The Relationship Between
English Learners’ Age and English Acquisition
Abstract: Foreign language learning has been a hot research topic, especially when comes down to the issue of when start to learn a foreign language is age appropriate in the globalization context. In recent decades, a lot of studies had been carried out by foreign countries and China, however, none agreement could be reached on the relationship between the English learners’ age and in a second language leaning environment. On the basis of previous studies review, the author will elaborate on the analysis of the relationship between English learners’ age and through this dissertation and put forward hypotheses, including explaining the research methodology and data collection with analysis. The research in the dissertation can conclude that when age appropriate is just depends on individual and external conditions. The findings will offer English teaching guidance for foreign language educators and young parents to decide learners’ onset age to improve the English leaning.
Key Words: English learners’ age; relationship;
英语学习年龄与英语能力的关系
摘 要：外语教学何时起为好,这是外语教学研究中探讨了多年的问题，本世纪以来世界上许多国家对这个问题进行了认真的理论探讨和分析并做过不少科学实验。然而，时至今日，在以英语作为非本族语教学时有关其学习起始年龄与英语能力之间的相关性上还是无法趋于统一。 本论文旨在通过对其他专家学者的著作、期刊、实验等各方面的资料的研究和借鉴归纳，并结合作者在杭州市余杭区余杭镇一中和余杭区良渚镇中200名学生的实验对英语教学年龄和英语成绩之间的相关性做一个分析，了解英语起始年龄和英语成绩之间的关系；本研究表明，英语起始年龄和英语成绩之间并不存在必然的正比关系，英语的最终能力是与诸多因素相关联的，如英语教学环境，教学手段，学习动机等。联系中国大力推广素质教育以及当前英语教育经费和英语师资都比较紧缺的实际，这一结果对于确定英语学习的起始年龄和早期英语教育提供了实证性数据;并对各级政府制定早期外语教育政策和为年轻家长制定家庭教育计划提供了一定的参考。
关键词：外语能力;年龄;关系
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
1. Overall review of the previous study 1
1.1 Theoretical framework 1
1.1.1 Critical theoretical hypothesis 1
1.1.2 Non-critical theoretical hypothesis 2
1.2 Review of the previous research 4
1.2.1 Fathman’s Research in1975 4
1.2.2 Education Committee of China’s Research in1985 4
2. Research design 5
2.1 My hypothesis 5
2.2 Subjects 6
2.3 The instruments of the research 7
2.4 Data collection and process 8
2.4.1 Data collection and process of the Yuhang district unify test scores 8
2.4.2 Data collection and process of the designed test by author 10
2.4.3 Analysis of questionnaires 11
2.5 Data analysis 13
2.5.1 Data analysis of hypothesis1 13
2.5.2 Analysis of hypothesis2 15
3. Conclusion and further suggestion 16
3.1 Conclusion 16
3.2 Further suggestion 16
Bibliography: 19
