The Neurolinguistic Approach Nla For Learning And Teaching Foreign Languages

Since its inception in Canada in 1998 as a method for teaching French as a second language in a school setting, the Neurolinguistic Approach to second-language acquisition (NLA) has expanded to several countries and is now also applied to teaching adults. Based on research in the neurosciences, psychology, and sociology, the NLA focuses on providing learners with the conditions necessary to acquire spontaneous communication skills in a classroom setting. By ensuring the independent development of effective communication and implicit competence in the second language, the NLA allows learners to genuinely express themselves in their new language. In this volume, co-developer of the approach Claude Germain outlines the history of the NLA’s development and provides insights into its principles, its teaching and acquisition strategies applied in the classroom, and the results it has achieved. This is an essential book for all second-language teachers, as well as researchers interested in the transmission of second languages.

Winner of the 2011 Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize Exploring fluency from multiple vantage points that together constitute a cognitive science perspective, this book examines research in second language acquisition and bilingualism that points to promising avenues for understanding and promoting second language fluency. Cognitive Bases of Second Language Fluency covers essential topics such as units of analysis for measuring fluency, the relation of second language fluency to general cognitive fluidity, social and motivational contributors to fluency, and neural correlates of fluency. The author provides clear and accessible summaries of foundational empirical work on speech production, automaticity, lexical access, and other issues of relevance to second language acquisition theory. Cognitive Bases of Second Language Fluency is a valuable reference for scholars in SLA, cognitive psychology, and language teaching, and it can also serve as an ideal textbook for advanced courses in these fields.

Technological developments during the Second World War led to an approach that linked ideas from computer science to neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy and psychology, known today as the Cognitive Revolution. Leaving behind traditional behaviourist approaches popular at the time, psychology began to utilise artificial intelligence and computer science to develop testable theories and design groundbreaking new experiments. The Cognitive Revolution dramatically changed the way that psychological research and studies were conducted and proposed a new way of thinking about the mind. In Working Memories, Alan Baddeley, one of the world's leading authorities on Human Memory, draws on his own personal experience of this time, recounting the radical development of a pioneering science in parallel with his own transatlantic, vibrant and distinguished career. Detailing the excitement and sometimes frustration experienced in taking psychology into the world beyond the laboratory, Working Memories presents unique insights into the mind and psychological achievements of one of the most influential psychologists of our time.

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present themselves career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces - extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, and their major theoretical and practical contributions. Alan Baddeley has an international reputation as an eminent scholar and pioneer in the field of human memory, and is principally known for the theory of working memory, devised with Graham Hitch. This model continues to be valuable today in recognising the functions of short-term memory. This volume includes a specially written introduction by Alan Baddeley which gives an overview of the start of his career and his entry into the field of Psychology. Throughout the book he also provides introductions to the selection of works included and contextualises them in relation to changes in the field during this time. Exploring Working Memory includes the author’s most influential publications on topics including short-term memory, the distinctions between short and long-term memory, the theory of working memory, the phonological loop, the concept of the central executive, and the episodic buffer. This exceptional selection concludes with an article giving a broad overview of the author’s current views on working memory and its relation to other theories in the field. Through his outstanding work Alan Baddeley has become known as a world-leading expert on human memory. Exploring Working Memory is a unique collection which will be of great interest to both students and researchers interested in human memory from psychology backgrounds.

Nexus Analysis presents an exciting theory by two of the leading names in discourse analysis and provides a practical guide to its application. The authors argue that discourse analysis can itself be a form of social action. If the discourse analyst is part of the nexus of practice under study, then the analysis can itself transform that nexus of practice. Focussing on their own involvement with and analysis of pioneering communication technologies in Alaska they identify moments of social importance in order to examine the links between social practice, culture and technology. Media are identified not only as means of expressing change but also as catalysts for change itself, with the power to transform the socio-cultural landscape. In this intellectually exciting yet accessible book, Ron Scollon and Suzie Wong Scollon present a working example of their theory in action and provide a personal snapshot of a key moment in the history of communication technology, as the Internet transformed Alaskan life.

Task-Based Instruction for Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language presents the most recent developments in the field of task-based language teaching (TBLT) and highlights impactful research-based instructional practices of applying TBLT for the teaching of Russian. This comprehensive volume extends the current understanding of the nature and role of tasks in course development, authenticity in task design, the role of the instructor in TBLT, teaching culture through TBLT, the intersection of complex morphology and explicit grammar instruction with task-based approaches, collaborative interaction within TBLT, and technology-mediated tasks. This resource focuses on the unique set of factors and challenges that arise when applying TBLT in the instruction of Russian and other morphologically rich languages. This edited volume will be of interest to teachers of Russian as well as researchers in Russian language acquisition, language pedagogy, and Slavic applied linguistics.

Chapters written by leading authorities offer current perspectives on the origins and development of language disorders. They address the question: How can the child's linguistic environment be restructured so that children at risk can develop important adaptive skills in the domains of self-care, social interaction, and problem solving? This theory-based, but practical book emphasizes the importance of accurate definitions of subtypes for assessment and intervention. It will be of interest to students, researchers, and practitioners in the field of developmental language disorders.

This volume centres around concepts of personal and cultural authenticity as they play out in various contexts of foreign language teaching and learning worldwide. The chapters cover a wide range of contexts and disciplines, including both theoretical and empirical work; together they comprise both a rigorous analysis of authenticity in language teaching and a step away from notions of native-speakerism and cultural essentialism with which it is often associated. Written by a group of scholars working across several continents, the chapters offer diverse perspectives regarding the role language plays in processes of personal growth, learning, development, self-actualisation and power dynamics. The book addresses the theoretical and philosophical nature of authenticity while remaining grounded in the teaching and learning of languages, with authenticity viewed as a practical concern that guides our actions and beliefs. The book will be of interest to scholars, researchers and students of authenticity as well as foreign language teachers interested in the theoretical underpinnings of their practice.