Learner Contributions to Language Learning


Book Description

Since it was first established in the 1970s the Applied Linguistics and Language Study series has become a major force in the study of practical problems in human communication and language education. Drawing extensively on empirical research and theoretical work in linguistics, sociology, psychology and education, the series explores key issues in language acquisition and language use. What the learner contributes is central to the language learning process. Learner Contributions to Language Learning provides a uniquely comprehensive account of learners' personal attributes, their thinking, their feelings, and their actions that have been shown to have an impact upon language learning. Containing specific chapters from leading names in the field, this book provides both a review of what has been discovered from previous research and identifies important future directions for research on learner contributions. It is a landmark volume setting the agenda for language learning research in the 21st century and it provides invaluable information for all those engaged in language teaching. The contributors to the volume are- Michael P. Breen Bonny Norton Anna Chamot Rebecca Oxford Rod Ellis Anna Pavlenko James P. Lantolf Anita Wenden Diane Larsen-Freeman




New Directions in Language Learning Psychology


Book Description

This book explores potential new directions in the growing field of language learning psychology. The individual chapters cover theoretical and conceptual developments and innovative methodological designs, while also exploring practical implications. Language learning psychology is a vibrant field of research that typically involves constructs from social and educational psychology, which it considers in terms of their relevance for the domain of language learning. The diverse theoretical and empirical chapters examine a range of familiar and lesser-known constructs, highlighting the importance of taking into account both learner and teacher psychologies, and recognising the complexity, dynamism and situatedness of psychological constructs, as well as the value of employing diverse research methodologies. It is hoped that these ‘new directions’ concerning populations, constructs and theoretical and methodological frameworks will pave the way for innovative future developments in this vibrant field.




New Directions in Language Acquisition


Book Description

This volume presents sixteen new articles on the acquisition of Romance languages by both well-established researchers and vital new contributors to the field. Under a generative umbrella, the articles in this collection investigate the acquisition of French, Romanian, Spanish, Catalan, Italian and Portuguese across different contexts including first language acquisition, bilingual acquisition, specifically impaired first language acquisition, child L2 acquisition, second language acquisition, as well as first language attrition. This volume advances our understanding of how languages are acquired and how the study of Romance languages contributes to clarifying challenging open questions on the acquisition of key functional categories and other related phenomena. In particular, the articles included assess complexity as a relevant factor shaping children’s acquisition of syntactic and phonological structures, they refine crucial theoretical constructs such as parameter setting and language transfer, and propose language change as another crucial factor affecting the process of language acquisition and attrition.




New Directions for Research in Foreign Language Education


Book Description

New Directions for Research in Foreign Language Education brings together contributions by reputed scholars that examine the challenges, opportunities, and benefits of teaching and learning foreign languages. With a particular focus on languages other than English, the book looks at the socio-political dimension of language learning and teaching and the need to re-theorize multilingualism for our age. The volume includes a range of perspectives, from language teaching as an act of reconciliation to language learning across the lifespan, from innovations in assessment and curriculum to critical appraisals of pedagogy and textbook materials. Each chapter presents a clear case study drawn from diverse contexts to illustrate the different concerns of the contributors. The book is a valuable resource for all students, teachers, teacher educators and researchers who share an interest in researching multilingualism and the different facets of teaching and learning foreign languages.




New Directions in Second Language Pragmatics


Book Description

New Directions in Second Language Pragmatics brings together varying perspectives in second language (L2) pragmatics to show both historical developments in the field, while also looking towards the future, including theoretical, empirical, and implementation perspectives. This volume is divided in four sections: teaching and learning speech acts, assessing pragmatic competence, analyzing discourses in digital contexts, and current issues in L2 pragmatics. The chapters focus on various aspects related to the learning, teaching, and assessing of L2 pragmatics and cover a range of learning environments. The authors address current topics in L2 pragmatics such as: speech acts from a discursive perspective; pragmatics instruction in the foreign language classroom and during study abroad; assessment of pragmatic competence; research methods used to collect pragmatics data; pragmatics in computer-mediated contexts; the role of implicit and explicit knowledge; discourse markers as a resource for interaction; and the framework of translingual practice. Taken together, the chapters in this volume foreground innovations and new directions in the field of L2 pragmatics while, at the same time, ground their work in the existing literature. Consequently, this volume both highlights where the field of L2 pragmatics has been and offers cutting-edge insights into where it is going in the future.




Present and Future Promises of CALL


Book Description

In the five years since the first edition, the field of CALL has advanced and new technologies now offer even more opportunities for language educators and students, and researchers have expanded our understanding of what it means to teach and learn with technology. This updated edition is revised both in terms of organization and content. There are chapters centered around the ACTFL Standards' 5 Cs, and also updated chapters on original topics such as an overview of technology and CALL, the connection between CALL and theories of second language acquisition and pedagogy, courseware evaluation, assessment, and pronunciation.




New Directions in the Acquisition of Romance Languages


Book Description

This book puts together a selection of papers presented at The Romance Turn V Workshop, held in Lisbon in 2012. The papers presented at the workshop discussed general problems in the field of Language Acquisition, with a special focus on data from several Romance varieties. The papers in the volume cover a wide array of topics and subfields of acquisition studies, including L1 and L2 acquisition, typical and atypical development, acquisition of syntax, semantics, and phonology.




Directions in Sign Language Acquisition


Book Description

This is the second volume in the series 'Trends in language acquisition research'. The unusual combination in one volume of reports on various different sign languages in acquisition makes this book quite unique.




New Directions In Language Development And Disorders


Book Description

Research into child language development is being conducted more extensively, by more people, and in more countries throughout the world than at any point in the past. We now know more than we ever did before about the linguistic, cognitive, neurobio logical, and social capacities that children bring to their language learning task, as well as the ways in which these capacities interact with a whole range of factors present in the child's environment throughout the learning process, not least the particular character istics of the language or languages to which the child is exposed. Far from inducing a sense of complacency, this new knowledge seems instead to create an even stronger impetus to know more. This is partly because of the new and unforeseen questions it raises and partly because of competition between different theories to provide the best explanation of the phenomenon, and which in turn engender different methods of enquiry. This volume addresses many of the key issues which are currently exercising the minds of child language researchers, and which are likely to motivate research for some years to come. The chapters included here-all previously unpublished-present a great deal of new data and address a range of theoretical issues from a variety of perspectives.




New Directions in Cognitive Linguistics


Book Description

Nearly three decades since the publication of the seminal Metaphors We Live By, Cognitive Linguistics is now a mature theoretical and empirical enterprise, with a voluminous associated literature. It is arguably the most rapidly expanding ‘school’ in modern linguistics, and one of the most exciting areas of research within the interdisciplinary project known as cognitive science. As such, Cognitive Linguistics is increasingly attracting a broad readership both within linguistics as well as from neighbouring disciplines including other cognitive and social sciences, and from disciplines within the humanities. This volume contains over 20 papers by leading experts in cognitive linguistics which survey the state of the art and new directions in cognitive linguistics. The volume is divided into 5 sections covering all the traditional areas of study in cognitive linguistics, as well as newer areas, including applications and extensions. Sections include: Approaches to semantics; Approaches to metaphor and blending; Approaches to grammar; Language, embodiment and cognition; Extensions and applications of cognitive linguistics.