Are Children Better at Learning Languages: 5 Studies Analyzed

Several studies and papers have been written to find differences between how adults and children acquire their first and second language.

In this article, I will present five notable studies to help us understand the impact that age has on language learning.

Let me tell you that all these studies suggest that language acquisition is easier for young children than it is for adults. However, none of them suggests that you are ever too old to learn a foreign language. If anything, they show the opposite.

1. Critical period effects in second language learning

Year: 1989
By: Jacqueline S Johnson & Elissa L Newport

The study: They tested the English proficiency of 46 native Korean and Chinese speakers who migrated to the U.S. between the ages of 3 and 39. All subjects had lived in the U.S. between 3 and 26 years. The participants’ understanding of English grammar was assessed through grammaticality judgment tasks.

The results: Younger arrivals (before puberty) showed a clear advantage in English proficiency, with performance decreasing after puberty. Those who arrived before age 7 performed like native English speakers. There was a linear decline in performance for arrivals between ages 7 and 15. After age 15, performance was lower and more variable, with no correlation to age of arrival.

While this study was small, it supports the idea that it’s easier for children than adults to acquire a new language. What is notable is that this difference decreases significantly once the child reaches puberty.

2. A critical period for second language acquisition

Year: 2018
By: Hartshorne, Tenenbaum, & Pinker

The study: Analysis of a dataset of 669,498 native and non-native English speakers using an online English grammar quiz. The data was analyzed using a computational model to estimate changes in grammar-learning ability by separating current age, age at first exposure, and years of experience.

The results: The ability to achieve native-like proficiency in a language’s grammar is highest for those who start learning before age 10. The study shows that this ability remains high until the age of 17, after which it declines steadily. However, the study also found that adults can still learn languages effectively, just not typically to native-like levels.

This study confirms the common belief, and the previous study, that language acquisition is easier before puberty. However, the results show that the decline appears much later than other studies suggest, at the age of 17.

3. Age constraints on second-language acquisition

Year: 1999
By: James Emil Flege, Grace H. Yeni-Komshian, Serena Liu

The study: They examined the English pronunciation of 240 native Korean speakers. The participants had lived in the U.S. between 1 to 23 years and were all experienced with the English language.

The participant’s English pronunciations were evaluated and rated by native speakers. They also performed grammaticality judgment tests.

The results: There was a strong correlation between AOA (age of arrival) and degree of foreign accent in English. The relationship between AOA and accent was not linear. However, the accent became noticeably stronger for those who arrived after age 12. Even early arrivals (before age 5) sometimes had detectable accents when speaking English.

This study shows the impact that age has on all parts of language acquisition, not just fluency and vocabulary. As a fun fact, Queen Silvia of Sweden was born in Germany, but have lived in Sweden for over 45 years and still have a German accent.

4. Critical evidence: A test of the critical-period hypothesis for second-language acquisition

Year: 2003
By: Kenji Hakuta, Ellen Bialystok, and Edward Wiley

The study: Testing the critical-period hypothesis for second language acquisition, using data from 1990 where 2.3 million people with Chinese and Spanish backgrounds responded to language related questions.

The results: The study found two main points that determined a person’s language acquisition, one being the age of immigration to the U.S. and the second being the level of education. They saw a clear decline in second language proficiency with increasing age of immigration. However, the decline was less steep and sudden than expected; rather, it was a gradual decline.

They also found that the decline in language learning ability continued throughout adulthood, even past age 40.

Education level was a significant predictor of language proficiency, and many times, it outweighed age effects.

5. Age of onset and nativelikeness in a second language

Year: 2009
By: Niclas Abrahamsson and Kenneth Hyltenstam

The study: This study tested bilingual (Spanish/Swedish) adults, all of whom identified as potentially native-like in their second language. The study conducted listening sessions with native Swedish speakers who judged the participants’ Swedish skills.

The results: Only a small minority of the participants who acquired Swedish after age 12 were seen as native-like. However, when those participants were studied in linguistic detail with more demanding tasks, none were performed “within the native-speaker range”.

When the early learners (before age 12) were studied in linguistic detail, only a few demonstrated native-like competence.

The study ends with the interpretation that, based on this study, adult learners can’t attain native-like competency in a second language. They also suggest that it might be much less common among child students than previously thought.

What these studies show

Most studies have demonstrated that it is easier for children to acquire a second language than for adults.

However, this is a difficult question and topic to study for several reasons. Many people forget that children’s life situations and perceptions are completely different from adults’.

Children often socialize more than adults do. They play with friends, go to kindergarten and school. They care about having fun, walking, running, playing, and what’s for dinner.

Adults usually work all day, pay bills, plan family life, and have completely different responsibilities that take up time and energy.

Adults worry and think about politics, relationships, religion, societal questions and finances. A child’s point of view is much more limited in comparison.

These things must be taken into account when comparing adult learning with children’s language acquisition. As you can imagine, research in this field is complex and requires many resources.

Can you learn a second language in old age

Many studies indicate that language acquisition is easier for children, and our ability to acquire language decreases with time.

However, that doesn’t make it impossible, nor should it be applied to you. These studies are general and cannot be applied to one person. You are unique with your own predispositions.

Samuel Malheiros from Brazil is a perfect example. At 80, he moved to England to study and learn English, which he succeeded in doing.

So, are you ever too old to learn a new language?

No.

Would it have been easier had you been younger?

Possibly.

But the fact is, you can learn a new language if you want to – no matter your age.