Learning a second or foreign language is commonplace in today's world. In fact, recent estimates (Grosjean, 2010) suggest that more than half of the world's population knows more than one language. Some of this dual language knowledge comes from family or societal sources, that is, growing up in a dual-language family or a bi- or multilingual society; in other instances, second language knowledge comes from an instructional setting. In some instances, learning begins post-puberty; in other instances, it begins in childhood. Despite these varied facts, we are still a long way from understanding how second languages are learned, why many individuals have difficulty in reaching high levels of proficiency in a second language, or even what the best pedagogical approach might be. This Handbook of Second Language Acquisition provides comprehensive coverage of the field of second language acquisition (SLA) with an effort to incorporate a wide range of different approaches to understanding how languages are learned.
As an ever-growing body of research on SLA has indicated, numerous factors are involved in L2 learning (de Bot et al., 2005; Gass and Selinker, 2008; Ortega, 2009; Mitchell and Myles, 1998). Put another way, the field of SLA is multi-faceted and interdisciplinary, a fact which also reflects the complexity of L2 development. The many factors involved in L2 learning (e.g., linguistic, psychological, sociological) are generally best viewed in combination. In other words, the highly complex phenomenon of second language learning can only be understood when all parts of the picture can be seen at the same time. A single approach (e.g., focusing only on linguistic aspects of learning, or focusing only on social aspects of learning) is too simplistic and is unlikely to move us toward our goal of understanding the entire phenomenon and, in particular, why and when language learning is successful, and why and when it is not.
This Handbook is designed to provide a state-of-the-art survey of L2 research exploring theoretical issues of particular significance in L2 learning and teaching. The Handbook is intended for SLA researchers, applied linguists, graduate students, upper-level undergraduate students, practitioners, and other professionals related to or interested in SLA. Accordingly, the topics discussed in the Handbook were selected in consideration of the needs of the intended audience. More importantly, the selections were also made based on the degree of significance and prominence to which each topic has contributed to L2 research. Some topics have already received book-length treatises (e.g., approaches related to sociocultural theories); other topics (e.g., issues related to heritage learners, study abroad, or education level) have not typically been included in an overall discussion of language learning prior to this Handbook.
Even though the primary scope of the Handbook is second language learning, authors were also asked to provide a section on how their approaches to learning a second language might be applied to an instructional context. We designed the Handbook this way because of our conviction that while these two disciplines (language teaching and language learning) are separate and each has its own research history and trajectories, there is, nonetheless, common ground and a need for strong cross-fertilization. Theories about learning are often tested in the classroom and understanding of classroom language and behavior can often feed into our theoretical notions. Below is a synopsis of the instructions provided to authors of the chapters in this volume concerning the structure of their chapters. To represent each area, we intentionally selected leading scholars and they, in turn, often selected rising stars as co-authors.
(1) Historical discussion
This section places the chapter in historical perspective and provides the reader with a sense of where the topic fits within the field as a whole, and how (when appropriate) it relates to other disciplines.
(2) Core issues in the area
This section presents and explains the major tenets of the topic and provides the reader with a commentary on the most up-to-date findings.
(3) Data and common elicitation measures
In this section, authors describe what types of data are used, how these data are typically gathered and how they are analyzed.
(4) Applications/instructional relevance
As discussed above, in the hope of bridging the divide between theory and practice, in this section, the authors discuss the impact that their approach has for instruction.
(5) Future directions
In the final section, authors point to the future of their approach and speculate where they see this area of research going both in the short and the longer term.
Quite clearly, this outline better suits some approaches better than others, but all authors were guided by this general outline. The book is divided into seven parts: (1) Language in context, (2) Linguistic perspectives—form and meaning, (3) Psycholinguistic and neurolinguistics perspectives, (4) Skill learning, (5) Individual differences, (6) The setting for learning and (7) Assessing learner knowledge.
The first section discusses how language use in context affects second language (L2) learning, dealing with three issues that have led to debates among researchers: the interactionist approach (including feedback), variationist perspectives, sociocultural theory, and complexity theory. This first section illustrates the dynamics involved in learning and emphasizes the need to understand the role that the context plays in learning. A particular focus is on how the context impacts learning and how learners take advantage of the opportunities that the context provides to further their learning.
In the second section, linguistic theories in SLA are presented, along with evidence for and/ or against relevant theories from research to date. In this section, there is an emphasis on language form (phonology and syntax), meaning and meaning-making (semantics, vocabulary, pragmatics), as opposed to language use, as was the case in some of the chapters in the first section.
The third section takes the reader to the area of language processing. All of the chapters in this section consider psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic accounts of L2 learning processes. Each of these chapters draws heavily on the field of psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, or neurolinguistics. We do not intend the reader to infer that other chapters do not draw on these fields (e.g., speech perception); the organization was simply a heuristic for determining the main focus of chapters.
In the fourth section, we include chapters about L2 learning across the four traditional language skill areas: reading, writing, speech production, and speech perception, drawing attention to relevant research that elucidates how L2 learners can develop those skills and how they can benefit from particular (instructional) techniques designed to help improve the four skills. This section concludes with a comparison of spoken and written language production.
The fifth section reflects the fact that in SLA it has long been recognized that individuals vary in terms of how they learn, as well as their ultimate abilities in a second language. What is less clear is how to account for these differences. This section presents research on some of the proposed causes. The chapters in this section address a wide range of issues that may impact learning, some of which are commonly accepted (e.g., aptitude and motivation) and others which will provoke the reader to think about individual differences in a slightly different way (e.g., education level, home language background [language of one's heritage]).
In the sixth section, the focus is on the ways in which different settings affect L2 learning: study abroad, second language vs. foreign language environments, and language learning through technology. Each of these areas is important not only for our understanding of how languages are learned, but is also crucial to teachers, curriculum developers, and policy setters as they find footing in their decisions about numerous instances related to how to have a cutting-edge language program.
Last but not the least, in its final section, the Handbook brings to our attention the validity and reliability of various measures designed to assess L2 knowledge. We opened this introduction with an estimate of how much of the world's population is bilingual. There is no definitive answer for a variety of reasons, one of which is our inability to know how to make precise measurements. However, it is crucial to have a firm foundation in assessment, not only to measure pedagogical successes, also to measure SLA which is even more germane to the issues discussed in this book. In other words, in order to conduct sound SLA research, it is essential that we know how to measure knowledge and have a keen understanding of what it means to know a second language. The final chapter moves us in this direction.
In sum, this collection surveys the field of SLA with an eye on the history, the current practice, the applications, and the future, with an attempt to consider as many relevant factors as possible as we move toward an understanding of how, when, and where second languages are learned.
There are numerous individuals to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. First are the authors themselves. Because we wanted authoritative figures in the field, we invited scholars who have been asked many times before to write overview articles. But, we were asking them to reframe those earlier pieces. We recognize how difficult it is to write one more article on the same topic. They were patient with us as we sent chapters back for just “one more revision.” Second are our graduate students who helped with many phases of this project. In particular, graduate students at Michigan State University and Georgetown helped us in the preparation of the manuscripts. Third are the reviewers of our initial proposal and of our entire final manuscript, all of whose comments were incorporated at almost every stage of the way, if not directly, at least implicitly. It is difficult to sufficiently express our gratitude to each of you for your careful reading of the manuscript. And, finally, Sophie Jaques from Routledge whose support, assistance and understanding were appreciated at each stage of this project. Producing a book with 35 chapters was almost a full-time job at some stages, and for allowing us time and providing encouragement, we are unceasingly grateful to our families and particularly our husbands, Josh Ard and David Yarowsky.
de Bot, K., Lowie, W., and Verspoor, M. (2005). Second language acquisition: An advanced resource book. New York: Routledge.
Gass, S. and Selinker, L. (2008). Second language acquisition: An introductory course (Third Edition). New York: Routledge.
Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Mitchell, R. and Myles, F. (1998). Second language learning theories. London: Edward Arnold.
Ortega, L. (2009). Understanding second language acquisition. London: Hodder Education.