How Languages are Learned 4e / Edition 4

by Patsy Lightbown, Nina Spada

Overview

A thoroughly updated edition of this prize-winning, readable introduction to the main theories of first and second language acquisition.

This book introduces you to some of the language acquisition research that will help you not just to evaluate existing materials, but also to adapt and use them in a way that fits what we currently understand about how languages are learned.

-Content including new research and new areas in pedagogy to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of research in the field.
-Chapter Preview s and Summaries with round-up questions.
-Companion website with vodcasts, content updates, and shared user content.
-Also available as an e-book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780194541268
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/21/2013
Series:	Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	1,087,392
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Patsy M. Lightbown is Distinguished Professor Emerita at Concordia University in Montreal and Past President of the American Association for Applied Linguistics. Her research focuses on how instruction and feedback affect second-language acquisition in classrooms where the emphasis is on "communicative" or "content-based" language teaching. The contexts for her work have included elementary schools in Canada and, more recently, dual-language bilingual classes in the U.S. Nina Spada is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Modern Language Centre, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Canada. Her main areas of professional interest are second language acquisition, classroom research in L2 teaching and learning, and English as a Second Language.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements xi

Preface to the fourth edition xiii

Introduction 1

Before we begin… 2

1 Language learning in early childhood 5

Preview 5

First language acquisition 5

The first three years: Milestones and developmental sequences 6

The pre-school years 12

The school years 13

Explaining first language acquisition 14

The behaviourist perspective 15

The innatist perspective 20

Interactionist/developmental perspectives 24

Language disorders and delays 29

Childhood bilingualism 30

Summary 33

Suggestions for further reading 34

2 Second language learning 35

Preview 35

Learner characteristics 36

Learning conditions 38

Studying the language of second language learners 40

Contrastive analysis, error analysis, and interlanguage 41

Developmental sequences 45

More about first language influence 57

Vocabulary 60

Pragmatics 65

Phonology 68

Sampling learners' language 72

Summary 72

Suggestions for further reading 73

3 Individual differences in second language learning 75

Preview 75

Research on learner characteristics 77

Intelligence 79

Language learning aptitude 80

Learning styles 83

Personality 84

Attitudes and motivation 87

Motivation in the classroom 88

Identity and ethnic group affiliation 89

Learner beliefs 90

Individual differences and classroom instruction 92

Age and second language learning 92

The critical period: More than just pronunciation? 94

Intuitions of grammaticality 95

Rate of learning 96

Age and second language instruction 96

Summary 99

Suggestions for further reading 100

4 Explaining second language learning 103

Preview 103

The behaviourist perspective 103

Second language applications: Mimicry and memorization 103

The innatist perspective 104

Second language applications: Krashen's 'Monitor Model' 106

The cognitive perspective 108

Information processing 108

Usage-based learning 110

The competition model 111

Language and the brain 113

Second language applications: Interacting, noticing, processing, and practising 113

The sociocultural perspective 118

Second language applications: Learning by talking 119

Summary 120

Suggestions for further reading 121

5 Observing learning and teaching in the second language classroom 123

Preview 123

Natural and instructional settings 123

In natural acquisition settings 124

In structure-based instructional settings 126

In communicative instructional settings 127

Observation schemes 129

Classroom comparisons: Teacher-student interactions 129

Classroom comparisons: Student-student interactions 135

Corrective feedback in the classroom 139

Questions in the classroom 145

Ethnography 149

Summary 151

Suggestions for further reading 152

6 Second language learning in the classroom 153

Preview 153

Proposals for teaching 153

1 Get it right from the beginning 154

2 Just listen … and read 159

3 Let's talk 165

4 Get two for one 171

5 Teach what is teachable 177

6 Get it right in the end 182

Assessing the proposals 194

Summary 197

Suggestions for further reading 198

7 Popular ideas about language learning revisited 201

Preview 201

Reflecting on the popular ideas: Learning from research 201

Conclusion 212

Glossary 213

Bibliography 227

Index 249