Understanding Second Language Acquisition 2nd Edition

In the 30 years since Rod Ellis first published the award-winning Understanding Second Language Acquisition, it has become a classic text. This new, fully updated edition continues to provide an authoritative and highly readable introduction to key areas of theory and research in second language acquisition. Ellis presents a comprehensive overview of the different theories in this field and examines critical reactions to them. The book reflects recent trends in looking at cognitive and social aspects of second language acquisition, as well as examining the roles played by implicit and explicit instruction in language learning. “An excellent and much-needed, in-depth review of the research on how children and literate adults learn a second language. Ellis provides a sound knowledge base for language teachers and beginning graduate students in applied linguistics, focusing on relevant findings of research on second-language learning by children and literate adults in both naturalistic and instructed contexts.” Elaine Tarone, Director of the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota Additional online resources are available at www.oup.com/elt/teacher/understandingsla Rod Ellis is the Distinguished Professor of Applied Language Studies in the School of Cultures, Languages and Linguistics in the University of Auckland. Oxford Applied Linguistics Series Advisers: Anne Burns and Diane Larsen-Freeman.

Whether we grow up with one, two, or several languages during our early years of life, many of us will learn a second, foreign, or heritage language in later years. The field of Second language acquisition (SLA, for short) investigates the human capacity to learn additional languages in late childhood, adolescence, or adulthood, after the first language --in the case of monolinguals-- or languages --in the case of bilinguals-- have already been acquired. Understanding Second Language Acquisition offers a wide-encompassing survey of this burgeoning field, its accumulated findings and proposed theories, its developed research paradigms, and its pending questions for the future. The book zooms in and out of universal, individual, and social forces, in each case evaluating the research findings that have been generated across diverse naturalistic and formal contexts for second language acquisition. It assumes no background in SLA and provides helpful chapter-by-chapter summaries and suggestions for further reading. Ideal as a textbook for students of applied linguistics, foreign language education, TESOL, and education, it is also recommended for students of linguistics, developmental psycholinguistics, psychology, and cognitive science. Supporting resources for tutors are available free at www.routledge.com/ortega.

Review: "Understanding Second Language Acquisition offers a wide-encompassing survey of this burgeoning field, its accumulated findings and proposed theories, its developed research paradigms, and its pending questions for the future. The book zooms in and out of universal, individual, and social forces, in each case evaluating the theories and research findings that have been generated across diverse naturalistic and formal contexts for second language acquisition. It assumes no background in SLA and provides helpful chapter-by-chapter summaries and suggestions for further reading. Ideal as a textbook for students of applied linguistics, foreign language education, TESOL, and education. It is also recommended for students of linguistics, developmental psycholinguistics, psychology, and cognitive science."

Whether we grow up with one, two, or several languages during our early years of life, many of us will learn a second, foreign, or heritage language in later years. The field of Second language acquisition (SLA, for short) investigates the human capacity to learn additional languages in late childhood, adolescence, or adulthood, after the first language --in the case of monolinguals-- or languages --in the case of bilinguals-- have already been acquired. Understanding Second Language Acquisition offers a wide-encompassing survey of this burgeoning field, its accumulated findings and proposed theories, its developed research paradigms, and its pending questions for the future. The book zooms in and out of universal, individual, and social forces, in each case evaluating the research findings that have been generated across diverse naturalistic and formal contexts for second language acquisition. It assumes no background in SLA and provides helpful chapter-by-chapter summaries and suggestions for further reading. Ideal as a textbook for students of applied linguistics, foreign language education, TESOL, and education, it is also recommended for students of linguistics, developmental psycholinguistics, psychology, and cognitive science. Supporting resources for tutors are available free at www.routledge.com/ortega.

The core foundations of applied linguistics have long been located in exploring language as it is used in the world and in finding solutions to language-based problems. Modern applied linguistics is interdisciplinary and wide-ranging, being informed by research spanning psycholinguistics,sociolinguistics, education, corpus linguistics, cognitive linguistics, and other areas of the cognitive, learning, and information sciences.The goal of the OUP Applied Linguistics Series is to influence the quality of language education through publishing and disseminating relevant scholarship and research.

Key issues in second language acquisition - The role of the first language - Interlanguage and the natural route of development - Variability in interlanguage - Individual learner differences and second language acquisition - Input, interaction, and second language acquisition - Learner strategies - The universal hypothesis and second language acquisition - The role of formal instruction in second language acquisition - Theories of second language acquisition.

This book offers a succinct theoretical introduction to the basic concepts in language testing in a way that is easy to understand. In the Japanese context, this book is highly recommended for university faculty members involved in obtaining assessment literacy, teachers who want to validate their exploratory teaching and testing, or applied linguistics students new to the language testing field. The book is divided into four main sections. The first provides an overview of the principles of language testing. The next contains short extracts from the testing literature with questions which stimulate further thinking. Section 3 is a list of references with brief annotations and Section 4 a glossary of referenced testing terms.