The Relationship between Age and Accuracy of Foreign Language Pronunciation

Abstract

The assumption that younger children can master the phonological system of a second language more easily than those who are older was tested under laboratory conditions. This assumption is based on observations of immigrant children in natural settings and findings related to the ability of various age groups to recover full use of speech function following trauma to the dominant cerebral hemisphere. In the study, each of three groups of twenty elementary, twenty junior high, and twenty college students received ten sessions, each 15-25 minutes in length, of pre-taped German phoneme pronunciation instruction. A total of thirty-three phonemes were taught in 2 weeks using various mimicry drills. The students were pretested and post tested and given the Raven Progressive Matrices Test. Analysis of variance and covariance on the pretest indicated no difference in pronunciation. Contrary to common belief, on the posttest the junior high and college groups were significantly (p .01) better at pronunciation than the elementary group.