crictical period for language acquisition

Critical Period for Language Acquisition
Name
Institution
Date
Language Acquisition
According to Snow and Hohle (2010), first language acquisition happens before completing the lateralization period. Success in the acquisition of the first language will lead to ease in the acquisition of the second language before the adolescent stage. The reasoning behind is that older children acquire morphology of the second language and syntax faster than younger children do. Children younger than five years demonstrate cerebral asymmetry at birth, while their techniques of dichotic listening are revealed because the lateralization of receptive language function is established by the end of five years.
According to Purves et al., (2001), most animals use sound to communicate while humans and songbirds learn the vocalizations. Thus, vocalizations are innate and do not require experience to produce correctly. However, humans demand extended periods of learning and knowledge to decode and present speech sounds depending on their language. Only congenital deaf children face a critical period to study and acquire various languages because of their deficits in vocalizations. Such children are at risk of failing to develop any language if there are no alternative forms of symbolic expressions including the sign language. However, if deaf children expose to sign language in early languages, they learn their languages easily similar to hearing babies.
Reaction
It is true that children aged 12-15 years have faster acquisition of the second language than toddlers of ages 3-5 years.

There is no critical period of acquiring the second language among children of ages 2-12. However, congenital deaf infants face crucial periods when learning languages. Children who had acquired speech earlier and lost it later before puberty had a critical time to learn spoken first and second language because they do not hear themselves as they talk. They fail to refine their speech through auditory feedback. A sign language is best for such children because it makes it easy to learn first and second language among children with hearing disabilities.
References
Purves, D., Augustine, G, J., &Fitzpatrick, D Et Al. (2001). Neuroscience.2nd Edition. Sinauer Associates Publishers. Sunderland (MA).
Snow, C., &Hohle, M. (2010). The Critical Period for Language Acquisition: Evidence from Second Language Learning. Society for Research in Child Development, 1-16.