1st Edition

Problems in Second Language Acquisition

By Michael H. Long, Michael H. Long Copyright 2007
212 Pages
by Routledge

216 Pages
by Routledge

216 Pages
by Routledge

Second language acquisition has an identity problem. It is a young field struggling to emerge from the parent fields of education and applied linguistics. In his new book,  Problems in Second Language Acquisition , Mike Long proposes a way to help second language acquisition develop a systematic and coherent focus using the philosophy of science as the lens. The volume is neatly... Read more
Contents: Preface. Part I: Theory. Second Language Acquisition Theories. Problem-Solving and Theory Change in SLA. Part II: Research. Age Differences and the Sensitive Periods Controversy in SLA. Recasts in SLA: The Story So Far. Part III: Practice. Texts, Tasks, and the Advanced Learner. SLA: Breaking the Siege.

Biography

Michael H. Long, Michael H. Long

“This book brings together six chapters on theory development in SLA; detailed accounts of research in two areas where SLA research findings are accumulating; and implications of these and other SLA findings for practice. The theory, research, practice section and chapter sequencing gives the book shape, as does the recurring theme of theory development, and in particular Laudan’s notion of science as a problem-solving activity, from which the book takes its title.”

Peter Robinson
Aoyama Gakuin University

“Chapter 3 is a detailed review of the sensitive period controversy in SLA and a convincing defense of that notion. This chapter contains some unpublished research and is, therefore, valuable for senior scholars as well as new ones to the field. Chapter 4 is a review of the literature on recasts in second language pedagogy and a powerful argument for their use.”

John Schumann
University of California at Los Angeles