Learning Foreign and Second Languages

by Byrnes, Heidi

• ISBN13: 9780873528016
• ISBN10: 0873528018
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-01-01
• Publisher: Modern Language Assn of Amer

Summary

This inaugural volume in the MLA series Teaching Languages, Literatures, and Cultures provides an overview of second language acquisition research. Is language a system of linguistic forms to be acquired by the study of grammar, or is language a means of communication, where students learn not by studying rules but by engaging straightaway in the use of language to convey meanings? Which approach is better in the classroom? The vibrant field of second language acquisition research is now carefully examining questions like these. Written for a nonspecialized audience--for readers who share an interest in foreign language teaching and learning--Learning Foreign and Second Languages addresses both theory and methodology. Administrators, department chairs, curriculum and materials developers, teachers, and graduate students will find this collection of essays enlightening.

Table of Contents

PREFACE TO THE SERIES	vii
Introduction: Steps to an Ecology of Foreign Language Departments	1	(22)
Heidi Byrnes
Constructing Second Language Acquisition Research in Foreign Language Departments	23	(16)
Claire Kramsch
Sociohistorical Perspectives on Language Teaching in the Modern United States	39	(19)
Elizabeth B. Bernhardt
Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, and Second Language Acquisition Theories	58	(17)
Thom Huebner
Approaches to Empirical Research in Instructional Language Settings	75	(30)
Kathleen M. Bailey
Cognitive Characteristics of Adult Second Language Learners	105	(23)
Bill VanPatten
Acquiring Competence in a Second Language: Form and Function	128	(29)
Catherine Doughty
Constraints and Resources in Classroom Talk: Issues of Equality and Symmetry	157	(26)
Leo Van Lier
Interlanguage Pragmatics	183	(26)
Gabriele Kasper
The Role of Technology in Second Language Learning	209	(29)
Robert J. Blake
Evaluation of Learning Outcomes in Second Language Acquisition: A Multiplism Perspective	238	(24)
Elana Shohamy
Constructing Curricula in Collegiate Foreign Language Departments	262	(35)
Heidi Byrnes
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS	297	(4)
NAME INDEX	301	(8)
SUBJECT INDEX	309