Nelson Bank wrote, relative to having adults acquire language in the same way as children:
>
> How about if we mimic the environment that children are in?
>
A good bit of research has supported the fact that brain plasticity/flexibility decreases with age. One important ability that seems to decrease for most (if not all) adults as they grow older is the capacity to memorize new information (see Kees de Bot's work; I can refer in particular to a presentation at AAAL 2009, but I don't know if that has appeared in print yet).
So, if we consider the capacity of our brain to function in certain ways part of our environment, or at least integral to functioning within a particular environment, I doubt that creating the same environment for adults as for children will bring about the same results.
Karen
http://karen.stanley.people.cpcc.eduCharlotte, North Carolina, USA
