor that affects the learning of a second language.
Aptitude refers to the potential of achieving certain task that is given to the person. Language
aptitude is very effective in second language learning. These are the abilities of a child to
identify and memorize sounds which can help them in distinguishing between different language
sounds and aid in learning process. It also demonstrates the ability of a child to understand the
function of a particular word in a sentence which will help the child in phrasing sentences in a
better manner. It also determines the ability of a child to figure out grammatical rules and learn
these rules and their proper usage. It is also the ability of a child to memorize new words that
they come across in the second language learning. This helps the person in learning the second
language well and quickly (Vanderloo and et. al., 2015).
Language learning strategies are basically used by the children who are highly motivated
towards learning a second language. These strategies are related to planning, monitoring,
rehearsing etc. the new words that are learnt by the children. These helps the child in quickly
learning the second language and becoming fluent in it by the way of regularly rehearsing the
words that are learnt by them.
Thus all the above mentioned factors affect the speed of learning and the ultimate success
in the learning of a second language. Motivation, age, intelligence, cognitive style and
personality of a person thus determines the speed at which a child can learn a new language and

greatly influence second language acquisition. Hence, the children should be motivated and
provided with a favourable environment so as to influence the learning process in a child
(Stewart, 2017).
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that children are fast learners and are able to
quickly grasp a new information or language if exposed at early stages of life. Critical period
hypothesis sates that children should be exposed to language as early as possible as the brains of
infants are highly active and have the ability to differentiate between the sounds of various
languages which enables them to learn fast and better. Second language acquisition can also be
done during critical period as children are fast learners and can learn as many languages as they
are exposed to. Second language acquisition depends on affective and cognitive factors that
determine the pace at which second language can be learned by the child.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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language anxiety. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching .9(2). pp.163-190.
Ebbeck, M. and Waniganayake, M., 2017. Play in early childhood education: Learning in
diverse contexts. Oxford University Press. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY
10016.
Goh, C.C., 2018. Metacognition in second language listening. The TESOL Encyclopedia of
English Language Teaching, pp.1-7.
Hess, R.D. and Shipman, V.C., 2017. Maternal influences upon early learning: The cognitive
environments of urban pre-school children. In Early Formal Education (pp. 91-103).
Routledge.
Long, M.H., 2017. Problems in second language acquisition. Routledge.
Massenberg, A.C., Schulte, E.M. and Kauffeld, S., 2017. Never too early: Learning transfer
system factors affecting motivation to transfer before and after training programs.
Human Resource Development Quarterly .28(1). pp.55-85.
Richards, J.C., 2015. Error analysis: Perspectives on second language acquisition. Routledge.
Sluckin, W., 2017. Imprinting and early learning. Routledge.
Stewart, N., 2017. How Children Learn: The characteristics of effective early learning. Early
Education.
Tunmer, W.E. and Hoover, W.A., 2017. Cognitive and linguistic factors in learning to read. In
Reading acquisition (pp. 175-214). Routledge.
Vanderloo, L.M. and et. al., 2015. Environmental influences on Preschoolers' physical activity
levels in various early-learning facilities. Research quarterly for exercise and
sport .86(4). pp.360-370.
Online
How can young children best learn languages?. 2016. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/how-can-young-children-
best-learn-languages>
Affective Factors Involved in Learning a Foreign Language. 2014. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814023659>