Useful Weblinks

We have referred to some web sources in the book, especially on doing research and finding articles in the field. To that end we have included the following links.

Dialang: http://www.dialang.org

Using Dialang, learners can quite accurately establish their level of proficiency in 14 European languages for listening, writing, reading, language structures and vocabulary. This is a very useful tool for anyone working in the field of SLA and dealing with any of the languages included. Dialang also provides an indication of the proficiency level in terms of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference). For more information about the CEFR, see http://www.coe.int/T/E/Cultural_Co-operation/education/Languages/Language_Policy/Common_Framework_of_Reference/

Although this framework has been set up for the European context, these sites may be useful for users of any of the languages included.

Finding Literature

Most university libraries provide access to databases containing linguistics abstracts. We find the following resources particularly useful for finding articles.

Web of Science: http://isi15.isiknowledge.com/portal.cgi?DestApp=WOS&Func=Frame

The database provided at this site is not limited to language and linguistics. The best feature of this site is that once a relevant entry has been retrieved, it is very easy to find related articles. The relevance of articles can be assessed by paying attention to the number of times an articles has been cited by others.

LABS: http://www.linguisticsabstracts.com/ Linguistic Abstracts Online, provided by Blackwell Publishers has proved to be a very useful research tool for finding articles. The database contains abstracts from hundreds of the most relevant journals related to language an linguistics. A subscription is required, but many university libraries provide access.

LLBA: Linguistics and Language Behaviour Abstracts is another valuable research tool. The database can be accessed through Cambridge Scientific Abstract (CSA): http://md1.csa.com/. Many university libraries provide access to this service.

Search Engines

Besides general search engines, like Google and Lycos, specific search engines for scientific information may result in more useful hits. One of those links is Scirus (http://www.scirus.com/srsapp/), which yields both web links and articles. Another specific search engine is Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/.

Background resources

A very nice site with many useful information about SLA and an impressive bibliography (SLABIB) on the field is Vivian Cook’s site: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/SLA/

A glossary of SLA terms can be found at: http://earthrenewal.org/secondlang.htm

An annotated bibliography of research on vocabulary acquisition can be found at: Vocabulary Acquisition Research Group Archive (VARGA)

Several useful annotated bibliographies can be found at the center for positive practices: http://www.positivepractices.com/BilingualEducation/index.html

Doing research

In doing research, there are some sites to which we often refer our own students. These include the following:

Celex. Celex is a lexical database containing frequency and many other characteristics of words in English, Dutch and German. The use of Celex is free.

The site of the Centre for Applied Linguistics (CALS) in Swansea contains many interesting resources, including free testing software: http://www.swan.ac.uk/cals/calsres/index.htm

Throughout the book, we make references to dynamic systems theory. One of our favourite examples of a simple DST is the double pendulum: http://www.maths.tcd.ie/~plynch/SwingingSpring/doublependulum.html

Resources for lecturers

Lecturers may want to stimulate students to work with standardised tests for motivation and aptitude. The MLAT can be ordered at SLTI: http://www.2lti.com/home2.htm. Information about the AMTB (the manual) is available at: http://publish.uwo.ca/~gardner/amtb4e.htm.