Essay on second foreign language students

This document presents two investigations, which consider the questions of the achievements in the studding of a second foreign language by the adult students.

The purpose of the investigation was to determine the student’s level of the pronunciation of a second foreign language, who has achieved a great success in the pronunciation, obtaining a level of the native speaker’s pronunciation.

They decided to create two groups for a successful research. The first group had the successful students, who had a great experience in studying of a second foreign language, and the second group, whose members were native speakers.

The questions, which were there during an investigation, had to determine the problem of a foreign-language ability to learn a second foreign language at the level of a native speaker without a foreign accent, if these students are long out of a certain age.

The investigation question is of a possibility to lose the original perceptual abilities or having a difficulty in an access after a certain age. Klein noted that there was no evidence of any abrupt changes in biological components of an articulatory apparatus with the age-related changes.

In other words, he argued that having a sufficiently strong motivation of the adult students, as well as a very high level of an addiction, there are no biological barriers for the accurate perception and the perfect pronunciation of a second language. If the students have a critical need in an understanding of the second language as their native one and seek to reach a level like the native speakers, they usually achieve their goals, despite the late start.

This investigation concerns not only the learning of the foreign languages, and it also affects the problem of an empirical evidence of the critical period’s existence, after which it would be impossible to obtain an accent like the native speakers.

In a review of the literature there was a Long (1990, 1993) and Patkovski (1994) argument that such a thing as a critical period for the study focus was supported by the scientific community. According to Long and Patkovski only very successful students can obtain an accent of a native speaker.

The correctness of the Neufeld’s studding conclusions were doubtful, as it was pointed out by Long (1990, p 266-268) and by Scovel (1988, p 159). The Neufeld’s investigation showed that some of the adult students can imitate the phrases in a foreign language without an understanding of theirs meaning, but it gave a possibility to assume that an adult audience also had the original motor and perceptual abilities that were still available to them, the same abilities, which the children had.

The investigations were conducted over the abilities of the adults and the children, which were chosen on the basis of belonging to a native speaker or to the successful students.

The authors of these investigations have provided an evidence of two factors, which distinguished the subjects with the phenomenal abilities in the learning from the ordinary students.

The first factor is an exceptional organization of the brain, which uses more of the cerebral cortex for the processing of the data. The second factor is left-handedness, which is known as the ability of creativity.

The results of these investigations, the authors interpret as the preservation of the neurocognitive flexibility for the gifted students, which is usually proper for the very young students, that explains the lack of any attitude to the critical period, and has no biological constraints.

Long (1990, 1993) and Patkovski (1994) concluded in their literature reviews that the idea of a ​​critical period has been supported by the results of the conducted to date investigation. Long hinted at the possibility of a partial connection of these results with the subject of the selection factor.

The most significant result of the investigation was that the judges could not distinguish a group of successful students from the native speakers.

The authors interpreted these results as evidence, which affirmed that not only young students can achieve a success in a good pronunciation.

There were also given the unexpected results of the investigation. The judges put better marks to the successful students than to the native speakers.

The authors explain this by saying that successful students were intensively trained to speak the language of the inter-regional varieties of British English, known as the language used by the speakers and the presenters of England.

According to the above it can be concluded that the successful teaching of the pronunciation of a second language needs a strong student’s motivation, as well as the presence of his special abilities and inclinations in this area, despite his age.

As a result of this investigation, such a thing as a critical period, that is, a period when learning becomes difficult due to the biological changes of any age or delayed perception of the received information of the adult students, it doesn’t have enough influence on the students, who really want to learn a foreign language’s pronunciation at the level of the native speakers.

The implications of this investigation may give a second chance for everyone, who wants to learn a second foreign language at the level of a native speaker. Only the quality of teaching of the pronunciation by a native speaker or a very good specialist of the pronunciation at the level of the native language can help students to learn a second foreign language at the level of highly cultured native speaker.

Now for a shorter time than with a traditional training, with the least physical and mental costs, the student can learn to express his thoughts easily and can communicate in foreign language. Moreover, his pronunciation, intonation, accent will be as close as possible to the original.

As a result of this investigation such a concept as a critical period of training is not a barrier for the education of the adult students. If we compare the adult students and children, as shown in the investigations, children, as a rule,  learn faster and easier, because of their special abilities to learn new things.

It is proved that children of age from 6 to 14 have the greatest ability to learn a second foreign language, it is connected with an increased activity of the cerebral cortex. But there is also a clear fact that the adult students, who have special inclinations, and a very strong motivation to learn a second language at the level of the native speaker, they also have a great chance to achieve the desired results. Everything depends on a personality of teaching the pronunciation and an ability of its perception.