Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language

The age factor has always been one of the main concerns in SLA research. However, the focus is no longer on the issue of whether there exists a critical period, as was the case in the 70s and 80s, but rather on the appropriate age to begin instruction in the L2. This trend is specially relevant in foreign language acquisition contexts all over Europe and clearly evident in Spain, where the Reforma brought about the introduction of English at an earlier age (from 11 to 8) and further innovations may advance the starting age to 6. Although these changes do not seem to take findings from recent research into account, as we shall see below, they reflect the general concern about the importance of languages, especially English, in our daily life. The book under review is, therefore, of the utmost interest: Age and the Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language, as the editors themselves state in the introduction, is the result of a Summer Course (" El factor edad en la adquisición de lenguas extranjeras ") in the University of the Basque Country. The volume collects some of those contributions in two parts: part 1, " Theoretical Issues, " with three chapters meant as an overview on the age factor, and part 2, " Fieldwork in Bilingual Communities, " which deals with several aspects investigated by the teams at the University of the Basque Country (chapters 4 to 7) and the University of Barcelona (chapters 8 and 9). The first chapter in part 1 (" Critical Period or General Age Factor(s) ") is by David Singleton. After a thorough introduction to the CPH and the concept of the CP in FLA, Singleton reviews studies on the CP in SLA in relation to the attainment of native-like proficiency, the effortless acquisition of an L2 before the CP, learning and processing mechanisms, and, finally, naturalistic and instruction settings. Although age effects are evident in the studies, it is not always clear, Singleton argues, that they are the result from a CP in the usual understanding of the concept. So many different conclusions in studies and so much variation from individual to individual have led researchers to consider other explanations for the effects of age. Singleton finishes the chapter with the revision of four of these explanations (motivational factors, cross-linguistic factors, educational factors, and general cognitive factors) and concludes by saying that …