Second Language Acquisition
An Introductory Course, 3rd Edition
By Susan M. Gass, Larry Selinker
Published January 31st 2008 by Routledge – 598 pages
Description
The new and updated edition of this bestselling introductory textbook is a comprehensive overview of the field of second language acquisition. In an easy-to-read, accessible style, it provides students with information about the scope of the field, but also provides background information on related areas such as first language acquisition. The book introduces students to current issues of data collection and data analysis, as well as providing a historical overview of the field, thus giving students context and perspective about how today's issues arise from earlier approaches.
Each chapter offers discussion questions and/or problems so that students can put their knowledge to use in a way that is relevant to what they have learned, but that also challenges them to go beyond what is in the chapter and to relate information across chapters.
The book covers a range of areas of second language research including sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic, and linguistic perspectives. It also includes a chapter on the lexicon and on instructed second language learning. The concluding chapter pulls the information in the previous chapters together into a coherent framework that challenges students to think about the field of second language acquisition as a whole.
Reviews
"A tour de force. The authors have taken the best text available for an introductory course in second language acquisition (SLA) and made it even stronger…. The improvements in the third edition are palpable from the very beginning of the text ….The third edition of Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course should form the basis for any introduction to SLA, at either the graduate or undergraduate level." - Fred Eckman, Center for the Advanced Study of Language, University of Maryland
"Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course presents the most balanced, grounded, and accessible introduction to a broad field…. and a new, updated, and expanded edition is most welcome. In the third edition, Gass and Selinker’s overview of the field of SLA continues to be encyclopedic…" - Richard Young, Professor of English Linguistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
"This reworking of Gass and Selinker's classic overview of second language acquisition (SLA) research makes an excellent introduction to, or review of, the field…a triumph of compendious ongoing synthesis."
- Tom Cobb, University of Montreal, Quebec
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Related Disciplines Chapter 3: Second and Foreign Language Data Chapter 4: The Role of the Native Language: An Historical Overview Chapter 5: Recent Perspectives on the Role of Previously Known Languages Chapter 6: Formal Approaches to SLA Chapter 7: Typological and Functional Approaches Chapter 8: Looking at Interlanguage Processing Chapter 9: Interlanguage in Context Chapter 10: Input, Interaction, and Output Chapter 11: Instructed Second Language Learning Chapter 12: Beyond the Domain of Language Chapter 13: The Lexicon Chapter 14: An Integrated View of Second Language Acquisition
Author Bio
Susan M. Gass, Michigan State University and Larry Selinker, NYU
Susan Gass is University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages at Michigan State University. She has conducted research in a wide variety of sub-areas of second language acquisition including language transfer, language universals, second language research methods, and input and interaction. She is the author/editor of numerous books, has served as the President of the American Association for Applied Linguistics and is the President of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA).
Larry Selinker is one of the original contributors to the research field of Second Language Acquisition, having introduced the concepts "interlanguage" and "fossilization" and having conducted one of the first empirical studies in "language transfer" research in 1969. Consistently seeking a more unified account which would integrate concepts of "interdialect," "interculture," and "interliteracy" with new media, he is now preparing a 40-plus year fossilization study on participants first looked at in 1964. He has held professorships at the Universities of Michigan and London and visiting professorships at various universities around the world. Currently, he is Visiting Professor at New York University and, exploring processes of "around sourcing," is helping to organize Research Production Associates.
Welcome
Welcome to the companion website for the third edition of Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course. This website contains helpful resources for instructors and students using Susan M. Gass and Larry Selinker’s bestselling textbook in their introductory second language acquisition (SLA) course.
Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course, third edition is a comprehensive and accessible overview of the field of SLA and its related disciplines. The book introduces students to current issues of data collection and data analysis, as well as provides an historical overview of the field, thus giving students context and perspective about how today’s issues arise from earlier approaches. Discussion questions and/or problems at the end of each chapter help students apply their knowledge and relate information across chapters, and a glossary defines and reinforces must-know terminology.
Written by pioneers in the field, this text remains the cornerstone volume for the study of SLA. With up-to-date summaries of SLA issues, an emphasis on empirical findings, and a clearly written and illustrated presentation, the book continues to be a highly effective introduction to SLA for students in second language studies, applied linguistics, linguistics, TESOL, and language education programs.
We are eager to receive feedback from instructors and students. Please use the Feedback Form to share your comments and suggestions for this website or for Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course, third edition.
Features of this website
Resources for instructors
- PowerPoint slides of sample lesson plans for each chapter to aid in course preparation, (with accompanying handouts for Chapters 8, 9, and 13)
- Data analysis problems from the bestselling workbook, Second Language Learning Data Analysis, second edition by Susan Gass, Antonella Sorace, and Larry Selinker, to print out and use in the classroom or as homework assignments
- Instructor’s manual for Second Language Learning Data Analysis, second edition with answers to all of the problems
- Coming soon! Answers to the discussion questions and problems found in the book
Resources for students
- Interview with Susan Gass discussing the aims and scope of the textbook, and its interdisciplinary coverage of the SLA field
- Flashcards of the textbook’s glossary entries for self-testing knowledge of key terms and definitions
- MP3 files of the audio data that accompanies Second Language Learning Data Analysis, second edition