Theories in Second Language Acquisition: An Introduction (Second Language Acquisition Research Series)

The price was amazing!

Very easy to find theoretical underpinnings for music planning for any kind of music class, from ensembles to classroom music, from pre-k to 12.

Everyone who works or interested in the field of teaching languages. It summarizes almost all the current theories about teaching a second language.

If you want to get an overview of several mainstream theories in second language acquisition, this isn't a bad place to begin. VanPatten and Williams kick off helpfully by disentangling some oft-confused or misunderstood terms: theory (explains and predicts phenomena); model (describes phenomena); hypothesis (makes a prediction based on a theory); and construct (the key features or mechanisms of a theory). They also enumerate features of language learning that we know about, that must be explained by a theory of language learning, such as the apparently incidental nature of much language learning, and how learners come to know more than could be predicted by the input to which they have been exposed.What follows is an explication of each of several theories, by a chief proponent of that theory. Examples include the availability of Universal Grammar in second language acquisition (Lydia White), a connectionist model with the bizarre name of The Associative-Cognitive CREED (Nick Ellis), and input processing theory (Bill VanPatten). The theory best known to language teachers (indirectly though, by means of task-based teaching methodology) is the input - interaction - output model described here by Susan Gass and Alison Mackey. Teachers may also be able to relate skill acquisition theory (Robert DeKeyser) to the progress (or lack of progress) they see in their students as they pass from declarative knowledge, through procedural knowledge, and finally to automatization. This theory was enacted in the presentation-practice-production (PPP) method, though as DeKeyser points out, the road to automatization can be an awfully long one, and it is unlikely to be achieved in a single lesson. It might help to explain why many learners seem to reach a plateau when they get to an intermediate level of proficiency.Readers of this book are exposed, then, to descriptions of theories by those who have developed and advocated them. This may be an advantage over a single author giving second-hand accounts of each theory, but it does have its disadvantages, too. The readability of the chapters varies hugely, in spite of VanPatten and Williams' attempt to create a book that is accessible for those new to the subject matter. VanPatten's own chapter is straightforward enough, but White's is a challenge without prior knowledge of Chomsykan linguistic theory. Another concern is that the theories are not subject to any kind of critique, and there is no real opportunity for the theories to 'dialogue' with each other across the chapters. Each is presented unproblematically by its advocate. Finally, there is little questioning of the SLA paradigm itself, which treats second language acquisition from a monolingual perspective and treats acquisition as the addition of a separate language system as opposed to a compounding process or the development of multicompetence in the learner. These concerns have been raised by Vivian Cook and echoed by others, but receive little mention here except briefly by Lourdes Ortega in her final summation, where she notes that it is an area that will attract future attention.A greater concern for the field is what to make of this variety of theories that in many ways directly contradict each other. VanPatten and Williams evoke the blind men and the elephant story, which is fine for explaining how different theories might explain different aspects of SLA. This is the case for VanPatten's chapter, for example, which seeks only to explain how input is processed. But it is an inadequate analogy for making sense of the outright contradictions among the theories presented here, among them:- a specialized module for language learning vs. general learning ability as an explanation for how languages are learned;- output as irrelevant to language learning vs. output as essential;- language learning not requiring conscious attention vs. requiring conscious attention;- language learning as incidental vs. language learning requiring explicit instruction.The theories tend to come down on one side or the other of each of these dichotomies, and as such they may be irreconcilable. What this book doesn't do is to show a way out of these contradictions.Still, it is overall a helpful introductory text. Just don't expect the grand theory yet.

A good overview of the current body of research.

Good quality!

The book is great and I received it fast. I would defenitely buy from this seller again.

Dry, dull, boring, and unnecessarily filled with off putting jargon. Read this if you have insomnia.