The critical period hypothesis on english pronunciation of adults

Abstract

Considering the assumption that young learners surpass adults’ abilities when attempting to learn the pronunciation of a language, many authors allege the existence of a critical period to master a language. Researchers assure that the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) proposes a persuading position towards the relationship between age and language learning. In this context, this study explores the influence of the CPH on the learning of English pronunciation, and identifies the differences between children and adults when learning such skill. The findings of twenty-seven research studies were thoroughly examined to suggest that there are five main variables aside from age that should be analyzed in order to fully understand the extent to which age impacts the learning process of English pronunciation. These variables are: motivation, gender, relationship between L1 and L2, language immersion in L2 environments and learning setting. In addition, these variables demonstrate that young learners outperform adults due to cognitive abilities while adults show that motivational aspects may contribute to the development of pronunciation in a second language