You’ve got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette. Linguistic complexity and instruction in SLA

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick De Graaff
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Language Performance ◽  
Linguistic Complexity ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
The One

In this epilogue, I take a teaching practice and teacher education perspective on complexity in Instructed Second Language Acquisition. I take the stance that it is essential to understand if and how linguistic complexity relates to learning challenges, what the implications are for language pedagogy, and how this challenges the role of the teacher. Research shows that differences in task complexity may lead to differences in linguistic complexity in language learners’ speech or writing. Different tasks (e.g. descriptive vs narrative) and different modes (oral vs written) may lead to different types and levels of complexity in language use. On the one hand, this is a challenge for language assessment, as complexity in language performance may be affected by task characteristics. On the other hand, it is an opportunity for language teaching: using a diversity of tasks, modes and text types may evoke and stretch lexically and syntactically complex language use. I maintain that it is essential for teachers to understand that it is at least as important to aim for development in complexity as it is to aim for development in accuracy. Namely, that ‘errors’ in language learning are part of the deal: complex tasks lead to complex language use, including lexical and syntactical errors, but they are a necessary prerequisite for language development.

Learning opportunities in peer-peer interaction: A case study of two L2 Mandarin Chinese learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-226
Author(s):  
Dan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
French Immersion ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Negotiation For Meaning

AbstractThe roles of interaction have been studied for several decades. Recent studies have turned to investigate “the details of which components of interaction might be more or less effective in which contexts with which learners” (Loewen, Shawn & Masatoshi Sato. 2018. Interaction and instructed second language acquisition. Language Teaching 51(3). 285–329: 286). This case study, based on three unstructured interactions outside the classroom between two L2 Mandarin Chinese learners, investigates the learning opportunities these interactions brought about in terms of helping them to increase in control over forms that had already been encountered inside the classroom. Using the concept of the language-related episode (Swain, Merrill & Sharon Lapkin. 1998. Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. The Modern Language Journal 82(3). 320–337), this study sets focus on learning opportunities for lexis- and grammar-related items. It finds learning opportunities arise as the two peers negotiate for meaning motivated by the need to comprehend, strive to use the L2 to express/co-express themselves, and improve their form through the other’s feedback. In addition, lexis-related learning is found to be very positive in this study. The dictionary played an indispensable role in facilitating the learners when they encountered lexis-related issues. Further, it enabled the learners to learn new vocabulary when driven by communicative needs. In comparison, the grammar-related learning is found to be relatively complicated. And the fact the learners had nowhere to resort to concerning grammatical issues attributed to it. In terms of the different types of interactions, compared to learning through negotiation for meaning and feedback, output and co-construction/collaboration were found to be most productive in promoting the learning.

Second Language Acquisition Research and Language Pedagogy: A Critical View

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Reza Talebinejad ◽  
Aasa Moattarian
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Class 1 ◽  
Research Findings

<p class="1"><span lang="X-NONE">Over the past several decades, a substantial body of research on second language acquisition has been provided. The current study was an attempt to investigate language teachers’ views on applying research findings in their every day practice of language teaching through a critical lens. Data for this qualitative study was collected by means of a semi structured interview with 10 language teachers teaching English at different language institutes in Iran. Analyses of data revealed that, although teachers find second language acquisition research a useful tool for their professional development; they do not usually consult bodies of research in their every day teaching practice. They report problems in applying second language research in their practice due to problems with practicality, particularity, and possibility. The findings suggest that language teachers need to be exposed to insight from SLA research and practice.</span></p>

scholarly journals Exploring Facilitative and Debilitative Spaces: A Shift in Focus from Classrooms to Learning Systems

2019 ◽  
pp. 117-125
Author(s):  
Nathan Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Learning Systems ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Work Up ◽  
Relevant Work

Physical classrooms are often overlooked in educational research. While teachers, students, materials, and methodologies have all been the foci of studies for many years, research into the spaces in which instructed second language acquisition takes place is, for the most part, absent in the literature. In Thomas (2018a, 2018b), I argued that exploring these spaces and the affordances they provide is a necessary endeavor if we are to offer a holistic view of learning. It should be noted that my discussion of learning spaces refers to formal education settings—classrooms—and not self-access centers. However, I believe that relevant work in the field of self-access learning can indeed inform classroom design in instructed settings. Therefore, I use this work to support my discussion. As a work-in-progress report, this short paper will first describe my work up until this point, and second, explain how my ideas about learning spaces have transformed over time. I will discuss a new direction in which this and other studies may take. This new direction involves viewing classroom spaces as complex language learning systems and harnessing successful strategies students use within these systems to allow learning to take place. This focus on learning spaces as complete systems, as opposed to just their physical characteristics, has implications for how students can be better prepared to learn beyond the classroom.

Probing the evidence: Can we bridge the theory-practice gap in language research? Book Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Luc Paquet
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Practice Gap ◽  
Theory Practice Gap ◽  
Second Language Pedagogy ◽  
Research Book

This manuscript reviews Sato and Loewen (Eds.) book "Evidence-Based Second Language Pedagogy: A Collection of Instructed Second Language Acquisition Studies" which aim to provide researchers and L2 teachers with empirical evidence which can inform both SLA theories and L2 teaching.

scholarly journals Implementing Feminist Language Pedagogy: Development of Students’ Critical Consciousness and L2 Writing

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 393
Author(s):  
Hayley Anne Cannizzo
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Feminist Pedagogy ◽  
L2 Writing ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Language Pedagogy

Feminist pedagogy is a teaching practice, philosophy and process that seeks to confront and deconstruct oppressive power structures both within and outside of the classroom using a gendered lens. As Women’s Studies departments continue to grow in many universities, feminist pedagogy seems to be gaining popularity as an approach to engaging students in liberatory classroom practices. However, feminist language pedagogy (feminist pedagogy in the second language learning context) appears to have stagnated. This paper investigates the implementation of feminist language pedagogy in an EAP writing classroom for first-year students at a public university in the Southwest of the United States. Using action research, the teacher, who is the author of this paper, examined how feminist language pedagogy aids the development of her students’ critical consciousness and serves as a motivational tool for L2 writing development. The author finds that even in a short, sixteen-week semester, it is possible for students to foster critical consciousness without sacrificing linguistic development.

scholarly journals Investigating explicit and implicit L2 knowledge and learning: Replications of Erlam (2005) and Roehr-Brackin and Tellier (2019)

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Karen Roehr-Brackin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Explicit Instruction ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Replication Studies ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Learner Differences ◽  
Explicit And Implicit Knowledge ◽  
Levelling Effect

Abstract This paper makes the case for close and approximate replications of Erlam (2005) and a conceptual replication of Roehr-Brackin and Tellier (2019). The two studies recommended for replication are informed by research on explicit and implicit knowledge, learning and teaching. They are ecologically valid classroom studies with either adolescent or child learners as participants and thus investigated as yet relatively under-represented populations in the field of instructed second language acquisition (SLA). Erlam (2005) identified a levelling effect of a particular method of explicit instruction, while Roehr-Brackin and Tellier (2019) showed that language-analytic ability has a role to play even in younger children's language learning. The researchers’ approaches duly reflect the need to take into account cognitive individual learner differences when working in intact classrooms. As the findings of each of the original studies have potentially profound implications for theory and practice in the field, replication is deemed both timely and desirable. In order to facilitate this endeavour, the key features of the original studies are summarised, and specific proposals on the methodological characteristics of suitable replication studies are put forward.

Complexity in Instructed Heritage Language Acquisition

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Julio Torres
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Linguistic Complexity ◽  
Language Studies

Abstract In this article, I reflect on the role of linguistic complexity in instructed heritage language (HL) acquisition by specifically examining morphosyntactic linguistic complexity as it relates to factors such as transparency, saliency, and communicative value. First, I critically evaluate previous proposals on linking formal HL studies to pedagogy by arguing that learning in instructed contexts is a complex task that requires research on a number of variables including linguistic complexity. Second, I summarize the lessons learned in the field of instructed second language acquisition with regard to complexity in additional language learning. Third, by reviewing an empirical study on the development of Spanish gender assignment and agreement in writing, I provide a few arguments for investigating the interplay between linguistic complexity and the prior language experience that HL learners bring into the learning environment. Informed by findings from instructed second language studies, I propose that instructed HL studies also examine how linguistic complexity is potentially interwoven with type of instruction and individual differences.

Innovative language learning: achieving the vision

ReCALL ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
CAROL A. CHAPPELLE
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Speech Synthesis ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Voice Quality ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Learner Language

The technologies demonstrated at the InSTIL and EUROCALL 2000 conferences were very inspiring. They gave participants the sense that the technologies of their wildest imaginations are at last materializing, particularly in long awaited advances in speech technologies. Some challenges, however, remain ahead as attempts are made to put these technologies to use in CALL. Past experience demonstrates for example that software designed for recognition of a proficient speaker’s language is different than that required for learner language. It is also evident that while language use may be critical for language acquisition, language use does not necessarily indicate language acquisition. These points were made by Marty, who was working with speech software for French teaching a few years before the current excitement:...[W]e should keep in mind that the present research and development is aimed only at producing speech easily understandable by natives (e.g., English for native speakers of English) and that the potential markets are industrial (e.g., replacing visual indicators or visual alarms with audio warnings) and in home products (especially toys). Until our needs for improved FL instruction are better understood, it is not likely that those devices will have the voice quality we need. (Marty, 1981:52).If Marty had attended the InSTIL and EUROCALL conferences in 2000, no doubt he would have been very, very impressed. Even though plenty of work remains, we do seem to have very good voice quality in speech synthesis. The question today is how can we best use these emerging technologies, and so Marty’s suggestion that we must better understand our needs in foreign language teaching remains very relevant. What are the needs for foreign language teaching in the 21st century? The papers at EUROCALL 2000 as well as other work in technology, business, and language teaching suggest that we should be prepared for change in the coming years, but what kind of change? The turn of the century seems an appropriate time to examine some of the speculation on the future of language teaching in general, as well as how technology fits into that future. This paper considers these general questions, and then suggests ways in which links might be made between work in second language acquisition (SLA) and CALL in order to put technologies to use for L2 teaching.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document