scholarly journals Cognitive Foundations of Second Language Acquisition: Introduction

1994 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-132
Author(s):  
Russell S. Tomlin ◽  
Morton A. Gernsbacher
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Scientific Consensus ◽  
Descriptive Term ◽  
Research Institution ◽  
The World ◽  
Cognitive Foundations

The growth of cognitive science as a field, or at least as a descriptive term, indicates an emerging scientific consensus that many fundamental human capacities require collaborative and interdisciplinary research to make further fundamental headway. Language, as central to our essential humanity as anything is, represents one area in which massive amounts of interdisciplinary research is underway at virtually every research institution in the world.

English or Englishes?

2022 ◽  
pp. 1560-1574
Author(s):  
Aicha Rahal
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
The World ◽  
Considerable Debate

The discipline of World Englishes has been one of the most thriving branches of English linguistics. This branch has become the focal focus of considerable debate. The chapter mainly aims to show the multilingual reality of English. It is an attempt to answer the question “Do we have English or Englishes?” The chapter tries to study the recent situation of English as a lingua franca. It first gives an overview of the spread of English and the emergence of new Englishes. Then, it presents the principals of traditional applied linguistics and second language acquisition. It also discusses the concepts of World Englishes, multilingualism, and pluralism. After that, the chapter presents the World Englishes debate to show the gap between monocentrists and pluralists. Finally, the study sheds light on the fact that Englishes reflect the multilingual reality of English.

scholarly journals Cognition, complexity and context as other minds: a tribute to T. Givón

2022 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Other Minds ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Language Universals ◽  
Development And Evolution

Linguistics is made up of great individuals. Throughout its not so long history as compared with other sciences, linguistics boasts many remarkable contributors who paved the way for human language study and thus led us into exploring the rising, development and evolution not only of natural languages, but also that of our own species. This book is a tribute to one of those great contributors to linguistics, T. Givón. As he argues for an evolutionary approach to communication and language, Givón has covered various research fields in linguistics such as morphosyntax, semantics, pragmatics, discourse and text, second language acquisition, pidgins and creoles, language universals, grammaticalization, and cognitive science.

Spanish as a second language when L1 is Quechua: Endangered languages and the SLA researcher

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-279
Author(s):  
Susan E. Kalt
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
First Language ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Endangered Languages ◽  
Language Family ◽  
The World ◽  
Sheer Number

Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Quechua is the largest indigenous language family to constitute the first language (L1) of second language (L2) Spanish speakers. Despite sheer number of speakers and typologically interesting contrasts, Quechua–Spanish second language acquisition is a nearly untapped research area, due to the marginalization of Quechua-speaking people. This review considers contributions to the field of second language acquisition gleaned from studying the grammars of Quechua speakers who learn Spanish as well as monolingual Quechua and Spanish speakers in the contact area. Contribution to the documentation and revitalization of the Quechua languages is discussed as an ethical and scientific imperative.

Connectionism and Universals of Second Language Acquisition

1990 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gasser
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Theory ◽  
Connectionist Models ◽  
Language Patterns ◽  
Simple Processing ◽  
Constituent Order

This article examines the implications of connectionist models of cognition for second language theory. Connectionism offers a challenge to the symbolic models which dominate cognitive science. In connectionist models all knowledge is embodied in a network of simple processing units joined by connections which are strengthened or weakened in response to regularities in input patterns. These models avoid the brittleness of symbolic approaches, and they exhibit rule-like behavior without explicit rules. A connectionist framework is proposed within which hypotheses about second language acquisition can be tested. Inputs and outputs are patterns of activation on units representing both form and meaning. Learning consists of the unsupervised association of pattern elements with one another. A network is first trained on a set of first language patterns and then exposed to a set of second language patterns with the same meanings. Several simulations of constituent-order transfer within this framework are discussed.

Taking a social turn for the worse: The language socialization paradigm for second language acquisition

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin R. Gregg
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Language Socialization ◽  
Science Research

In recent years, a number of researchers in the field of second language acquisition have voiced discontent regarding the tendency of second language acquisition (SLA) research to be conducted within a framework of cognitive science (Firth and Wagner, 1997; Atkinson, 2002; Johnson, 2004). Watson-Gegeo (2004) expresses this same discontent, and goes beyond it to call for a new SLA paradigm, the ‘language socialization paradigm’. In this article, I point out the various ways in which Watson-Gegeo has misunderstood the nature of cognitive science research in general, and SLA research in particular, and show why her call should go unheeded.

scholarly journals The Role of Theory in Empirical Second Language Acquisition Research: An Introduction

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Beccia ◽  
Paige Yi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Karl Popper ◽  
Empirical Testing ◽  
Natural Phenomena ◽  
Human Knowledge ◽  
Critical Rationalism ◽  
The World

Theory plays a central role in the development of human knowledge. In essence, theory solves puzzles, or questions about observable phenomena that need to be answered, (Kuhn, 1996). Theorizing about solutions to these puzzles requires working at the edge of uncertainty, making bold postulations, and engaging in what renowned philosopher of science Karl Popper terms critical rationalism; it is through the development of theories that are falsifiable and the subsequent empirical testing of those theories that our knowledge about the world (i.e., of natural phenomena) will progress (Popper, 1968).

Inquiring into the Nature of Beliefs: Implications for Learner Autonomy Reflection and Practice

10.47908/9/3 ◽  
2013 ◽  
pp. 53-74
Author(s):  
Stephen Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Learner Autonomy ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Ontological Status ◽  
The World ◽  
Human Brains

Human brains are prolific producers of thoughts about the world. One category of such thoughts, known as beliefs, is seen to play a key role in guiding human behavior. There is much current debate, however, about what beliefs actually are, i.e., their ontological status, and how second language acquisition researchers should go about conceptualizing and studying them. This article is an attempt to address this debate and ask what its implications could be for teachers interested in learner autonomy.

Does Bilingualism Expand the Cognitive Experience of the Students?

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
María Bobadilla-Pérez ◽  
Suellen Pereira-Balado
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
The World ◽  
Cognitive Experience ◽  
The One

This chapter shows the results of a study carried out in an immersion early education classroom in Galicia (Spain). The study focuses on how children in a bilingual context develop their perception of the world according to the concepts they are able to build around things in their environment, using the language as a reference. A brief theoretical framework precedes the presentation of the study. On the one hand, attention is paid to the pedagogical implications of second language acquisition in early childhood. Secondly, and most importantly, the nature of the bilingual brain is discussed through the consideration of the works of relevant authors in the field. Later, the case study is explained. For the purpose of the qualitative research, participants were presented with different images to be described in English and Spanish, and an observation table was designed in order to classify the utterances produced by the students. As will be discussed, results showed that students in immersion educational contexts increase their sense of the world when using both languages.

English or Englishes?

2019 ◽  
pp. 83-102
Author(s):  
Aicha Rahal
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
The World ◽  
Considerable Debate

The discipline of World Englishes has been one of the most thriving branches of English linguistics. This branch has become the focal focus of considerable debate. The chapter mainly aims to show the multilingual reality of English. It is an attempt to answer the question “Do we have English or Englishes?” The chapter tries to study the recent situation of English as a lingua franca. It first gives an overview of the spread of English and the emergence of new Englishes. Then, it presents the principals of traditional applied linguistics and second language acquisition. It also discusses the concepts of World Englishes, multilingualism, and pluralism. After that, the chapter presents the World Englishes debate to show the gap between monocentrists and pluralists. Finally, the study sheds light on the fact that Englishes reflect the multilingual reality of English.

Does Bilingualism Expand the Cognitive Experience of the Students?

2022 ◽  
pp. 290-303
Author(s):  
María Bobadilla-Pérez ◽  
Suellen Pereira-Balado
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
The World ◽  
Cognitive Experience ◽  
The One

This chapter shows the results of a study carried out in an immersion early education classroom in Galicia (Spain). The study focuses on how children in a bilingual context develop their perception of the world according to the concepts they are able to build around things in their environment, using the language as a reference. A brief theoretical framework precedes the presentation of the study. On the one hand, attention is paid to the pedagogical implications of second language acquisition in early childhood. Secondly, and most importantly, the nature of the bilingual brain is discussed through the consideration of the works of relevant authors in the field. Later, the case study is explained. For the purpose of the qualitative research, participants were presented with different images to be described in English and Spanish, and an observation table was designed in order to classify the utterances produced by the students. As will be discussed, results showed that students in immersion educational contexts increase their sense of the world when using both languages.

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