How Languages Are Learned

by Lightbown, Patsy M.; Spada, Nina

• ISBN13: 9780194370004
• ISBN10: 0194370003
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-04-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Provides a comprehensive and readable introduction to first and secondlanguage acquisition. The authors believe that by understanding research andtheories on how languages are learned, teachers will be better able to judge themerits of different teaching methodologies and textbooks, and to make the mostof the time they spend with learners. This very popular book has now beenrevised and updated.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	xi
Introduction	xiii
Learning a first language	1	(30)
Milestones and patterns in development	1	(2)
Early childhood bilingualism	3	(1)
Developmental sequences	4	(5)
Grammatical morphemes	4	(1)
Negation	5	(1)
Questions	6	(3)
Summary	9	(1)
Theoretical approaches to explaining first language learning	9	(16)
Behaviourism: Say what I say	9	(1)
Activity: Analysing children's speech	10	(5)
Innatism: It's all in your mind	15	(7)
The interactionist position: A little help from my friends	22	(2)
Child-directed speech	24	(1)
Summary	25	(6)
Theoretical approaches to explaining second language learning	31	(18)
Activity: Learner profiles	32	(3)
Behaviourism	35	(1)
Innatism	36	(5)
Universal Grammar	36	(2)
Krashen's `monitor model'	38	(3)
Recent psychological theories	41	(1)
Information processing	41	(1)
Connectionism	42	(1)
The interactionist position	42	(3)
Summary	45	(4)
Factors affecting second language learning	49	(22)
Activity: Characteristics of the `good language learner'	49	(2)
Research on learner characteristics	51	(17)
Intelligence	52	(1)
Aptitude	53	(1)
Personality	54	(2)
Motivation and attitudes	56	(2)
Learner preferences	58	(1)
Learner beliefs	59	(1)
Age of acquisition	60	(6)
Activity: Comparing child, adolescent, and adult language learners	66	(2)
Summary	68	(3)
Learner language	71	(20)
The concept of learner language	72	(4)
Activity: The Great Toy Robbery	74	(2)
Developmental sequences	76	(9)
Grammatical morphemes	76	(1)
Negation	77	(1)
Questions	78	(2)
Activity: Learners' questions	80	(1)
Activity: More about questions	80	(3)
Relative clauses	83	(1)
Reference to past	84	(1)
Movement through developmental sequences	85	(1)
New ways of looking at first language influence	85	(2)
Summary	87	(4)
Observing second language teaching	91	(26)
Comparing instructional and natural settings for language learning	91	(10)
Activity: Natural and instructional settings	91	(5)
Activity: Classroom comparisons: teacher-student interactions	96	(5)
Classroom observation schemes	101	(2)
Activity: Observing the kinds of questions you ask your students	102	(1)
Feedback in the classroom	103	(10)
Activity: Analysing classroom interaction	106	(7)
Summary of transcripts	113	(2)
Activity: Observing how you respond to students' errors	113	(2)
Summary	115	(2)
Second language learning in the classroom	117	(44)
Five proposals for classroom teaching	117	(32)
Get it right from the beginning	118	(4)
Say what you mean and mean what you say	122	(6)
Just listen...and read	128	(7)
Teach what is teachable	135	(6)
Get it right in the end	141	(8)
The implications of classroom research for teaching	149	(3)
Summary	152	(9)
Popular ideas about language learning: Facts and opinions	161	(10)
Languages are learned mainly through imitation	161	(1)
Parents usually correct young children when they make grammatical errors	162	(1)
People with high IQs are good language learners	163	(1)
The most important factor in second language acquisition success is motivation	163	(1)
The earlier a second language is introduced in school programs, the greater the likelihood of success	164	(1)
Most of the mistakes which second language learners make are due to interference from their first language	165	(1)
Teachers should present grammatical rules one at a time	165	(1)
Teachers should teach simple structures before complex ones	166	(1)
Learners' errors should be corrected as soon as they are made in order to prevent bad habits	167	(1)
Teachers should use materials that expose students only to language structures they have already been taught	168	(1)
When learners are allowed to interact freely they learn each others' mistakes	168	(1)
Students learn what they are taught	169	(1)
Conclusion	169	(2)
Glossary	171	(9)
Bibliography	180	(10)
Index	190