Books in the Second Language Acquisition series

This collection of empirical studies examines multiple aspects involved in the acquisition, teaching and assessment of pragmatics in second language Chinese. The studies address themes such as the acquisition of key pragmatic features, methodological innovations in pragmatics assessment, individual difference factors and virtual learning contexts.

This volume contains a selection of papers analyzing language transfer, a phenomenon which results from language contact in bilingual and multilingual language acquisition and learning contexts. The main focus of the volume is on the lexical aspects of language transfer.

This book provides an overview of current research on the age factor in foreign language learning, addressing issues, which are critical for language planning. It presents new research on foreign language learning within bilingual communities in formal instruction settings focussing on syntax, phonology, writing, oral skills and learning strategies.

This book closes the gap between theory and practice for teachers and researchers wishing to capitalize on learners' individuality in second or foreign language learning. Issues of content are targeted through a description of the variables of anxiety, beliefs, cognitive abilities, motivation, strategies, styles and willingness to communicate.

Examining the overseas experience of language learners in diverse contexts through a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches, studies in this volume look at the acquisition of language use, socialization processes, learner motivation, identity and learning strategies. In this way, the volume offers a privileged window into learner experiences abroad while addressing current concerns central to second language acquisition.

This book examines the various ways in which age affects the process and the product of foreign language learning in a school setting. It presents studies that cover a wide range of topics, from phonetics to learning strategies. It will be of interest to students and researchers working in SLA research, language planning and language teaching.

This book presents the current state of knowledge in the vibrant and diverse field of vocabulary studies, summarising the latest empirical studies and providing a firm indication of the future of the field. The chapters cover the key themes of theorizing and measuring vocabulary knowledge, formulaic language, and learning and teaching vocabulary.

This book explores the importance of cross-linguistic similarity in foreign language learning. While linguists have primarily focussed upon differences between languages, learners strive to make use of any similarities to prior linguistic knowledge they can perceive. The role of positive transfer is emphasized as well as the essential differences between comprehension and production. In comprehension of related languages, cross-linguistic similarities are easily perceived while in comprehension of distant languages they are merely assumed. Production may be based on previous perception of similarities, but frequently similarities are here merely assumed. Initially, effective learning is based on quick establishment of cross-linguistic one-to-one relations between individual items. As learning progresses, the learner learns to modify such oversimplified relations. The book describes the ways in which transfer affects different areas of language, taking account of the differences between learning a language perceived to be similar and a language where few or no cross-linguistic similarities can be established.

This book examines the evidence relative to the idea that there is an age factor in first and second language acquisition, evidence that has sources ranging from studies of feral children to evaluations of language programmes in primary schools. It goes on to explore the various explanations that have been advanced to account for such evidence. Finally, it looks at the educational ramifications of the age question, with particular regard to formal second language teaching in the early school years and in 'third age' contexts.

Within the complex process of second language acquisition there lies a highly variable component referred to as the silent period, during which some beginning second language learners may not willingly produce the target language. Silence in Second Language Learning claims that the silent period might represent a psychical event, a non-linguistic as well as a linguistic moment in the continuous process of identity formation and re-formation. Colette Granger calls on psychoanalytic concepts of anxiety, ambivalence, conflict and loss, and on language learning narratives, to undertake a theoretical dialogue with the learner as a being engaged in the psychical work of making, and re-making, an identity. Viewed in its entirety, this study takes the form of a kind of triangulation of three elements: the linguistically described phenomenon of the silent period; the psychoanalytically oriented problem of the making of the self; and the real and remembered experiences of individuals who live in the silent space between languages.

This book addresses questions surrounding online second language (L2) communicative activities and formal language learning. It provides empirical evidence and analysis of the scale and nature of L2 English communicative activities online and explores the possibilities for language teaching practices that engage with learners' L2 online activities.

This book provides an up-to-date examination of technology-supported pedagogy and language acquisition in a variety of Japanese as a foreign or second language contexts. It equips readers with practical pedagogical information and ideas for how technology can be applied to achieve a wide range of learning objectives.

This book explores the motivations of adult second language learners in continuing education settings. It focuses on their learning trajectories and related dynamics of identity development and will be useful to language teachers and researchers interested in the role of affective elements in successful adult language learning.

This book treats second language users in their own right rather than as failed native speakers. It describes a range of psychological and linguistic approaches to diverse topics about L2 users. It thus provides an innovative overview of current second language acquisition theories, results and methods, seen from a common perspective.

This book addresses issues of authenticity and interaction in second language contexts from a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches. Contributions focus on authenticity as it relates to patterns of language and meaning, and to agency, identity and culture, and examines authenticity in both classroom and study abroad situations.

This book highlights research-based innovations in experiential learning in domestic settings, with a particular spotlight on the US context. It focuses on three experiential learning contexts: community engagement experiences, professional engagement experiences and other unique experiential contexts such as language camps and houses.

This book is open access under a CC BY licence. It spans the areas of assessment, SLA and pronunciation and examines topical issues and challenges that relate to formal and informal assessments of second language (L2) speech in classroom, research and real-world contexts. It will be of interest to anyone working on L2 pronunciation and assessment.

This volume studies language acquisition among cultural migrants. The chapters investigate different aspects of their linguistic knowledge and production and make an important contribution to our understanding of the possibilities and limits of L2 ultimate attainment.

This book addresses the topic of interactional competence in the area of learning Japanese as a second language. It presents data collected from learners studying abroad in Japan to explain developments in their interactional competence as found in their use of speech styles and co-construction of an utterance.

This book addresses issues and debates at the centre of English pronunciation teaching. It offers new theoretical ideas and practical solutions to phonodidactic problems that arise in EFL contexts, approaching pronunciation instruction from global and local perspectives and supporting its theoretical claims with extensive empirical evidence.

This book brings together ideas on identifying and measuring second language proficiency. The chapters introduce a range of tools for the evaluation of learners' language level with respect to both productive and receptive skills and provide a variety of answers to the question of how to assess L2 proficiency in a valid, reliable and practical way.

This collection of papers brings together a diverse range of conceptualisations of the self in the domain of second language acquisition and foreign language learning. The volume attempts to unite a fragmented field and provides a thorough overview of the ways in which the self can be conceptualised in SLA contexts.

This book evaluates a project where formal classroom learning of a second language was supplemented with informal, natural interactions with older native speakers of the target language, delivering a number of pedagogical and societal benefits. It introduces a model of language learning for students that can be used for any language or locality.

This book explores the role of identity in adolescent foreign language learning. It presents both qualitative and quantitative research, as well as a new model of identity, to support the claim that discrepancy in the display of the self can affect achievement in education.

This book broaches the question of the social impact of age on language learners from a social constructionist perspective, thus filling a gap currently existing in the literature on age and second language acquisition.

This book examines L2 learners' development of pragmatic competence - the appropriate language use in a social context. It reveals patterns of development across different aspects of pragmatic abilities measured over one year and presents the participants' experiences and the individual characteristics that shaped their developmental trajectories.

This book offers an insight into the dynamics and complexities of learning and teaching English as a foreign language at primary level.It presents the findings of longitudinal research undertaken in Croatia and discusses their contribution to understanding EFL development in the young learner and impact on practices in the modern EFL classroom.

This monograph reports on a longitudinal inquiry into mainland Chinese undergraduates' language learning experiences in an English medium university. The inquiry reveals dynamic interaction between agency and contextual conditions underlying the participants' strategic learning efforts in a multilingual setting.