(1) People who learn another language as kids can sound like native speakers, but adult language learners often make noticeable grammatical mistakes. (2) But when exactly in a person’s life does it become difficult to master the rules that govern a language? (3) While previous theories speculated that people can only acquire a new language at a young age, new research supports a different perspective.
(4) Boston-area researchers found evidence that the time span for language acquisition lasts from infancy until early adulthood; this time span is known as the “critical period.” (5) Such a period also exists for the development of eyesight. (6) Prior studies had reached varying conclusions about the critical period: it closes just after birth; it stops around age 5; it lasts until age 13. (7) Dissatisfied with these studies’ small number of participants, the Boston researchers aimed for a large sampling of language users for a study of English grammar acquisition. (8) The researchers developed an online grammar quiz with follow-up questions about the quiz takers’ language background. (9) Getting nearly 700,000 responses, two-thirds from nonnative English speakers, the research team mapped the relationship between age and language fluency in detail.
(10) The accuracy of answers to the questions on the grammar quiz plummeted for those who began learning English after age 17. (11) Though this result indicates that the critical period for language acquisition lasts longer than previous studies suggested, the achievement of native-speaker-level fluency is out of reach for adult learners.
(12) However, adult second-language learners should remain optimistic. (13) The researchers found that optimal language learning doesn’t stop completely after the critical period: it continues for both native and nonnative speakers until around age 30. (14) What’s more, the fact that so many adult second-language learners did poorly on the researchers’ quiz can help other such learners be more realistic about their goals. (15) Letting go of a desire for complete mastery of a language’s grammar can enable an adult learner to strive for basic competence in communication—an outcome best achieved, the researchers note, via educational programs that immerse students in the experience of a second language rather than ones that focus on rote learning.
Question
Which of the following versions of sentence 2 (reproduced below) most effectively sets up the main claim of the passage?
But when exactly in a person’s life does it become difficult to master the rules that govern a language? (As it is now)
Responses
A) Which languages are said to be most difficult for adult native-English speakers to learn?
B) But why is the grammar of a foreign language so difficult for adult learners to master?
C) How did competency in grammar come to be such an important marker of language fluency?
D) but how has the rise of text messaging and tweeting contributed to an increase in obvious grammatical errors?