The Critical Period of L2 Acquisition Studies: Implications for Researchers in Chinese EFL Context

[...]of China's entry into WTO, successful performance of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Shanghai 2010 World Exhibition, the number of people studying English, according a report from Beijing News report on 12 March, 2010, has surged to about 400,000,000. Unfortunately, the studies of the CPH in Chinese EFL context are far from enough and are still in its initial stage. [...]it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive review on the CPH studies in L2 settings, especially the CPH in recent period, to help gain a deeper insight and fully understand their implications on the studies in Chinese EFL context. According to Long (1990) and Birdsong (1999), research questions in SLA study are mainly categorized into the following three issues: (1)Whether young language-learners are 'better" at learning a second language; (2) Whether late learners can achieve native-like L2 proficiency; and (3) Whether the turning-point age is around puberty. According to these three issues, researchers put that the CPH is able to applied into the L2 acquisition field study on the condition that one of the following three conditions are met: (1) Young language learners are better at learning a second language than adults.