The general conclusion from these
investigations is that different aged learners acquire the
various aspects of language with varying difficulty. Some
variation in grammatical performance is attributed to
maturation; however, all participants began immersion
programs before puberty and so were too young for a
strong critical period hypothesis to be directly tested.
Some researchers have focused exclusively on practical
application of SLA research. Asher (1972) insists teenagers
and adults rarely successfully learn L2, and attribute this
to leaching strategies. He presents and L2 teaching
strategy based on infants’ L1 acquisition, which promotes
listening as central in language learning listening
precedes, and generates a ‘readiness’ for, speaking
assumptions supported by Carroll (1960). Asher shows
that in L2 acquisition, in this case German, listening
fluency is achieved in around half the usual time if the
teaching is based on L1 acquisition, and that learners
taught in this way still develop residing and writing
proficiency comparable with those training emphasizes
literacy skills.
References
Larry Selinker’s (1972) article Interlingua
Noam Chomsky’s universal grammar and psychological