An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research

An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research
Author: Diane Larsen-Freeman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 387
Release: 2014-09-25
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1317869230

Understanding how people learn and fail to learn second and foreign languages is increasingly recognised as a critical social and psycholinguistic issue. Second languages are vitally important to diverse groups of people, ranging from refugees to college students facing foreign language requirements. This book provides a synthesis of empirical findings on second and foreign language learning by children and adults, emphasising the design and execution of appropriate research.

Innovative Research and Practices in Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism

Innovative Research and Practices in Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism
Author: John W. Schwieter
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2013-08-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027271666

This volume brings together theoretical perspectives and empirical studies in second language (L2) acquisition and bilingualism and discusses their implications for L2 pedagogy. The book is organized into three sections that focus on prominent linguistic and cognitive theories and together provide a compelling set of state-of-the-art works. Part I consists of studies that give rise to innovative applications for second language teaching and learning and Part II discusses how findings from cognitive research can inform practices for L2 teaching and learning. Following these two sections, Part III provides a summative commentary of the theories explored in the volume along with suggestions for future research directions. The book is intended to act as a valuable reference for scholars, applied linguists, specialists in pedagogy, language educators, and anyone wishing to gain an overview of current issues in SLA and bilingualism.

Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition

Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition
Author: Alison Mackey
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2011-12-12
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1444334271

Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition “With its cornucopia of information, both thorough and practical, this book is a must for our methodology shelves. Its study questions and project suggestions will be a boon for many research methods courses.” Robert M. DeKeysevr, University of Maryland “This guide to collecting, coding and analyzing second language acquisition data will be an essential reference for novice and experienced researchers alike.” Peter Robinson, Aoyama Gakuin University “Comprehensive and technically up-to-date, yet accessible and cogent! This remarkable textbook is sure to become a premier choice for the research training of many future SLA generations.” Lourdes Ortega, University of Hawaii “Alison Mackey and Susan Gass’ valuable new book offers hands-on methodological guidance from established experts on all kinds of second language research.” Michael H. Long, University of Maryland Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition: A Practical Guide is an informative guide to research design and methodology in this growing and vibrant field. Utilizing research methods and tools from varied fields of study including education, linguistics, psychology, and sociology, this collection offers complete coverage of the techniques of second language acquisition research. This guide covers a variety of topics, such as second language writing and reading, meta-analyses, research replication, qualitative data collection and analysis, and more. Each chapter of this volume offers background, step-by-step guidance, and relevant studies to create comprehensive coverage of each method. This carefully selected and edited volume will be a useful text for graduate students and scholars looking to keep pace with the latest research projects and methodologies in second language acquisition.

Contemporary Approaches to Second Language Acquisition

Contemporary Approaches to Second Language Acquisition
Author: María del Pilar García Mayo
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2013-02-19
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027272220

Second language acquisition (SLA) is a field of inquiry that has increased in importance since the 1960s. Currently, researchers adopt multiple perspectives in the analysis of learner language, all of them providing different but complementary answers to the understanding of oral and written data produced by young and older learners in different settings. The main goal of this volume is to provide the reader with updated reviews of the major contemporary approaches to SLA, the research carried out within them and, wherever appropriate, the implications and/or applications for theory, research and pedagogy that might derive from the available empirical evidence. The book is intended for SLA researchers as well as for graduate (MA, Ph.D.) students in SLA research, applied linguistics and linguistics, as the different chapters will be a guide in their research within the approaches presented. The volume will also be of interest to professionals from other fields interested in the SLA process and the different explanations that have been put forward to account for it.

Second Language Acquisition Myths

Second Language Acquisition Myths
Author: Steven Brown
Publisher: University of Michigan Press ELT
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2012-03-15
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0472034987

This volume was conceived as a first book in SLA for advanced undergraduate or introductory master’s courses that include education majors, foreign language education majors, and English majors. It’s also an excellent resource for practicing teachers. Both the research and pedagogy in this book are based on the newest research in the field of second language acquisition. It is not the goal of this book to address every SLA theory or teach research methodology. It does however address the myths and questions that non-specialist teacher candidates have about language learning. Steven Brown is the co-author of the introductory applied linguistics textbook Understanding Language Structure, Interaction, and Variation textbook (and workbook). The myths challenged in this book are: § Children learn languages quickly and easily while adults are ineffective in comparison. § A true bilingual is someone who speaks two languages perfectly. § You can acquire a language simply through listening or reading. § Practice makes perfect. § Language students learn (and retain) what they are taught. § Language learners always benefit from correction. § Individual differences are a major, perhaps the major, factor in SLA. § Language acquisition is the individual acquisition of grammar.

Second Language Acquisition

Second Language Acquisition
Author: Susan M. Gass
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 508
Release: 2001
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780805835281

This book is a thorough revision of the highly successful text first published in 1994. The authors retain the multidisciplinary approach that presents research from linguistics, sociology, psychology, and education, in a format designed for use in an introductory course for undergraduate or graduate students. The research is updated throughout and there are new sections and chapters in this second edition as well. New chapters cover child language acquisition (first and second), Universal Grammar, and instructed language learning; new sections address issues, such as what data analysis doesn't show, replication of research findings, interlanguage transfer (multilingual acquisition and transfer), the aspect hypothesis, general nativism, connectionist approaches, and implicit/explicit knowledge. Major updates include nonlanguage influences and the lexicon. The workbook, Second Language Learning Data Analysis, Second Edition, makes an ideal accompaniment to the text.

Life as a Bilingual

Life as a Bilingual
Author: François Grosjean
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2021-06-03
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1108838642

A book on those who know and use two or more languages: Who are they? How do they do it?

Key Methods in Second Language Acquisition Research

Key Methods in Second Language Acquisition Research
Author: Alessandro G. Benati
Publisher: Equinox Publishing (UK)
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015
Genre: Language and languages
ISBN: 9781781792414

Key Methods in Second Language Acquisition Research is a book written to help novice teachers and undergraduate students developing an awareness and understanding of the key methodological frameworks and processes used in second language research. The book should also help readers generating ideas and researchable questions and adopting particular research methods and procedures to collect and analyse data. The book is divided into three main parts: Key Stages in Second Language Research (Part One); Key Methodological Frameworks (Part Two); Mixed Frameworks and Psycholinguistics Methods (Part three).

Theories in Second Language Acquisition

Theories in Second Language Acquisition
Author: Bill VanPatten
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2014-12-22
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1135928606

The second edition of Theories in Second Language Acquisition seeks to build on the strengths of the first edition by surveying the major theories currently used in second language acquisition research. This volume is an ideal introductory text for undergraduate and graduate students in SLA and language teaching. Each chapter focuses on a single theory, written by a leading scholar in the field in an easy-to-follow style – a basic foundational description of the theory, relevant data or research models used with this theory, common misunderstandings, and a sample study from the field to show the theory in practice. This text is designed to provide a consistent and coherent presentation for those new to the field who seek basic understanding of theories that underlie contemporary SLA research. Researchers will also find the book useful as a "quick guide" to theoretical work outside their respective domains.

A Philosophy of Second Language Acquisition

A Philosophy of Second Language Acquisition
Author: Marysia Johnson
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2008-10-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0300129416

divdivHow does a person learn a second language? In this provocative book, Marysia Johnson proposes a new model of second language acquisition (SLA)—a model that shifts the focus from language competence (the ability to pass a language exam) to language performance (using language competently in real-life contexts). Johnson argues that current SLA theory and research is heavily biased in the direction of the cognitive and experimental scientific tradition. She shows that most models of SLA are linear in nature and subscribe to the conduit metaphor of knowledge transfer: the speaker encodes a message, the hearer decodes the sent message. Such models establish a strict demarcation between learners’ mental and social processes. Yet the origin of second language acquisition is located not exclusively in the learner’s mind but also in a dialogical interaction conducted in a variety of sociocultural and institutional settings, says the author. Drawing on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and Bakhtin’s literary theory, she constructs an alternative framework for second language theory, research, teaching, and testing. This approach directs attention toward the investigation of dynamic and dialectical relationships between the interpersonal (social) plane and the intrapersonal (individual) plane. Johnson’s model shifts the focus of SLA away from a narrow emphasis on language competence toward a broader view that encompasses the interaction between language competence and performance. Original and controversial, A Philosophy of Second Language Acquisition offers: · an introduction to Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and Bakhtin’s literary theory, both of which support an alternative framework for second language acquisition; · an examination of the existing cognitive bias in SLA theory and research; · a radically new model of second language acquisition. /DIV/DIV