From Input to Output: A Teacher's Guide to Second Language Acquisition - Text

by VanPatten, Bill

• ISBN13: 9780072825619
• ISBN10: 0072825618
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-12-23
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages

Summary

This new title in the McGraw-Hill Second Language Professional Series provides an eminently accessible overview of key issues in second language acquisition research, written expressly for second language teachers. Avoiding highly technical jargon and terminology, the author gives a compelling account of current research while couching it within a framework that is of particular relevance to classroom practitioners. The result is an engaging reference that should be required reading for all language instructors and department heads. This book is also ideal for a teaching methods course or an introductory seminar on second language acquisition.

Table of Contents

Foreword	x
James F. Lee
Preface	xii
Introduction	1	(1)
The Scope of SLA Research	1	(1)
The Origins of Contemporary SLA Research	2	(3)
Some Caveats	5	(1)
Organization of the Book	6	(1)
Read More about It	7	(2)
Some Givens about Second Language Acquisition	9	(16)
Statement 1: SLA Involves the Creation of an Implicit (Unconscious) Linguistic System	10	(4)
Statement 2: SLA Is Complex and Consists of Different Processes	14	(2)
Statement 3: SLA Is Dynamic but Slow	16	(3)
Statement 4: Most L2 Learners Fall Short of Native-Like Competence	19	(1)
Statement 5: Skill Acquisition Is Different from the Creation of an Implicit System	20	(2)
Final Comments	22	(1)
Summary	22	(1)
Read More about It	23	(2)
Input	25	(17)
What Is Input?	25	(2)
Why Is Input Important?	27	(2)
How Do Learners Get Linguistic Data from the Input?	29	(9)
Making Form-Meaning Connections	29	(6)
Parsing	35	(3)
Does Anything Facilitate How Learners Process Input?	38	(2)
Summary	40	(1)
Read More about It	41	(1)
The Developing System	42	(19)
What Is the Developing System?	42	(10)
The Network of Forms and Lexical Items	45	(3)
The (Abstract) Syntactic System	48	(2)
Pragmatics and Sociolinguistic Competence	50	(2)
How Does the System Change?	52	(6)
Accommodation	52	(2)
Restructuring	54	(4)
What about Explicit Knowledge?	58	(1)
Summary	59	(1)
Read More about It	59	(2)
Output	61	(16)
What Is Output?	61	(1)
How Do Learners Make Output?	62	(5)
What Is the Role of Output in the Creation of the Learner's Linguistic System?	67	(3)
How Does Skill in Speaking Develop?	70	(2)
What about Explicit Knowledge and Output?	72	(2)
Summary	74	(1)
Read More about It	75	(2)
Frequently Asked Questions	77	(25)
Does the First Language Cause Interference?	77	(2)
What about the Use of the First Language in the Classroom?	79	(1)
Is SLA Like First Language Acquisition?	80	(2)
Don't Imitation and Repetition Play a Role in Acquisition?	82	(2)
So Drills Don't Help, Then?	84	(1)
Do Learners Develop Bad Habits If They Aren't Corrected?	85	(1)
Doesn't Giving Learners Rules Help? (That's the Way I Learned.)	86	(2)
So Does Teaching Make No Difference?	88	(1)
Are Some Languages More Difficult to Learn Than Others?	89	(1)
What Makes Some Structures Difficult and Some Easy to Acquire?	90	(1)
Doesn't Everything in SLA Come Down to Motivation?	91	(1)
Does Age Make a Difference in Language Learning?	92	(2)
Don't Different Levels of Learners Need Different Things to Help Them Keep Learning?	94	(1)
What about Individual Differences? Should I Consider Learning Styles?	95	(2)
What's the Best Method for Teaching and Learning?	97	(1)
Summary	98	(1)
Read More about It	99	(3)
EPILOGUE: Implications for Teaching	102	(13)
Implication 1: The More Input, the Better (The More Meaning-Based the Class, the Better)	102	(2)
Implication 2: The More Interaction, the Better	104	(4)
Implication 3: All Learner Production Should be Meaning-Based, or Communicative	108	(2)
Implication 4: Focus on Form (or Grammar Instruction) Should Be Meaning-Based and Tied to Input or Communication	110	(2)
Implication 5: We Should Watch Out for What We Expect of Learners	112	(1)
Summary	113	(1)
Final Comment: Back to the Beginning	113	(1)
Read More about It	114	(1)
Glossary	115	(6)
General References	121	(2)
Index	123