From stay-abroad research to SLA theory

In the field of second language (L2) acquisition, the number of studies focusing on L2 pronunciation instruction and perceptual/production training has increased as new classroom methodologies have been proposed and new goals for L2 pronunciation have been set. This book brings together different approaches to L2 pronunciation research in the classroom or in the language laboratory. 13 chapters, written by well-known researchers focusing on a variety of first and target languages, are divided into four parts: Pronunciation development and intelligibility: implications for teaching and training studies; L2 pronunciation teaching; L2 pronunciation training: implications for the classroom; and Pronunciation in the laboratory: High Variability Phonetic Training. Intended for researchers in the fields of second language acquisition, phonetics, phonology, psycholinguistics, speech therapies, speech technology, as well as second language teaching, this book not only summarizes the current research questions on L2 pronunciation teaching and training, but also predicts future scenarios for both researchers and practitioners in the field.

Over the past few decades, the field of second language acquisition (SLA) has seen a remarkable increase of interest in the study of instructed second language acquisition (ISLA), which “investigates second language (L2) learning or acquisition that occurs as a result of teaching” (Loewen, 2014, p. 2). The ISLA literature shows that there is an array of pedagogical options that can be used to facilitate adult L2 learning, ranging from implicit to explicit techniques. Furthermore, the effectiveness of an instructional treatment seems to depend largely on the nature of the L2 feature (e.g., Ellis, 2002; Spada & Tomita, 2010). However, extant empirical studies have yielded rather mixed findings on the issue regarding which type of L2 feature benefits more from which type of instruction, rendering it difficult to provide straightforward guidance to L2 classroom teachers. There are several reasons for the disparities in research findings, such as differences in study designs, settings, learner characteristics, etc., but above anything else, the inconsistent findings can primarily be attributed to the varying conceptualizations of complexity. With an aim to enlighten future research in this line of inquiry, the present discussion emphasizes the need for a more integral definition of complexity.

This chapter discusses key issues in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) that underpin the teaching and development of L2 grammar. The chapter makes use of Arabic-specific examples to illustrate how theoretical debates on the nature of L2 knowledge can affect classroom grammar instruction practices. Finally, the chapter will examine the results of recent Arabic L2 grammar acquisition studies to introduce the reader to current trends in the field of Arabic SLA. The chapter will conclude with both theoretical implications and practical suggestions for the researcher and the educator alike.

This paper explores the contributions of Answer Set Programming (ASP) to the study of an established theory from the field of Second Language Acquisition:Input Processing. The theory describes default strategies that learners of a second language use in extracting meaning out of a text based on their knowledge of the second language and their background knowledge about the world. We formalized this theory in ASP, and as a result we were able to determine opportunities for refining its natural language description, as well as directions for future theory development. We applied our model to automating the prediction of how learners of English would interpret sentences containing the passive voice. We present a system,PIas, that uses these predictions to assist language instructors in designing teaching materials.

This paper explores the contributions of Answer Set Programming ASP to the study of an established theory from the field of Second Language Acquisition: Input Processing. The theory describes default strategies that learners of a second language use in extracting meaning out of a text, based on their knowledge of the second language and their background knowledge about the world. We formalized this theory in ASP, and as a result we were able to determine opportunities for refining its natural language description, as well as directions for future theory development. We applied our model to automating the prediction of how learners of English would interpret sentences containing the passive voice. We present a system, PIas, that uses these predictions to assist language instructors in designing teaching materials.

In this article, we begin by delineating the background to and motivations behindFirth and Wagner (1997), wherein we called for a reconceptualization of second language acquisition (SLA) research. We then outline and comment upon some of our critics' reactions to the article. Next we review and discuss the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological impact the article has had on the SLA field. Thereafter, we reengage and develop some of the themes raised but left undeveloped in the 1997 article. These themes cluster around the notions of and interrelationships between language use, language learning, and language acquisition. Although we devote space to forwarding the position that the dichotomy of languageuseandacquisitioncannot defensibly be maintained (and in this we take up a contrary position to that held in mainstream SLA), our treatment of the issues is essentially methodological. We focus on describing a variety of aspects oflearning‐in‐action, captured in transcripts of recordings of naturally occurring foreign, second, or other language interactions. Through transcript analyses, we explore the possibilities of describing learning‐in‐action devoid of cognitivistic notions of language and learning. In so doing, we advance moves to formulate and establish a reconceptualized SLA.

202LANGUAGE, VOLUME 68, NUMBER 1 (1992) to another discussion in Aitchison's chapter on psycholinguistics. The chapter on sociolinguistics by James Milroy & Leslie Milroy does not cross-reference the chapter by Martin Durrell on dialectology, and vice versa. These are minor flaws, though, in a very useful and welcome contribution to the basic reference literature. REFERENCES Bright, William (ed.) 1992. Oxford international encyclopedia of linguistics. 4 vols. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press. Crystal, David. 1987. The Cambridge encyclopedia of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hanks, William F. 1989. Texts and textuality. Annual Review of Anthropology 18.95— 127. Newmeyer, Frederick J. (ed.) 1988. Linguistics: The Cambridge survey. Vol. I, Linguistic theory: Foundations; vol. II, Linguistic theory: Extensions and implications ; vol. IH, Language: Psychological and biological aspects; vol. IV, Language: The sociocultural context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ogden, C. K., and I. A. Richards. 1956. The meaning of meaning. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Department of Anthropology[Received 24 January 1991 ; University of Arizonarevision received 12 March 1991.] Tucson, AZ 85721 Linguistic theory in second language acquisition. Edited by Suzanne Flynn and Wayne O'Neil. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1988. Pp. xii, 443. Cloth $79.00. Reviewed by Sara Thomas Rosen, University of Kansas Linguistic theory in second language acquisition (LTSLA) contains papers presented at the Conference on Linguistic Theory and Second Language Acquisition held at MIT in the Fall of 1985. The purpose of the conference, and of the book, was to relate the principles and parameters view of the representation of language to the representation and acquisition of a second language. The value of the book lies in placing the field of second language acquisition within theoretical linguistics. On a strong theory of the innateness of the principles of grammar (as espoused in, e.g., Chomsky 1986), much knowledge of language is not, and indeed cannot be, learned: because the core universal principles of grammar are part of our biological endowment, they need not be learned and cannot be broken or violated. Further, what is learned includes the settings ofa limited number ofparameters. Thus, a major portion oflearning a first language consists of determining the correct values of innately defined parameters. The main questions addressed in LTSLA concern the availability of this innate universal core to an adult second language learner. Is universal grammar (UG) available in any form to the second language learner, or must the learner resort to nonlinguistic cognitive mechanisms in order to learn a second language? The reader quickly finds that the answers to these questions are quite subtle and complex, and the evidence does not resoundingly favor one view or the other. REVIEWS203 In the introductory chapters to the book, Flynn & O'Neil, Ken Hale, and Frederick J. Newmeyer & Steven H. Weinberger outline the main questions the field of second language acquisition has faced and place them within a UG framework. The two prominent theories for addressing these questions are (i) contrastive analysis, which posits the transfer offeatures or parametric settings from the speaker's first language (Ll) to the second language (L2), and (ii) creative construction, which holds that the L2 learner reverts to UG and creates from scratch the features or parameter settings of the second language. Most chapters in LTSLA examine these two hypotheses (e.g. the papers by Flynn, Harald Clahsen, Irene Mazurkewich, Lydia White, Michael Sharwood Smith, Juana M. Liceras, J. W. Gair, Liliane Haegeman, Sascha W. Felix, Ellen Broselow, and Barbara Lust). The general approach is to choose a parameter P of UG for which the setting differs in speakers' Ll and L2, and to examine the L2 acquisition of constructions affected by P. With respect to the two prevailing theories of L2 acquisition, the various authors consider whether the L2 acquirer copies the setting of P from Ll to L2 (contrastive learning, or transfer), or whether the acquirer reverts to the unmarked setting of P, and proceeds from there (creative construction). In studying the availability of UG to the L2 learner, Flynn examines the acquisition of the values of the head parameter and of anaphora, Mazurkewich and White each argue for a markedness hierarchy in L2 acquisition similar to that in Ll acquisition. Clahsen presents evidence from word order in German...

This article argues for a reconceptualization of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research that would enlarge the ontological and empirical parameters of the field. We claim that methodologies, theories, and foci within SLA reflect an imbalance between cognitive and mentalistic orientations, and social and contextual orientations to language, the former orientation being unquestionably in the ascendancy. This has resulted in a skewed perspective on discourse and communication, which conceives of the foreign language speaker as a deficient communicator struggling to overcome an underdeveloped L2 competence, striving to reach the “target” competence of an idealized native speaker (NS). We contend that SLA research requires a significantly enhanced awareness of the contextual and interactional dimensions of language use, an increased “emic” (i.e., participant‐relevant) sensitivity towards fundamental concepts, and the broadening of the traditional SLA data base. With such changes in place, the field of SLA has the capacity to become a theoretically and methodologically richer, more robust enterprise, better able to explicate the processes of second or foreign language (S/FL) acquisition, and better situated to engage with and contribute to research commonly perceived to reside outside its boundaries.

This article argues for a reconceptualization of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research that would enlarge the ontological and empirical parameters of the field. We claim that methodologies, theories, and foci within SLA reflect an imbalance between cognitive and mentalistic orientations, and social and contextual orientations to language, the former orientation being unquestionably in the ascendancy. This has resulted in a skewed perspective on discourse and communication, which conceives of the foreign language speaker as a deficient communicator struggling to overcome an underdeveloped L2 competence, striving to reach the “target” competence of an idealized native speaker (NS). We contend that SLA research requires a significantly enhanced awareness of the contextual and interactional dimensions of language use, an increased “emic” (i.e., participant‐relevant) sensitivity towards fundamental concepts, and the broadening of the traditional SLA data base. With such changes in place, the field of SLA has the capacity to become a theoretically and methodologically richer, more robust enterprise, better able to explicate the processes of second or foreign language (S/FL) acquisition, and better situated to engage with and contribute to research commonly perceived to reside outside its boundaries.

The Role of Consciousness in Second Language Acquisition Edina Torlakovi! (edina_@scs.carleton.ca) Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies; Cognitive Science, Carleton University 2214 Dunton Tower, 1125 Colonel By Drive Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6 Andrew Brook (abrook@ccs.carleton.ca) Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies; Cognitive Science, Carleton University 2216 Dunton Tower, 1125 Colonel By Drive Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6 Abstract In this paper we argue that in order to resolve the controversy in Second Language Acquisition research concerning whether or not direct instruction is needed for second language acquisition, we need to use a broader sense of ‘consciousness’ than is used by second language researchers. Block's classification of consciousness into Access and Phenomenal consciousness seems promising. We associate Phenomenal consciousness with explicit knowledge and suggest that explicit instruction is useful. It enhances linguistic competence. Introduction This paper addresses a question that is of great importance for Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research. The question is 'what should the role of consciousness in second language (L2) acquisition be?' It is important to answer this question in order to resolve one of the biggest debates in the field of SLA, namely whether or not direct instruction is necessary or even valuable in L2 acquisition. SLA researchers interested in consciousness should start by considering what others have to say about it. This is necessary to develop a comprehensive picture of consciousness. The debate in SLA needs to be informed by an adequate notion of what consciousness is. Only in this way can we reach an adequate view about its role. One place to start is to consider what is said about consciousness in philosophy. We will start by comparing the different definitions of consciousness used by SLA researchers and by philosophers. Next we will introduce the controversy over whether L2 learners need to be conscious of grammar rules to learn the target language. Then we will examine Block’s well-known distinction between access (A) consciousness and phenomenal (P) consciousness and where language, or more specifically second language, fits into this categorization. With this, we might be one step closer to understanding the role of consciousness in L2 learning/acquisition. Issues and Positions Definition(s) of Consciousness How do SLA theorists and philosophers think about consciousness? As it turns out, quite differently. Let us look at some of the similarities and differences. When SLA theorists talk about consciousness, they use the term in a quite narrow sense. Schmidt (1995), for example, points out that there are three different senses of the term 'consciousness' as it is used in SLA theory: levels of perception, noticing, and understanding. By contrast, philosophers have a broader understanding of the term. According to Clark (2001), the possibilities include wakefulness, self-awareness, availability for verbal report, availability for control of intentional action, and qualia. To determine if all these terms are discussing the same, complex entity, they need to be further defined. If one desires to apply concepts of one discipline to another (philosophy to SLA in this case), this is something that we need to know. According to Schmidt, ‘levels of perception’ could be defined as levels of a process of obtaining and perhaps processing information. Schmidt defines ‘noticing’ as rehearsal in short-term memory, while by ‘understanding’ he refers to rule understanding, i.e., grasping the meanings of rules and becoming thoroughly familiar with them. Definitions of the terms from Clark's list of possibilities might go as follows: wakefulness is defined as a state in which we are sensitive to our surroundings and in which we can process incoming information and respond to it appropriately. Self-awareness he defines as a capacity to represent ourselves and to be conscious of ourselves 'as distinct agents'. Availability for verbal report is the capacity to access our own inner states and to describe them using natural language, while qualia concerns how things feel to us. From the above, one can conclude that SLA theorists take consciousness to be something narrower than philosophers

This entry analyzes and synthesizes various studies in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) that appeared after the publication of Frawley and Lantolf's 1985 study and expanded on sociocultural approaches based on Vygotsky's theoretical framework and methodological approach. Researchers interested in diverse facets of SLA both in and out of educational contexts have utilized sociocultural theory in a variety of ways. Some have focused more on the internal aspects of language, the mental processes involved in making and communicating meaning through language activities, while others have focused more on the social, cultural, physical, and historical contexts of second language learning and acquisition. These approaches seek to understand language development in its manifold richness and draw on the experiences and introspections of second language learners, who learn language in very different contexts and situations of development. The entry does not attempt to give a comprehensive account of all of the work that has been done using Vygotsky's core concepts to investigate second language learning, teaching, and acquisition from a sociocultural perspective, but instead focuses on such primary concepts as zone of proximal development; dynamic assessment; inner speech; private speech; the regulatory function of speech; gesture; social situation of development; and the historical and theoretical work that has been central to sociocultural approaches to SLA research and that can contribute to this effort through a reconceptualization of Vygotsky's work.

Under the background of globalisation, multilingual learning has evolved from personal development options to a necessary literacy for survival in modern society. In the process of language learning, people will be more or less influenced by their mastered language, which is the effect of language transfer. Therefore, language transfer has always been an important topic in the field of second language acquisition. When the positive transfer phenomenon occurs, the mother tongue (L1) or the mastered language plays a role in promoting the learning of the target language (L2); on the contrary, when L1 plays a negative role on L2, the negative migration of the language occurs. In order to better reflect the impact of language transfer in the field of second language acquisition and promote the improvement of teaching methods, this article will briefly describe the theories and hypotheses that have far-reaching significance in the field of linguistics so far, and take native Japanese speakers who learn Chinese as an example to explain the performance of positive transfer and negative transfer in grammar, phonetics, etc. The research results will also be analysed, and suggestions will be made for future Chinese learning and textbook preparation.

This chapter addresses the fundamental issue of why themajority of adult L2 learners are unable to reach the level of competence that they have aspired to, usually nativespeaker target-language competence. This problem has been stated most clearly by Kellerman (1995a):In the history of ideas, the place of this phenomenon is even more important. It has been central to second language acquisition since its founding in the late 1960s and may be the main reason why there is a field of second language acquisition at all. Selinker has long thought that the field of second language acquisition was ‘spurred into existence’ (discussed in Long [2003] in the text related to his fn. 1) by the idea that no matter what learners do, they will always be stuck in the second language at some distance fromexpected target-languagenorms. This idea has led to the hypothesis that being stuck in the L2 occurs with most, if not all, learners even at the most advanced stages. It was this idea that forced early SLA researchers, who believed they were working in a contrastive analysis framework (e.g., Briere, 1968;Nemser, 1971; Selinker, 1966), into positing intermediate linguistic systems that in some serious sense do not seem to change. Nemser, for instance, explicitly had the stabilizing idea, which he attributed to Weinreich (1953) where it is explicitly stated in the preface by Martinet.

This volume offers an introduction to the field of second language acquisition with a particular focus on second language Spanish. It connects key issues in the acquisition of Spanish as a second language to theoretical and empirical issues in the field of second language acquisition more generally by exemplifying central concepts in second language acquisition through the exploration of the most widely researched structures and most recent developments in the field of second language Spanish. It is written for a non-specialist audience, making it suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses and readers, while its treatment of recent empirical developments also makes it of interest to researchers in second language Spanish as well as allied fields.

As the foundation of English learning, the acquisition of vocabulary has always been a hot topic in the fields of second language acquisition and foreign language teaching. Contrasted with intentional vocabulary acquisition, incidental vocabulary acquisition (IVA) relates to lexical gains as a by-product of main cognitive activities. In the field of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) in Chinese high schools, the incidental acquisition of English vocabulary has increasingly attracted the academic attention in recent years. However, few empirical studies have focused on the incidental acquisition of English vocabulary engendered by doing content retelling tasks. In light of the inadequacy, this study adopted the quality audio-visual material as input and content retelling as output (forming an input-output-input circle), aiming at exploring the effect of retelling on Chinese high school EFL learners’ IVA. Results indicated that learners who retold the content of the audio-visual material between two viewings can pick up more words. In this process, the attempted use of new words in oral reproduction plays a positive role in strengthening the immediate acquisition and long-term retention of the target words.