1. A Longitudinal Study of the Acquisition “s” by Native Mandarin Speakers: Age Differences Siridatar Khalsa Sponsor: Gisela Jia

2. Background Long-term proficiency: age-related decline Hypotheses: Neurological – Critical Period Hypothesis Environmental – richer vs. poorer environments Cognitive – lower vs. higher abilities

3. Questions 1. When does the age-related decline start to appear? 2. Can cognitive abilities play a role?

4. Participants

5. Interviews Year 1: monthly Year 2: quarterly Year 3: biannually

6. Tasks 1. Picture Description Task 8 pictures in a set – “s” 2. Free Talk

7. Coding for “s” Correct: books, children Incorrect: book, child, childs, childrens,

8. Plurals (Task-3m) r=.45, p=.16

9. Plurals (Task-6m) r=.75, p<.05

10. Plurals (Task-9m) r=.76, p<.01

11. Plurals (Task-12m) r=.51, p=.11

12. Plurals (Task-15) r=.49, p=.13

13. Plurals (Task-18m) r=.46, p=.13

14. Plurals (Task-21m) r=.48, p=.28

15. Plurals (Task-24m) r=-.09, p=.81

16. Age Effect across Time Age Effect = correlation between age of arrival and performance

17. Ken (male, 16) Anna (female, 5)

18. Percentage of Interviews (Task > Free) r=.59, p=.54

19. Summary of findings 1. Advantage of younger learners is not present during the first year of learning. Neurological advantage? 2. Older and younger learners seem to adopt different cognitive strategies in language learning Educational methods

20. Implications 1. Neurological hypothesis

21. Plurals (Anna f5)

22. Plurals (Calvin m7)

23. Plurals (Betty f6)

24. Plurals (Dianna f8)

25. Plurals (Ervin m9)

26. Plurals (Frank m9)

27. Plurals (Gary m12)

28. Plurals (Helen f12)

29. Plurals (Irvin m13)

30. Plurals (Jane f15)

31. Plurals (Ken m16)