Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know by Rebecca L. Oxford

Abstract

115 Reviews Issues in Applied Linguistics Vol.1 No. 1 It could turn out, then, that while perhaps crucial in some respects, U G may not have much to say about some of the things which give L2 learners headaches and which language textbooks devote so much of their space to: inflectional paradigms, vocabulary (and lexical subcategorization) and language-idiosyncratic elements, such as articles in English or formal vs. informal discourse levels in Japanese. UG, as a computational system, may facilitate the relative ease of interpretation (i.e., computing ) of anaphoric relations, for example, but it may be hard-pressed to aid in the acquisition of 3rd- person-singular -s in English, a process which may rely instead on some other learning mechanism (that apparently deteriorates with increasing age!). The importance of L 2 data may thus lie in contributing, along with data from L I and neurolinguistic studies, both to a more correct description of the various levels or components of U G and their interaction as well as to delimiting the scope of UG. One of the most important contributions of this book is the introduction's rather neat delineation not only of a set of minimal requirements for a theory of second language acquisition, but also of a set of questions and issues to be addressed in future research - the right set of questions at the right level of analysis (p. 18) -¬ which the editors have distilled from the papers collected in the volume. This convergence of ideas constitutes a kind of L2 critical mass which may well ensure that many of the questions raised in this volume will set the research agenda for second language acquisition in the foreseeable future. As such it certainly establishes the book as a basic reference text for theoretical issues in second language acquisition. Clahsen, H. (1989). The comparative study of first and second language ' development. Unpublished manuscript.. University of DUsseldorf. Flynn, S. (1987). Contrast and construction in a parameter setting model of L2 acquisition. Language Learning, 37, 1, 19-62. Flynn, S. (1983). A study of the effects of principal branching direction in second language acquisition: The generalization of a parameter of universal grammar from first to second language acquisition. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Cornell University. Gass, S. & Schachter, J. (Eds.) (1989). Linguistic perspectives on second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Koopman, H. (1984). The syntax of verbs. Dordrecht: Foris. McLaughlin. B. (1987). Theories of second language learning. London: Edward Arnold. Schwartz. B.D. (1989). L2 knowledge: What is the null hypothesis? Paper presented at the Boston University Conference on Language Development. Schwartz B.D. (1990). The fundamental difference hypothesis: A critical evaluation. Paper presented at the 10th Second Language Research Forum, Eugene, Oregon. StoweU, T. (1981). Origins of phrase structure. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, MIT. Travis. L. (1984). Parameters and effects of word order variation. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, MIT. Donna Lardiere is a graduate student in the Program in Applied Linguistics at Boston University. (Received April 19,1990) Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know by Rebecca L . Oxford. New York: Newbury House, 1990. xxii+342 pp. Reviewed by Swathi Vanniarajan University of California. Los Angeles Notes '•All parameter references are as cited in the papers themselves. Clahsen has since modified his position somewhat, arguing that L2 learners do have access to principles of UG only insofar as these principles have instantiations in the speakers' native language (Clahsen, 1989, p. 12).. REFERENCES Bley-Vroman. R. (forthcoming). The logical problem of foreign language learning. Linguistic Analysis. Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht: Foris. One of the most important developments in applied linguistics in recent years has been the renewed interest in cognitive strategies The strategies approach to communication/language learning seeks to discover the ways in which the learner conduces the communication/language learning processes. By analysing learners' overt forms of behavior, research on communication