A Philosophy of Second Language Acquisition

by Marysia Johnson

• ISBN13: 9780300100266
• ISBN10: 0300100264
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2003-11-10
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

How does a person learn a second language? In this provocative book, Marysia Johnson proposes a new model of second language acquisition (SLA)--a model that shifts the focus from language competence (the ability to pass a language exam) to language performance (using language competently in real-life contexts). Johnson argues that current SLA theory and research is heavily biased in the direction of the cognitive and experimental scientific tradition. She draws on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and Bakhtin's literary theory to construct an alternative framework for second language theory, research, teaching, and testing. The origin of second language acquisition is not located exclusively in the learner's mind, the author says, but in dialogical interaction conducted in a variety of settings.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(6)
Part One: Following the Cognitive Tradition	7	(94)
1. Three Major Scientific Research Traditions	9	(9)
2. Behaviorism and Second Language Learning	18	(12)
3. The Cognitive Tradition and Second Language Acquisition	30	(16)
4. Information Processing Models	46	(39)
5. Communicative Competence Versus Interactional Competence	85	(16)
Part Two: A Dialogical Approach to SLA	101	(90)
6. Fundamental Principles of Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory	103	(17)
7. Bakhtin's Dialogized Heteroglossia	120	(9)
8. Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning	129	(41)
9. Building a New Model of Second Language Acquisition	170	(21)
Bibliography	191	(12)
Index	203