WORKSHOP #2

1. The critical period hypothesis is the period before twelve years old, when
everybody can to acquire a language easier. In this period, people can
learn a L2 in a quick and successful way because they can learn it in the
same way like their L1 and their brain have an elasticity that everybody
loses at the age of 12 years old.
2. Our opinion about the influence of Critical Period Hypothesis in the use
of methodologies in education is that it has been very important and
positive, because it has allowed the correct use of methodologies when
teaching a foreign language. However, also it must take into account the
type of students is going to teach, because it is not the same to teach
children to teach adults.
The critical period hypothesis may have allowed the creation of some
effective methodology to teach a child, because we think that with this
hypothesis began the approach to teaching a foreign language in
children.
3. We think that children learn better a second language, because they
have the ability to listen and to link the new words with something they
already knew. For that reason we can see in some cases teachers teach
a language with some childrens songs, they sing it and they do some
movements depending on the song, for example the song for teach the
parts of the body head and shoulders, knees and toes, they sing it and
they touch themselves the corresponding part of the body. Although at
the beginning, their pronunciation may not be the best, if they start to talk
and repeat the words they will learn to pronounce them.
If we start to read some investigations about who learns better, we are
going to find a lot of information about it and each author has a different
opinion, although there are some people that are according. We read
some articles about it and our opinion did not change, because we think
that each article has good arguments and that is important but our
position is that children learn a language in an easier way because we
have seen some children when they are learning English and they learn
vocabulary, typical phrases and pronunciation quickly.

Karol Licet Muoz Laura Maria

Valencia.
Didactic.
August 31, 2015