The development of theories of second language acquisition

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 320-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florence Myles
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Teaching Pedagogy ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
L2 Learning

Second language acquisition (SLA) is a relatively new field of enquiry. Before the late 1960s, educators did write about L2 learning, but very much as an adjunct of language teaching pedagogy, underpinned by behaviourism, the then-dominant learning theory in psychology. In this view, the task facing learners of foreign languages was to rote-learn and practise the grammatical patterns and vocabulary of the language to be learnt, in order to form new ‘habits’, that is to create new stimulus–response pairings which would become stronger with reinforcement. In order for the ‘old habits’ of the L1 not to interfere with this process by being ‘copied’, or transferred, into the L2, researchers embarked on thorough descriptions of pairs of languages to be learnt, in order to identify areas that are different and would thus be difficult.

scholarly journals Cognitive grammar: marking new paths in foreign language teaching

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-127
Author(s):  
Reyes Llopis García
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Model ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Cognitive Grammar

This article analyzes the usefulness of cognitive grammar for teaching foreign languages, also because of a growing interest for this discipline in recent years. First the author exposes an overview of cognitive grammar, a language model framed in the cognitive linguistics. Although the concept exists since the late 1980s, its applications for second language acquisition is very recent. In the second part of the article the author explains basics of the cognitive grammar, as well as its most important concepts.

Beyond form-focused instruction: Reflections on past, present and future research

2010 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Spada
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Optimal Time ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
L2 Learning

In 1997 I published a paper in Language Teaching entitled ‘Form-focused instruction and second language acquisition: A review of classroom and laboratory research’. The paper reviewed the results of studies investigating the effects of form-focused instruction (FFI) on second language (L2) learning. It was organized around seven questions, including: whether FFI is beneficial to L2 learning; whether particular types of FFI are more beneficial; whether there is an optimal time to provide FFI; and whether different language features benefit more from FFI. In this paper I revisit these questions and reflect on how research on FFI and L2 learning has evolved over the past twelve years.

scholarly journals Christopher Brumfit Award 2014

2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-433
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Quality Of Presentation

The Editor and Board of Language Teaching are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2014 Christopher Brumfit thesis award is Dr Hilde van Zeeland. The thesis was selected by an external panel of judges based on its significance to the field of second language acquisition, second or foreign language learning and teaching, originality and creativity and quality of presentation.

Neurological Bimodality and Theories of Language Teaching

1988 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Danesi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Cerebral Hemisphere ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Second Language Teaching ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Perceptual Modalities

The failure of the method notion in second language teaching has been attributed to a series of valid pedagogical and socioeducational factors. The concept of neurological bimodality, which posits that effective language learning in a classroom environment requires the utilization of the perceptual modalities associated with each cerebral hemisphere, offers a more fundamental, neurologically related diagnosis of this failure. This paper looks at the historiography of language teaching theories from the perspective of bimodality, and then concludes with specific suggestions vis-à-vis the kinds of research directions that might empirically substantiate the usefulness of this concept for second language acquisition in a classroom environment.

scholarly journals Christopher Brumfit Ph.D./Ed.D. Thesis Award 2011

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-408
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Quality Of Presentation

The Editor and Board of Language Teaching are pleased to announce that there were two tied winners of the 2011 Christopher Brumfit thesis award: Dr Cecilia Guanfang Zhao and Dr Catherine van Beuningen. Both theses were selected by an external panel of judges on the basis of their significance to the field of second language acquisition, second or foreign language learning and teaching, as well as their originality, creativity and quality of presentation.

Second language acquisition research and the second language acquisition of French

1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Hawkins ◽  
Richard Towell
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
First Language ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
Language L ◽  
Different Ages ◽  
Key Issues

AbstractPrior to the late 1960s second language acquisition was thought to be a relatively uninteresting phenomenon; it involved transferring grammatical properties already activated in the first language (L 1) onto second language (L 2) vocabulary. Successful L 2 learners were those who could capitalise on the similarities between the L 1 and the L 2, and eradicate the differences; and successful language teaching involved training learners to overcome the L 1-L 2 differences. Today, perceptions of second language acquisition are more sophisticated and nuanced. Second language acquisition researchers are interested in questions bearing not only on the influence of the L 1, but also on the degree of systematicity in L 2 development, the role that L 1, but also on the degree of systematicity in L 2 development, the role that conscious knowledge plays, the sources of variability in second language speaker performance, the ultimate levels of success achieved by L 2 learners of different ages, and individual differences between learners. The purpose of this article is to present what the authors believe to be some of the key issues which characterise current second language acquisition research, and to consider those issues within the specific context of the acquisition of French as second language.

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