A Critical Examination of the Beliefs about Learning a Foreign Language at Primary School

a role model. 'Flawed' pronunciation might also be the result of peer pressure,
with some children mocking those who try to sound 'native-like'. These issues
will be followed up in later chapters on learning a foreign language in the
classroom.

2.3.2.2 Summary of the Findings on Maturational Constraints on
Phonological Development

Most ofthe research evidence seems to suggest that innate mechanisms and
maturational constraints affect the acquisition ofthe phonological system of a
language at least for the majority of learners. Nevertheless, as some 'late'
second language learners can 'pass as native-speakers' it might be better to
replace the term 'critical period', which claims that it is impossible to speak
without accents if the second language is learned beyond the onset of puberty,
with the term 'sensitive period' which does not exclude this possibility
(Bongaerts, Planken & Schils, 1995: 45). Conflicting data from second
language acquisition and foreign language classrooms suggest that the
acquisition of a phonological system of a second language in the classroom
depends on more than innate language learning mechanisms. Olson &
Samuels (1973: 267) suggested that the common observation that children
acquire better pronunciation than adults may have an environmental or
sociological explanation as children have wider access to peers and other 'good
models' than adults. Explanations for 'success' or 'failure' in natural or formal
contexts might be affective, how much the learner identifies with the target
language, as much as biological. Pronunciation might be more difficult to

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