How Languages Are Learned

This thoroughly updated third edition presents the main theories of language acquisition, considering their bearing on language teaching. It discusses the effects of factors such as intelligence, personality, and age. It helps teachers assess the merits of different methods and textbooks. This new edition includes more information on theories of first language acquisition and early bilingualism, and the affects of motivation and style.

Acknowledgements

xi

Preface to the third edition

xiii

Introduction

xv

Language learning in early childhood

1

(28)

The first three years: Milestones and developmental sequences

1

(6)

Grammatical morphemes

3

(1)

Negation

4

(1)

Questions

5

(2)

The pre-school years

7

(1)

The school years

8

(2)

Explaining first language acquisition

10

(14)

The behaviourist perspective: Say what I say

10

(5)

The innatist perspective: It's all in your mind

15

(4)

Interactionist/developmental perspectives: Learning from inside and out

19

(5)

Language disorders and delays

24

(1)

Childhood bilingualism

25

(2)

Summary

27

(2)

Explaining second language learning

29

(24)

Contexts for language learning

29

(5)

Learner characteristics

30

(2)

Learning conditions

32

(2)

Behaviourism

34

(1)

Second language applications: Mimicry and memorization

34

(1)

The innatist perspective: Universal Grammar

35

(3)

Second language applications: Krashen's `monitor model'

34

(4)

Current psychological theories: The cognitive/developmental perspective

38

(9)

Information processing

39

(2)

Connectionism

41

(1)

The competition model

42

(1)

Second language applications: Interacting, noticing, and processing

43

(4)

The sociocultural perspective

47

(2)

Second language applications: Learning by talking

47

(2)

Theory into practice

49

(4)

Individual differences in second language learning

53

(24)

Who is a `good language learner'?

54

(1)

Research on learner characteristics

54

(20)

Intelligence

57

(1)

Aptitude

57

(2)

Learning styles

59

(1)

Personality

60

(3)

Motivation and attitudes

63

(2)

Identity and ethnic group affiliation

65

(1)

Learner beliefs

66

(1)

Age of acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis

67

(7)

Summary

74

(3)

Learner language

77

(32)

Studying the language of second language learners

77

(5)

Contrastive analysis, error analysis, and interlanguage

78

(4)

Developmental sequences

82

(11)

Grammatical morphemes

83

(2)

Negation

85

(1)

Questions

86

(2)

Possessive determiners

88

(2)

Relative clauses

90

(1)

Reference to past

91

(1)

Movement through developmental sequences

92

(1)

More about first language influence

93

(3)

Vocabulary

96

(4)

Pragmatics

100

(4)

Phonology

104

(5)

Observing learning and teaching in the second language classroom

109

(28)

Natural and instructional settings

109

(5)

Observation schemes

114

(18)

Classroom comparisons: teacher--student interactions

115

(6)

Classroom comparisons: student--student interactions

121

(4)

Corrective feedback in the classroom

125

(5)

Questions in the classroom

130

(2)

Ethnography

132

(3)

Summary

135

(2)

Second language learning in the classroom

137

(46)

Six proposals for classroom teaching

137

(39)

Get it right from the beginning

138

(5)

Just listen . . . and read

143

(7)

Let's talk

150

(5)

Two for one

155

(5)

Teach what is teachable

160

(5)

Get it right in the end

165

(11)

The implications of classroom research for teaching

176

(3)

Summary

179

(4)

Popular ideas about language learning revisited

183

(12)

Glossary

195

(12)

Bibliography

207

(22)

Index

229

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How Languages Are Learned

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials