REVIEWSTESOL Quarterly welcomes evaluative reviews of publications relevant to TESOLprofessionals.

Edited by MARGARET HAWKINSUniversity of Wisconsin

Age and the Rate of Foreign Language Learning.Carmen Muñoz (Ed.). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, 2006.Pp. xii + 296.

� The hypothesis of the existence of a critical period for language learn-ing has motivated theoretical and empirical research since the 1970s.Both theoretical explanations and empirical research regarding the criti-cal-period hypothesis are based on learners in natural or immersionsettings. As a result, findings from second language learning in natural-istic contexts have been used to explain the effect of the age factor inforeign language situations. In line with DeKeyser and Larson-Hall(2005), who include the learning context as a relevant factor in thediscussion of the critical-period hypothesis, this book acknowledges thelearning setting as a potential factor that may explain differences in bothnatural and formal language learning.

All 10 chapters in this edited volume report on research conductedunder the umbrella of the Barcelona Age Factor Project, a 9-year projectwhich focuses on the process of acquiring English as a foreign languageby learners who begin English acquisition at different ages. In the firstchapter, the editor, Carmen Muñoz, presents an excellent review ofprevious research on the critical-period hypothesis and emphasizes itsrelevance specifically to foreign language learning. She explains the Bar-celona Age Factor Project: the objectives, setting, research design andmaterials, and the learners’ responses, which are analyzed in the subse-quent chapters. Through this introduction, the reader becomes familiarwith the framework used by the volume’s contributors to examine spe-cific aspects of foreign language learning in relation to age differences.Muñoz also provides an overview of the results of the project, suggestingthat, in contrast to results in naturalistic settings (Singleton, 1995), suc-cess in foreign language contexts may be as much a function of exposureas of age.

The subsequent four chapters examine in detail the effects of the

TESOL QUARTERLY Vol. 42, No. 2, June 2008 345

initial age of learning on the areas of pronunciation, oral fluency, vo-cabulary, and morphology, respectively. In chapter 2, “The Developmentof English (FL) Perception and Production Skills: Starting Age and Ex-posure Effects,” Fullana analyses the influence of age of onset of foreignlanguage learning and exposure on the acquisition of a foreign languagephonology and reports that these variables were not conclusive determi-nants for perceiving and producing English sounds in a native-like man-ner. Similar results are reported by Mora in chapter 3, “Age Effects onOral Fluency Development.” The author compares the results of the twolearner groups and reports that late starters outperformed early starterson oral fluency measures. Chapter 4, “Age and Vocabulary Acquisition inEFL,” provides findings in the area of vocabulary acquisition. Miralpeixexamines the influence of age of onset on vocabulary development byusing free and controlled tasks and shows difference in favour of thelate-starting pupils. In “Accuracy Orders, Rate of Learning, and Age inMorphological Acquisition,” Muñoz (chapter 5) analyses the use of a setof English morphological functors by children and adult learners ofdifferent proficiency levels. Results of the study show a superior rate oflearning in older learners, and no differences are found in the waydifferent-aged students use these forms accurately. These chapters raisemethodological issues for second language acquisition (SLA) research,such as the importance of defining variables as discriminators of the levelof oral fluency, the effect of using different lexical measures on learningoutcomes, and the effect of proficiency level as a variable to consider incause-effect studies.

In chapter 6, “Rate and Route of Acquisition in EFL Narrative Devel-opment at Different Ages,” Álvarez identifies nine developmental stagesin which syntactic and discourse components interact. In line with therest of the contributions in the volume, the author reports a rate advan-tage for older learners, although this advantage disappears with longerexposure to the target language. In chapter 7, “Age and IL Developmentin Writing,” Torrás, Navés, Celaya, and Pérez-Vidal analyse how the num-ber of hours of instruction affects four areas of learners’ written compe-tence—fluency, lexical complexity, grammatical complexity, and accu-racy. Their study provides evidence that these areas of language do notdevelop in tandem, whereas their rate of development seems to be af-fected by age. Findings of the study, which suggest that an earlier start ina foreign language context does not mean more effective acquisition ofthe skill of writing, draws attention to issues of research methodology forthose interested in foreign language writing.

The interaction of age and language learning factors is the focus inthe final three chapters. In chapter 8, “Age, Proficiency Level and Inter-actional Skills: Evidence From Breakdown in Production,” Grañena pro-

346 TESOL QUARTERLY

vides evidence of the influence of age and proficiency level on learners’behaviour in conversation. Taking into account Long’s (1996) interac-tion hypothesis, the author suggests that older learners’ more explicitbehaviour creates more conditions for language learning. The use oflanguage learning strategies (“Reported Strategy Use and Age,” Tragant& Victori, chapter 9) and levels and types of motivation (“LanguageLearning Motivation and Age,” Tragant, chapter 10) are examined onthe basis of different-aged learners’ answers to a series of written ques-tionnaires. On the one hand, the study by Tragant and Victori shows thatlearners tend to undergo developmental changes in strategy use as theyincrease in age, although these changes are not systematic for all learn-ing strategy types. On the other hand, Tragant reports that the startingage of learning English does not significantly alter the level of motiva-tion, since motivation seems to be stronger among older students. Thepedagogical implications of the interaction of age and the above-mentioned factors are particularly relevant for those interested in lan-guage teaching and language planning.

To sum up, Age and the Rate of Foreign Language Learning offers welcomeand valuable research that increases our understanding of the effects ofage in formal language contexts in contrast to naturalistic settings. Theresults included in the 10 chapters are worthy of attention from educa-tors and from those interested in educational policy and planning, es-pecially in countries where bilingual contexts provide the conditions forthe learning of English as a third (or additional) language. In addition,the large-scale research reported provides methodological insights forthose interested in investigating this particular area in the field of SLA.Readers will encounter many issues worth examining in relation to thewidespread belief that beginning a foreign language at a younger ageguarantees a higher level of foreign language attainment.

REFERENCES

DeKeyser, R., & Larson-Hall, J. (2005). What does the critical period really mean? InJ. F. Koll & A. M. B. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguisticapproaches (pp. 88–108). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Long, M. H. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second languageacquisition. In W. C. Ritchie & T. K. Bathia (Eds.), Handbook of second languageacquisition (pp. 413–468). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Singleton, D. (1995). A critical look at the critical period hypothesis in secondlanguage acquisition research. In D. Singleton & Z. Lengyel (Eds.), The age factorin second language acquisition (pp. 1–29). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.

EVA ALCÓN SOLERUniversitat Jaume ICastelló de la Plana, Spain

REVIEWS 347