Investigating the Impact of Age on Learning English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the age impact on Learning English as a foreign language and how it affects the fluency and understanding of English as a foreign language at the basic level schools. It is directed to a specific area which deals with two domains of English language, vocabulary and grammar. The pupils who are the target of this study are the pupils who studied English at an early age from first grade, as well as pupils who studied English at a late stage namely the fifth grade, testing them after three years of their study of English language, so the test was given to the 4th grade pupils, and grade 8 pupils. The researcher has used exactlythe same test to the two groups which match their mental ability and their language understanding, and then made a comparison between the two groups aiming to find out the significant difference in various aspects. The method used in conducting this research is the descriptive analytical method .The collected data has been analyzed by using the statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS. The final results show that age has an effect on the process of learning English as a foreign language in favour of young learners. The researcherrecommends that there should be more concentration on teaching English for young pupils from an early age.