Secondary language acquisition
time
mode ╲ | during critical period | after critical period |
| uncontrolled | A young immigrant picking up the local language “on the street” acquires full competence and proficiency which is then indistinguishable from competence in his first language. | An adult immigrant acquiring the local language at work or in other social contexts learns to communicate fluently, but keeps an accent and permanent errors. |
|---|---|---|
| controlled | A child learning a foreign language at school attains moderate proficiency and keeps an accent. | An adult taking a foreign-language course attains a low degree of proficiency both in production and perception. |
- Storage of non-first languages
- Several languages, no matter when acquired, occupy overlapping subareas in Wernicke's area.
- Languages learnt during the critical period are stored together in Broca's area.
- Languages learnt later are stored in regions adjacent to Broca's area.
Bilingual primary language acquisition
exogamy: multilingual acquisition
bilingual education