Showing papers on "Second-language acquisition published in 2006"

Current Issues in the Teaching of Grammar: An SLA Perspective

Abstract: The study of how learners acquire a second language (SLA) has helped to shape thinking about how to teach the grammar of a second language There remain, however, a number of controversial issues This paper considers eight key questions relating to grammar pedagogy in the light of findings from SLA As such, this article complements Celce-Murcia’s (1991) article on grammar teaching in the 25th anniversary issue of TESOL Quarterly, which considered the role of grammar in a communicative curriculum and drew predominantly on a linguistic theory of grammar These eight questions address whether grammar should be taught and if so what grammar, when, and how Although SLA does not afford definitive solutions to these questions, it serves the valuable purpose of problematising this aspect of language pedagogy This article concludes with a statement of my own beliefs about grammar teaching, grounded in my own understanding of SLA

The Emergence of Complexity, Fluency, and Accuracy in the Oral and Written Production of Five Chinese Learners of English

Abstract: Seeing language as a complex, dynamic system and language use/acquisition as dynamic adaptedness ('a make-do' solution) to a specific context proves a useful way of understanding change in progress, such as that which occurs with a developing L2 system. This emergentist shift of perspective provides another way of understanding previously observed characteristics of learner language, that is that its development is not discrete and stage-like but more like the waxing and waning of patterns; that, from a target-language perspective, certain aspects of the behavior are progressive, others, regressive; that change can be gradual and it can- be sudden; and that the latter notably heralds the emergence of a new order qualitatively different and novel from earlier organizations. In addition, when group data are disaggregated, it is clear that there are many paths to development. By closely examining the oral and written production of five Chinese learners of English, the emergence of complexity, fluency, and accuracy can be seen, not as the unfolding of some prearranged plan, but rather as the system adapting to a changing context, in which the language resources of each individual are uniquely transformed through use.

Multiple voices : an introduction to bilingualism

Abstract: Preface.Acknowledgments.1. Introduction.Multiple Voices: The Word from China.1.1 Introduction.1.2 Bilinguals and their languages.1.3 Views about bilinguals.1.4 Learning a second language.1.5 Where did bilingualism come from?.1.6 Linguists: what they know and don't know.1.7 Why so many languages?.1.8 The rationale for many languages today.1.9 Attitudes about language.1.10 Linguistics and bilingualism.1.11 Why bilingualism matters to you.1.12 Bilingualism: Practical considerations.1.13 How the book is organized.1.14 Words and phrases to remember..2. What's a Language? What's a Dialect? What "Social Work" do they do?.Multiple voices: the word from italy.2.1 Introduction.2.2 What counts as a language?.2.3 Problems with mutual intelligibility.2.4 Dialects as groupings under a language.2.5 The written language and dialects.2.6 Identifying the standard dialect.2.7 Who speaks a dialect?.2.8 Summing up.2.9 Words and phrases to remember..3. Who is a Bilingual? What Factors Promote Bilingualism?.Multiple voices: the word from ecuador.3.1 Introduction.3.2 Who is a bilingual?.3.3 Defining bilingualism.3.4 Factors promoting bilingualism.3.5 Conditions of displacement.3.6 Summing up. 3.7 Words and phrases to remember..4. Language Maintenance and Shift. multiple voices: the word from algerians in france.4.1 Introduction.4.2 Three useful models of community organization.4.3 Allocation of varieties.4.4 Diglossia and domains.4.5 Maintenance or shift?.4.6 Representative case studies.4.7 The younger generation and bilingualism.4.8 Separating language maintenance from cultural maintenance.4.9 Summing up.4.10 Words and phrases to remember..5. Ideologies and Attitudes.multiple voices: the word from papua new guinea.5.1 Introduction.5.2 Language attitudes vs. cultural ideologies.5.3 Power and the economy of language.5.4 How languages identify groups.5.5 Language attitudes.5.6 Theoretical models and the expression of attitudes.5.7 Language ideology.5.8 Summing up.5.9 Words and phrases to remember..6. The Social Motivations for Language Use in Interpersonal Interactions.multiple voices: the word from turks in the netherlands.6.1 Introduction.6.2 Linguistic varieties as social indices.6.3 More than meets the ear.6.4 Language varieties absorb meanings from situations.6.5 Speakers have their own motivations for choices, too.6.6 Models to explain conversational choices.6.7 What accommodation means.6.8 Markedness Model: another model of social motivations.6.9 Code choices within a Conversation Analysis approach.6.10 Summary on explaining bilingual choices.6.11 Summing up.6.12 Words and phrases to remember..7. Inter-Cultural Communication.multiple voices: the word from indians in england.7.1 Introduction.7.2 Languages are different and so are cultures.7.3 Dividing up societies as individualistic or collectivistic.7.4 High- and low-context messages.7.5 Five areas of potential differences.7.6 Is silence golden?.7.7 Ideas about "good" conversational routines differ.7.8 The faces of politeness.7.9 How to ask for something in different cultures.7.10 Cross-cultural ideas about power differentials.7.11 Managing cross-cultural conflicts.7.12 Summing up.7.13 Words and phrases to remember..8. Lexical Borrowing.multiple voices: the word from kenya.8.1 Introduction.8.2 Lexical borrowing.8.3 Cultural and core borrowings.8.4 Core borrowings.8.5 Less direct borrowings.8.6 How borrowed words are integrated.8.7 Morphological integration.8.8 Nouns versus other categories.8.9 What borrowings can tell us.8.10 Summing up.8.11 Words and phrases to remember..9. What Happens to Grammars in Bilingual Contacts.multiple voices: the word from palestinians in the u.s.9.1 Introduction.9.2 Codeswitching.9.3 A model for classic codeswitching.9.4 How other approaches to codeswitching from the MLF model.9.5 Singly-occurring words as borrowings or codeswitches?.9.6 Conclusions on singly-occurring words in codeswitching.9.7 Larger Embedded Language phrases in Matrix Language frames.9.8 The 4-M model.9.9 Convergence and attrition.9.10 Creation of pidgins and creoles.9.11 Pidgins.9.12 Creoles.9.13 Summing up.9.14 Words and phrases to remember..10. Psycholinguistics and Bilingualism.multiple voices: the word from hungary.10.1 Introduction.10.2 Themes in psycholinguistics and bilingualism.10.3 Classifying bilinguals.10.4 Validity and experimental methodologies.10.5 The mental lexicon.10.6 Level of activation.10.7 Testing for selective access.10.8 Summary on experiments.10.9 Models of language production.10.10 Memory.10.11 Bilingualism, the brain, and aphasia.10.12 Summing up.10.13 Words and phrases to remember..11. Age of Acquisition and Success with a Second Language.multiple voices: croatian-australians in australia.11.1 Introduction.11.2 Introducing child bilingualism.11.3 Successes in child bilingualism studies.11.4 But is bilingualism an advantage or a disadvantage?.11.5 Does early acquisition affect some systems the most?.11.6 Learning a second language later.11.7 Age-related issues and the brain.11.8 Second language acquisition (SLA) as formal instruction.11.9 Summing up.11.10 Words and phrases to remember..12. Language Policies and Globalization.multiple voices: the word from an american in norway.12.1 Introduction.12.2 What are the parts of language planning?.12.3 Status planning.12.4 Corpus planning.12.5 Acquisition planning.12.6 English in the world.12.7 The European Union and Europe's new industry: translating.12.8 Summing up.12.9 Words and phrases to remember..13. Conclusions.multiple voices: the word from haitians in new york usa.13.1 Some themes to remember.13.2 Guidelines for understanding speakers in relation to their languages..References.Index of Authors.Index of Languages.Index of Subjects.

Individual Differences in Second-Language Proficiency Does Musical Ability Matter?

Abstract: This study examined the relation between musical ability and second-language (L2) proficiency in adult learners. L2 ability was assessed in four domains: receptive phonology, productive phonology, syntax, and lexical knowledge. Also assessed were various other factors that might explain individual differences in L2 ability, including age of L2 immersion, patterns of language use and exposure, and phonological short-term memory. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine if musical ability explained any unique variance in each domain of L2 ability after controlling for other relevant factors. Musical ability predicted L2 phonological ability (both receptive and productive) even when controlling for other factors, but did not explain unique variance in L2 syntax or lexical knowledge. These results suggest that musical skills may facilitate the acquisition of L2 sound structure and add to a growing body of evidence linking language and music.

A New Approach to Assessing Strategic Learning: The Case of Self-Regulation in Vocabulary Acquisition

Abstract: This article draws on work done in educational psychology to propose a new approach to generating a psychometrically-based measure of second language learners’ strategic learning, operationalized as their self-regulatory capacity ,a s an alternative to the scales traditionally used to quantify language learning strategy use. The self-regulation instrument was developed through a three-phase process, focusing on the realm of vocabulary learning. The first phase involved the generation of an item pool, the second a pilot study in a sizeable sample, and the third an evaluation of the psychometric properties of the revised instrument, using confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis. The results show that the proposed instrument has satisfactory psychometric characteristics and that the hypothesized theoretical model had a good fit with the data. We argue that the results provide evidence for the validity of transferring the theoretical construct of self-regulation from educational psychology to the area of second language acquisition. We also propose that instruments targeting learner self-regulation in a similar way to the questionnaire presented in this study can provide a more psychometrically sound measure of strategic learning than traditional language learning strategy scales.

Individual differences in second language acquisition

Abstract: Ever since the early days of its existence, the field of psychology has been trying to achieve two different and somewhat contradictory objectives: to understand the general principles of the human mind and to explore the uniqueness of the individual mind. The latter direction has formed an independent subdiscipline within the field, usually referred to as individual difference (ID) research. IDs are a prominent feature of SLA because a great deal of the variation in language learning outcomes is attributable, either directly or indirectly, to various learner characteristics. This paper first provides an overview of the five most important ID variables (personality, aptitude, motivation, learning styles and learning strategies) and then concludes by describing certain common themes in contemporary ID research.

Teaching Young Language Learners

Abstract: A guide for teachers of young language learners exploring the links between research-driven theory and actual teaching practice in the classroom. How does research into how children learn a new language feed into what actually happens in the classroom? Teaching Young Language Learners addresses this question by looking at different issues surrounding the teaching of language to primary-level children, including: language skills, vocabulary and grammar, learning to learn, adapting and designing materials, planning and assessment, and research.

Vocabulary acquisition from extensive reading: A case study

Abstract: A number of studies have shown that second language learners acquire vocabulary through reading, but only relatively small amounts. However, most of these studies used only short texts, measured only the acquisition of meaning, and did not credit partial learning of words. This case study of a learner of French explores whether an extensive reading program can enhance lexical knowledge. The study assessed a relatively large number of words (133), and examined whether one month of extensive reading enhanced knowledge of these target words' spelling, meaning, and grammatical characteristics. The measurement procedure was a one-on-one interview that allowed a very good indication of whether learning occurred. The study also explores how vocabulary acquisition varies according to how often words are encountered in the texts. The results showed that knowledge of 65% of the target words was enhanced in some way, for a pickup rate of about 1 of every 1.5 words tested. Spelling was strongly enhanced, even from a small number of exposures. Meaning and grammatical knowledge were also enhanced, but not to the same extent. Overall, the study indicates that more vocabulary acquisition is possible from extensive reading than previous studies have suggested.

Selective Attention and Transfer Phenomena in L2 Acquisition: Contingency, Cue Competition, Salience, Interference, Overshadowing, Blocking, and Perceptual Learning

Abstract: If first language is rational in the sense that acquisition produces an end-state model of language that is a proper reflection of input and that optimally prepares speakers for comprehension and production, second language is usually not. This paper considers the apparent irrationalities of L2 acquisition, that is the shortcomings where input fails to become intake. It describes how ‘learned attention’, a key concept in contemporary associative and connectionist theories of animal and human learning, explains these effects. The fragile features of L2 acquisition are those which, however available as a result of frequency, recency, or context, fall short of intake because of one of the factors of contingency, cue competition, salience, interference, overshadowing, blocking, or perceptual learning, which are all shaped by the L1. Each phenomenon is explained within associative learning theory and exemplified in language learning. Paradoxically, the successes of L1 acquisition and the limitations of L2 acquisition both derive from the same basic learning principles.

Age and Second Language Acquisition and Processing: A Selective Overview

Abstract: This article provides a selective overview of theoretical issues and empirical findings relating to the question of age and second language acquisition (L2A). Both behavioral and brain-based data are discussed in the contexts of neurocognitive aging and cognitive neurofunction in the mature individual. Moving beyond the classical notion of “deficient” L2 processing and acquisition, we consider the complementary question of learner potential in postadolescent L2A.

Cognitive and Sociocultural Perspectives: Two Parallel SLA Worlds?.

Abstract: Looking back at the past 15 years in the field of second language acquisition (SLA), the authors select and discuss several important developments. One is the impact of various sociocultural perspectives such as Vygotskian sociocultural theory, language socialization, learning as changing participation in situated practices, Bakhtin and the dialogic perspective, and critical theory. Related to the arrival of these perspectives, the SLA field has also witnessed debates concerning understandings of learning and the construction of theory. The debate discussed in this article involves conflicting ontologies. We argue that the traditional positivist paradigm is no longer the only prominent paradigm in the field: Relativism has become an alternative paradigm. Tensions, debates, and a growing diversity of theories are healthy and stimulating for a field like SLA.

Feedback, noticing and instructed second language learning

Abstract: Second language acquisition researchers have claimed that feedback provided during conversational interaction facilitates second language (L2) acquisition. A number of experimental studies have supported this claim, connecting interactional feedback with L2 development. Researchers have suggested that interactional feedback is associated with L2 learning because it prompts learners to notice L2 forms. This study explores the relationships between feedback, instructed ESL learners’ noticing of L2 form during classroom interactions and their subsequent L2 development. Interactional feedback was provided to learners in response to their production problems with questions, plurals, and past tense forms. Learners’ noticing was assessed through on-line learning journals, introspective comments while viewing classroom videotapes, and questionnaire responses. Through a controlled pre-test, post-test design, analyses of noticing and learning were carried out for each learner. The results point to an interesting, complex and positive relationship between interactional feedback in the classroom, the learners’ reports about noticing and their learning of L2 question forms.

Language Acquisition as Rational Contingency Learning

Abstract: This paper considers how fluent language users are rational in their language processing, their unconscious language representation systems optimally prepared for comprehension and production, how language learners are intuitive statisticians, and how acquisition can be understood as contingency learning. But there are important aspects of second language acquisition that do not appear to be rational, where input fails to become intake. The paper describes the types of situation where cognition deviates from rationality and it introduces how the apparent irrationalities of L2 acquisition result from standard phenomena of associative learning as encapsulated in the models of Rescorla and Wagner (1972) and Cheng and Holyoak (1995), which describe how cue salience, outcome importance, and the history of learning from multiple probabilistic cues affect the development of ‘learned selective attention’ and transfer. This article considers how fluent language users are rational in their language processing, rational in the sense that their unconscious language representation systems are optimally prepared for comprehension and production. In this view, language learners are intuitive statisticians, weighing the likelihoods of interpretations and predicting which constructions are likely in the current context, and language acquisition is contingency learning, that is the gathering of information about the relative frequencies of form‐function mappings. These arguments are well supported by the psycholinguistic evidence relating to first language. But there are important aspects of second language acquisition that do not appear to accord with this characterization, those aspects where despite massive experience of naturalistic input and usage, the system fails to become optimally tuned to represent the second language forms, their functions, and their contextualized likelihoods of occurrence. The article builds the framework for an explanation of the seeming irrationalities of L2 acquisition in terms of standard phenomena of associative learning involving ‘learned selective attention.’ In order to place L1 and L2 in the context of a rational analysis of language learning, I first illustrate the problem by considering the design of word processors of a more mechanical kind than is the ultimate goal of our inquiry. Having thus set a concrete stage, I outline the process of the rational analysis of learning and memory (Anderson 1989, 1991b; Anderson and Milson 1989; Anderson and Schooler 2000). Next I describe some statistical

Task-Based Language Education: From Theory to Practice

Abstract: Chapter 1 Introduction: Task-based language teaching in a nutshell, Chapter 2 From needs to tasks: Language learning needs in a task-based approach, Chapter 3 Tasks for absolute beginners ... and beyond: Developing and sequencing tasks at basic proficiency levels, Chapter 4 Developing language tasks for primary and secondary education, Chapter 5 Task-based language teaching in science education and vocational training, 6 TBLT and ICT: Developing and assessing interactive multimedia for task-based language teaching, Chapter 7 Developing and introducing task-based language tests, Chapter 8 The role of the teacher in TBLT, Chapter 9 A box full of feelings: Promoting infants' second language acquisition all day long, Chapter 10 Teacher training: Task-based as well?

Language history questionnaire: A Web-based interface for bilingual research

Abstract: A Web-based interface has been developed to facilitate researchers in collecting language history information online. Most researchers use their own versions of language history questionnaires for specific studies in second language acquisition. Although these versions of questionnaires all differ from one another in some respects, there is a significant amount of overlap between them. Here we identify the crucial dimensions that most investigators consider important to include in such a questionnaire. We have examined the most commonly asked questions in 41 published questionnaires, and on the basis of our analyses we propose a general L2 language history questionnaire. Subjects can enter some or all of the information on the Web, and the results are automatically generated as an RTF output file on the user’s desktop.

The socio-educational model of Second Language Acquisition: A research paradigm

Abstract: In this paper I discuss our socio-educational model of second language acquisition and demonstrate how it provides a fundamental research paradigm to investigate the role of attitudes and motivation in learning another language. This is a general theoretical model designed explicitly for the language learning situation, and is applicable to both foreign and second language learning contexts. It has three important features. First, it satisfies the scientific requirement of parsimony in that it involves a limited number of operationally defined constructs. Second, it has associated with it the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) that yields reliable assessments of its major constructs, permitting empirical tests of the model. Third, it is concerned with the motivation to learn and become fluent in another language, and not simply with task and/or classroom motivation.

Theories in second language acquisition : an introduction

Abstract: Contributors Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1. Introduction: The Nature of Theories Bill VanPatten, Jessica Williams, Gregory D. Keating and Stefanie Wulff Chapter 2. Linguistic Theory, Universal Grammar, and Second Language Acquisition Lydia White Chapter 3. One Functional Approach to L2 Acquisition: The Concept-Orientated Approach Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig Chapter 4. Usage-Based Approaches to L2 Acquisition Nick C. Ellis and Stefanie Wulff Chapter 5. Skill Acquisition Theory Robert DeKeyser Chapter 6. Input Processing in Adult L2 Acquisition Bill VanPatten Chapter 7. The Declarative/Procedural Model: A Neurobiologically Motivated Theory of First and Second Language Michael T. Ullman Chapter 8. Processability Theory Manfred Pienemann and Anke Lenzing Chapter 9. Input, Interaction, and Output in L2 Acquisition Susan M. Gass and Alison Mackey Chapter 10. Sociocultural Theory and L2 Development James P. Lantolf, Matthew E. Poehner, and Steven L. Thorne Chapter 11. Complex Dynamic Systems Theory Diane Larsen-Freeman Chapter 12. Theories and Language Teaching Bill VanPatten Glossary Index

Elicited Imitation as a Measure of L2 Implicit Knowledge: An Empirical Validation Study

Abstract: A key issue in the field of second language acquisition has been the difficulty of specifying accurate measures of implicit language knowledge. This paper describes the development of an elicited imitation test. Its design differs from that of most other elicited imitation tests in that it (a) requires test takers to focus attention first on the meaning of the utterance before repeating it and (b) some of the sentences that test takers are presented with are grammatical and others are ungrammatical. Test takers are asked to repeat sentences in correct English. It is hypothesized that (a) requiring test takers to respond to the meaning of an utterance reduces the likelihood that they will explicitly focus on linguistic form and thus access explicit language knowledge and that (b) spontaneous correction of incorrect sentences is a powerful indication of participants’ constraints on internal grammar (Munnich et al. 1994). The test is trialled on a baseline group of 20 native speakers and a sample of 95 second language learners. Evidence which would suggest that this test is a likely measure of implicit language knowledge is presented.

Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign Language Learning

Abstract: Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. Different types of cross-linguistic similarities 3. Learner expectations, on-line comprehension and receptive learning 4. Cross-linguistic similarities in comprehension and production: The mental lexicon 5. Transfer: the use of cross-linguistic similarities. The Finnish scene 6. Tests of English comparing Finnish and Swedish speakers in Finland 7. Levels of transfer: Items and procedures (systems) 8. Item transfer in production: areas of language 9. Skill theory, automaticity, and foreign language learning 10. The development of foreign language learning 1 1. Consequences for teaching 12. Further research needed 13. Conclusion Endnotes Appendices

The competition model

Abstract: Introduction One outgrowth of psycholinguists' increasing attention to languages with various structural features is the Competition Model (CM) of MacWhinney and Bates (1989). Invoking emergentist concepts from functional linguistics and cognitive psychology, this model seeks to integrate the traditions of L1 acquisition, L2 acquisition, and adult processing research without relying on hard-wiring of principles from Universal Grammar. This chapter will outline the model, and then review some of the major findings of research it has inspired, with a focus on sentence comprehension in Japanese and Korean. Outline of the competition model Cue coalition and competition Although the Competition Model addresses issues in both production and comprehension, the majority of studies have focused on comprehension, because it is easier to control experimentally. Many of those studies have examined comprehension of simple sentences with two noun phrases and one transitive verb phrase. Others have looked at comprehension of datives (McDonald, 1987), causatives (Sasaki, 1998), relative clauses (MacWhinney & Pleh, 1988), and pronouns (McDonald & MacWhinney, 1995), as well as sentence production (Bates & Devescovi, 1989). In standard CM experiments, participants listen to sentences and then judge which of the two nouns was the actor. Young children do this by selecting between toys, or enacting the scene with them (enactment task). Older children and adults may press a button or name the noun.

Modelling Learning Difficulty and Second Language Proficiency: The Differential Contributions of Implicit and Explicit Knowledge

Abstract: This article re-examines the question of what makes some grammatical structures more difficult to learn than others, arguing that this question can only be properly understood and investigated with reference to the distinction between implicit and explicit knowledge of a second language. Using a battery of tests that were designed to measure implicit and explicit L2 grammatical knowledge of seventeen grammatical structures (Ellis 2005), learning difficulty in relation to these two types of knowledge was investigated. The results showed that structures that were easy in terms of implicit knowledge were often difficult in terms of explicit knowledge and sometimes vice versa and that, overall, there was no correlation between the rank orders of difficulty of seventeen grammatical structures for the two types of knowledge. A correlational analysis showed that the structures varied as to whether it was implicit or explicit knowledge of them that was related to a measure of general language proficiency. A regression analysis demonstrated that both types of knowledge predict general language proficiency.

Rethinking task design for the digital age: A framework for language teaching and learning in a synchronous online environment

Abstract: This article discusses a framework for the development of tasks in a synchronous online environment used for language learning and teaching. It shows how a theoretical approach based on second language acquisition (SLA) principles, sociocultural and constructivist theories, and concepts taken from research on multimodality and new literacies, can influence the design and implementation of tasks for computer-mediated communication (CMC). The findings are based on a study conducted at the Open University, a study which examined all three levels of theory, design and implementation. The paper first presents the underlying theories in more detail before examining how these theories are translated into the design of tasks for language tutorials via an audio-graphic conferencing tool. Finally it looks at how the design was implemented in practice by focusing on a number of issues such as student–student and student–tutor interaction, feedback, use of multimodal tools, and the differences between teaching face-to-face and online.

A Meta-analysis of Hemodynamic Studies on First and Second Language Processing: Which Suggested Differences Can We Trust and What Do They Mean?

Abstract: This article presents the results of a meta-analysis of 30 hemodynamic experiments comparing first language (L1) and second language (L2) processing in a range of tasks. The results suggest that reliably stronger activation during L2 processing is found (a) only for task-specific subgroups of L2 speakers and (b) within some, but not all regions that are also typically activated in native language processing. A tentative interpretation based on the functional roles of frontal and temporal regions is suggested.

Metaphoric Competence, Second Language Learning, and Communicative Language Ability.

Abstract: Recent developments in cognitive linguistics have highlighted the importance as well as the ubiquity of metaphor in language. Despite this, the ability of second language learners to use metaphors is often still not seen as a core ability. In this paper, we take a model of communicative competence that has been widely influential in both language teaching and language testing, namely Bachman (1990), and argue, giving a range of examples of language use and learner difficulty, that metaphoric competence has in fact an important role to play in all areas of communicative competence. In other words, it can contribute centrally to grammatical competence, textual competence, illocutionary competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. Metaphor is thus highly relevant to second language learning, teaching and testing, from the earliest to the most advanced stages of learning.

Recent research on age, second language acquisition, and early foreign language learning

Abstract: The aim of this chapter is to provide a critical overview of the issues and research conducted since the most recent state-of-the-art article published in the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics by David Singleton (2001). First, we summarize what research has said about the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) in cognitive science and neurobiology, then we review recent findings of age-related studies since 2000 focusing on what late beginners and adults can achieve, and how early and later beginners compare in bilingual programs. The second part of the presentation explores language policy and classroom implications of the CPH for foreign language teaching. As English has become the lingua franca, early programs have mushroomed all over the world. However, besides overwhelming enthusiasm, more recently critical voices can also be heard. On the one hand, early exposure is often seen as a key to success and a solution to all problems in language education; on the other hand, it may be perceived as a threat to first language development and identity. Finally, we explore areas for further research.

Ignorance of Language

Abstract: I. LINGUISTICS IS NOT PSYCHOLOGY II. POSITIONS ON PSYCHOLOGICAL REALITY III. 'PHILOSOPHICAL' ARGUMENTS FOR THE REPRESENTATIONAL THESIS IV. THE RELATION OF LANGUAGE TO THOUGHT V. LANGUAGE USE AND ACQUISITION

Novice Learners, Longitudinal Designs, and Event-Related Potentials: A Means for Exploring the Neurocognition of Second Language Processing.

Abstract: Research on the neurobiology of second language (L2) learning has historically focused on localization questions and relied on cross-sectional designs. Here, we describe an alternative paradigm involving longitudinal studies of adult, novice learners who are progressing through an introductory sequence of classroom-based L2 instruction. The goal of this paradigm is to determine how much L2 exposure is needed before learners incorporate L2 knowledge into their online comprehension processes, as reflected in scalp-recorded event-related brain potentials. Our preliminary studies show that some, but not all, aspects of the L2 (including lexical and morphosyntactic aspects) are incorporated into the comprehension system after remarkably little L2 instruction. We discuss the benefits of this paradigm while acknowledging the limitations and potential difficulties associated with it.

Language learners in study abroad contexts

Abstract: Preface 1. Evolving Threads in Study Abroad Research Eton Churchill & Margaret DuFonPart I 2. Learning to Take Leave in Social Conversations: A Diary Study Tim Hassall (Australian National University) 3. Learning to Say 'you' in German: The Acquisition of Sociolinguistic Competence in a Study Abroad Context Anne Barron (Universitat Bonn)Part II 4. The Socialization of Taste during Study Abroad in Indonesia Margaret A. DuFon 5. Joint Construction of Folk Beliefs by JFL Learners and Japanese Host Families Haruko Minegishi Cook (University of Hawaii at Manoa) 6. Norms of Interaction in a Japanese Homestay Setting: Toward Two-way Flow of Linguistic and Cultural Resources Masakazu Iino (Waseda University)Part III 7. Negotiation in a Japanese Study Abroad Setting Abigail McMeekin (University of Hawaii at Manitoba) 8. Variability in the Study Abroad Classroom and Learner Competence Eton ChurchillPart Iv 9 Study Abroad Social Networks, Motivation, and Attitudes: Implications for Second Language Acquisition Christina L. Isabelli-Garci?½a (Illinois Wesleyan University) 10 Language Learning Strategies in the Study Abroad Context Rebecca Adams(Victoria University of Wellington) References/ Index