Child Second Language Acquisition: What Do We Know?

Abstract

Despite the growing number of research studies in recent years, what is known about child second language acquisition (SLA) remains by and large a fraction of what is still to be known. In the present review, child SLA is defined as pertinent to both second language (L2) and sequential bilingual learners between the ages of two and twelve. Studies undertaken over the past 15 years are subdivided by paradigm (i.e., the generativists, the emergentists, the psycholinguists, and the neurocognitivists) and then thoroughly discussed. These studies are presented and critiqued in such a way that the significant holes persisting in our general understanding of child SLA will become apparent.

Keywords

• Applied linguistics
• Bilingualism in children
• Critical periods
• Second language acquisition
• SLA
• Education
• English language
• Foreign speakers
• L2