The Impact of Learning Context and Age on Second Language

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The Impact of Learning Context and Age on Second Language Abstract The present study examines to which extent the oral development of a second language is affected by age and learning context. It has been based on the theory which claims that the better way to learn a foreign language is by going to the target country. Two different types of contexts were chosen: at home and study abroad. In the study, three groups of participants were examined in terms of fluency, accuracy, lexical richness and complexity. The results show that the group who was studying the language abroad improved significantly and adults outperformed children and adolescents. Key words Second language (SL), Study Abroad (SA), Oral development, Learning context. 1. Introduction The age factor in second language development has been an issue which has concerned people during a long period of time. Its effects in the acquisition of second languages have been deeply studied and many theories have been put forward, most of them contributing at the creation of different models of teaching foreign languages. On the other hand, learning context has been also an important issue in the field of applied linguistics. As a result of the many studies in the area, two opposite theories seem to be outstanding: “foreign language learning” and “second language acquisition” (Freed: 1995). The first one refers to the process of developing a second language in the classroom and the second one, to the immersion in a study abroad or other contexts. As evidence suggests, many scholars in the area of applied linguistics agree that going to the target country is a better way to improve, at least, the oral skills in the second language that is being learnt (Freed: 1995).In spite of the fact that the 21st century has the answer to many issues
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