Review article: Three new complementing second language acquisition textbooks

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-379
Author(s):  
Claire Foley
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Scholarly Literature ◽  
Processing Approach ◽  
Information Processing Approach

Three new textbooks in second language acquisition (SLA) differ in their aims. Saville-Troike (2006) offers a concise introductory text with an interdisciplinary approach. De Bot, Lowie and Verspoor (2005) provide a more comprehensive and more advanced introductory text with excerpts from the scholarly literature. Sanz (2005) presents an edited volume representing research in various subfields within an information-processing approach to SLA. All three offer valuable material for instructors to draw on, and they complement one another in interesting ways.

scholarly journals Exploring the relationships between theories of second language acquisition and Relevance Theory

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Mariz Maia de Paiva ◽  
Susan H. Foster-Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Communicative Interaction ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Rich Diversity ◽  
The Rich

This article explores a number of points at which Relevance Theory makes a useful contribution to second language theoretical models, specifically those of Bialystok and Schmidt and their respective notions of ‘analysis’, ‘control’ and ‘noticing’.It is suggested that the inferential mechanisms of Relevance Theory can account for the contingencies of communicative interaction without which pragmatic negotiations do not make sense, and thus can complement such information-processing accounts through the notions of ‘manifestness’ and the balance between ‘effort’ and ‘effect’.Further research is called for into the integration of information-processing concepts and Relevance Theoretical insights as part of a complex theoretical architecture capable of capturing the rich diversity of pragmatic development in second language acquisition.

Recent research on the acquisition of aspect: an embarrassment of riches?

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roumyana Slabakova
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Future Aspect

This review article surveys recent research on the first and second language acquisition of temporal and aspectual properties of natural languages.Three recently published books are discussed in the context of the primacy or aspect hypothesis and the prototype, the connectionist and the discourse explanations for the attested acquisition sequences. A potentially misleading terminological issue is highlighted: Deictic tense, grammatical and lexical aspect are often conflated in acquisition studies. Recent research from the (innatist) generative perspective (e.g., Olsen and Weinberg, 1999) is also examined. An alternative explanation of the skewed acquisition sequences in terms of processing costs is proposed. Some important topics for future aspect research are identified.

Informed consent in research on second language acquisition

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Thomas ◽  
Nicole Pettitt
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Review Article ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Low Profile

The practice of securing informed consent from research participants has a relatively low profile in second language (L2) acquisition research, despite its prominence in the biomedical and social sciences. This review article analyses the role that informed consent now typically plays in L2 research; discusses an example of an L2 study where complex issues of informed consent surfaced; and summarizes debates about informed consent that are underway in other disciplines, but which so far have been little recognized in scholarship on L2 acquisition.

Review article: Second language acquisition of Bantu languages: A (mostly) untapped research opportunity

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 418-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patti Spinner
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Future Study ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Tense And Aspect ◽  
Research Opportunity ◽  
Noun Class

This review article presents a summary of research on the second language acquisition of Bantu languages, including Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa and Lingala. Although second language (L2) research on these languages is currently very limited, work in morphosyntax and phonology suggests promising directions for future study, particularly on noun class, tense and aspect.

Review article: A tree in the wood: A review of research on L2 Chinese acquisition

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Review Article ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Considerable Research ◽  
L2 Chinese ◽  
Research Findings

There has been considerable research in Chinese as a second language (L2) in recent years, particularly in its morphological and syntactic aspects. This article reviews research in these aspects with reference to the broader discipline of second language acquisition (SLA) and suggests that L2 Chinese research has contributed to SLA through verification, modification or posing challenges to research findings in the L2 acquisition of other languages. On the basis of these studies, the author points out the limits of current L2 Chinese research and discusses the prospects for future development, arguing that L2 Chinese is to be investigated against hypotheses based on other L2s so that theoretical contributions can be made to the discipline of SLA.

Relevance: communication and cognition

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan H. Foster-Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
Language Research

This review article outlines the major tenets of Relevance Theory as presented in the original book (1986) and in the second edition (1995). Each chapter summary is followed by a brief exploration of the points of contact between Sperber and Wilson's ideas and second language research. In some cases this leads to new predictions, in other cases it suffices to point out parallel discussions, which might profit from a Relevance Theory vantage point. It is concluded that Relevance Theory can be usefully exploited to understand second language comprehension and, perhaps, to understand second language acquisition.

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