關鍵期假說

關鍵期假設（英文：critical period hypothesis）是一個長期存在爭論的假說，關於人是否存在一個語言學習的關鍵年齡段。 該假說一般認為，存在一個理想時期更容易受語言環境影響從而比其他時間更容易學習一門語言。關鍵期假設認為，生命的最初幾年是關鍵時期，在足夠的刺激下，人都能習得第一語言。如果超過這個時期，語言的學習將會非常困難，特別是在語法方面。然而事實上這種說法目前在學界仍然只是一種假說，各方學者對此仍有許多批評爭議，未有定論。

參考文獻

• Bongaerts, T.; Planken, B.; Schils, E. Can late learners attain a native accent in a foreign language? A test of the Critical Period Hypothesis. Singleton, D.; Lengyel, Z. (編). The Age Factor in Second Language Acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 1995: 30–50. .
• Castro-Caldas, A.; Petersson, A.; Reis, S.; Ingvar, M.; Ingvar, M. The illiterate brain: Learning to read and write during childhood influences the functional organization of the adult brain. Brain. 1998, 121: 1053–63. PMID 9648541. doi:10.1093/brain/121.6.1053. 
• L. M. Espinosa, "Second language acquisition in early childhood." In R. New and M. Cochran, eds, Early Childhood Education (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group).
• Espinosa, L. M. Second language acquisition in early childhood. Rebecca Staples, New; Cochran, Moncrieff (編). Early Childhood Education: An International Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. 2007. ISBN 978-0-313-33100-8. 
• Flege, James Emil; Mackay, Ian R. A.; Piske, Thorsten. Assessing bilingual dominance. Applied Psycholinguistics. 2002, 23 (4): 567–598. doi:10.1017/S0142716402004046. 
• Harley, Birgit. Age in second language acquisition. College-Hill Press. 1986 [2015-05-25]. ISBN 978-0-88744-269-8. （原始內容存檔於2020-03-26）. 
• Lenneberg, E.H. Biological Foundations of Language. Wiley. 1967. ISBN 0-89874-700-7. 
• Moyer, A. Ultimate attainment in L2 phonology: the critical factors of age, motivation, and instruction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 1999, 21 (1): 81–108. doi:10.1017/S0272263199001035. .
• Oyama, S. A sensitive period for the acquisition of a nonnative phonological system. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. 1976, 5: 261–285. doi:10.1007/BF01067377. 
• Penfield, W.; Roberts, L. Speech and Brain Mechanisms. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1959. 
• Pinker, S. The Language Instinct. New York: Morrow. 1994. ISBN 84-206-6732-3. 
• Ramscar, M.; Gitcho, N. Developmental change and the nature of learning in childhood. Trends in Cognitive Science. 2007, 11 (7): 274–279. PMID 17560161. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2007.05.007. 
• Reis, A.; Castro-Caldas, A. Illiteracy: A case for biased cognitive development. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. 1997, 3 (5): 444–450. PMID 9322403. 
• Robertson, P. The Critical Age Hypothesis. Asian EFL Journal. 2002. （原始內容存檔於2006-12-11）. 
• Scherag, A; Demuth, L; Rösler, F; Neville, HJ; Röder, B. The effects of late acquisition of L2 and the consequences of immigration on L1 for semantic and morpho-syntactic language aspects. Cognition. October 2004, 93 (3): B97–108. PMID 15178380. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2004.02.003. 
• Sebastián-Gallés, Núria; Echeverría, Sagrario; Bosch, Laura. The influence of initial exposure on lexical representation: Comparing early and simultaneous bilinguals. Journal of Memory and Language. 2005, 52 (2): 240–255. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2004.11.001. 
• Singleton, David, and Lengyel, Zsolt. (1995). The Age Factor in Second Language Acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. See also https://web.archive.org/web/20060319062202/http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~ionin/SLAgroup/Ling527papers/Singleton%2BCritical%2BPeriods%2Biral.2005.43.4.269.pdf
• Tarone, Elaine; Bigelow, Martha; Hansen, Kit. Literacy and Second Language Oracy. Oxford University Press. 2009 [2015-05-25]. ISBN 978-0-19-442300-7. （原始內容存檔於2020-03-26）. 
• Thompson-Schill, S.; Ramscar, M.; Chrysikou, M. Cognition without control: When a little frontal lobe goes a long way (PDF). Current Directions in Psychological Science. 2009, 18 (5): 259–263. PMC 2855545 . PMID 20401341. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01648.x. （原始內容 (PDF)存檔於2010-03-07）. 
• Weber-Fox, Christine M.; Neville, Helen J. Maturational constraints on functional specializations for language processing: Erp and behavioral evidence in bilingual speakers. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 1996, 8 (3): 231–256. doi:10.1162/jocn.1996.8.3.231. 
• Young-Scholten, M. Orthographic input in L2 phonological development. Burmeister, P.; Piske, T.; Rohde, A. (編). An integrated View of Language Development: Papers in Honor of Henning Wode. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier. 2002: 263–279. .

延伸閱讀

• Cook, V. Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. London: Hodder Arnold. 2001. 
• Johnson, J.S.; Newport, E.L. Critical period effects in second language learning: the influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive Psychology. 1989, 21 (1): 60–99. PMID 2920538. doi:10.1016/0010-0285(89)90003-0. 
• Lamendella, J.T. General principles of Neurofunctional organization and their manifestation in primary and non-primary language acquisition. Language Learning. 1977, 27: 155–9. doi:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1977.tb00298.x.  [introduces the phrase 'sensitive period'.]
• Lightbown, P.; Spada, N. How Languages are Learned 2nd. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2006. ISBN 0-19-442224-0. 
• Marshall, Brad. Is there a 'child advantage' in learning foreign languages?. Education Week. 2000, 19 (22): 39–41. 
• Mitchell, R.; Myles, F. Second Language Learning Theories 2nd. London: Hodder Arnold. 2006. 
• Newport, E.L. Maturational constraints on language learning. Cognitive Science. 1990, 14: 11–28. doi:10.1207/s15516709cog1401_2. 
• White, L. (2003). Second Language Acquisition and Universal Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Zhao, A.H.; Morgan, C. Consideration of Age in L2 Attainment - Children, Adolescents and Adults. Asian EFL Journal. 2005, 6 (4). （原始內容存檔於2006-12-08）.