Critical Period Hypothesis

There is a period when language

acquisition takes place naturally and
effortlessly
 Penfield and Roberts (1959)
Argued that the optimum age for language
acquisition falls within the first ten years of
life.
During this period, the brain retains
plasticitybut with the onset of puberty, this
disappears.
 Penfield and Roberts (1959)
This was said to be a result of LATERALIZATION
of the LANGUAGE FUNCTION in the LEFT
HEMISPHERE.

That is, the neurological capacity for

understanding and producing the language,
which initially involves both hemispheres of
the brain, is slowly concentrated in the left
hemisphere for most people.
 Lenneberg (1967)
Supported by discovering that injuries to the right
hemisphere caused more language problems in
children than in adults.

Those children who underwent surgery of the left

hemisphere had no speech disorders, whereas
adults had almost total language control loss.

This suggested that the NEUROLOGICAL BASIS OF

LANGUAGE in children and adults was DIFFERENT.
 Seliger (1978)
Explains that there are possible multiple
critical periods.

That is, the process of lateralization and

localization of language functions is a gradual
one, carrying on over many years.