INTRODUCTION:

WHAT IS MEANT BY SLA?

Facultat de Filologia, Traducció i Comunicació

 SLA

TEFL
What is meant by SLA?

1. The Role of SLA in the world:

• School setting:

1. Bilingual Education

2. Immersion programmes

• Other circumstances:

1. International language

2. Migrant workers

3. Multilingual societies
 2. Why Study SLA?

• It is interesting in its own right (Linguistics, Psychology, Anthropology,

Sociology, Psycholinguistics, Sociolinguistics and Neurolinguistics)

• Understanding of SLA is beneficial for the second language

teaching profession

• Teaching field

• Corder (1981:71):

“Efficient language teachers must work with, rather than against,

natural processes, facilitate and expedite rather than impede
learning”.
2. Why Study SLA?

The teaching field triangle:

Teacher/Teaching

Language/Culture Learners/Learning
2. Why Study SLA?

• Teachers’ expectations must be modest

• Report by L2 learners that have studied SLA research

• SLA helpful for other areas:

1) mentally retarded individuals

2) non-native speaking children’s learning disabilities

3) deaf individuals
3. Development of the Field of Study of SLA

• SLA language teaching methods

• 1960’s: shift from the teaching process to the learning process

due to:

1. Inconclusive findings from the comparative studies

2. A debate in psychology over the nature of learning

3. A revolution in linguistics (Chomsky)

• Birth of the field with Corder’s or Selinker’s publications.

 The effect of
instruction on
SLA

L2 as a
general term
SLL vs SLA
for both L2
and FL

Acquisition as
superordinate
EFL
term for all
settings
 The effect of
instruction on
SLA

L2 as a
general term
SLL vs SLA
for both L2
and FL

Acquisition as
superordinate
EFL
term for all
settings
 The effect of
instruction on
SLA

L2 as a
general term
SLL vs SLA
for both L2
and FL

Acquisition as
superordinate
EFL
term for all
settings
 The effect of
instruction on
SLA

L2 as a
general term
SLL vs SLA
for both L2
and FL

Acquisition as
superordinate
EFL
term for all
settings
 The effect of
instruction on
SLA

L2 as a
general term
SLL vs SLA
for both L2
and FL

Acquisition as
superordinate
EFL
term for all
settings
5. Learner Variables

Age

Hemisphere
Aptitude
specialization

Cognitive
style Motivation

Personality Attitude
5. Learner Variables

Age

Hemisphere
Aptitude
specialization

Cognitive
style Motivation

Personality Attitude
5. Learner Variables

Age

Hemisphere
Aptitude
specialization

Cognitive
style Motivation

Personality Attitude
5. Learner Variables

Age

Hemisphere
Aptitude
specialization

Cognitive
style Motivation

Personality Attitude
5. Learner Variables

Age

Hemisphere
Aptitude
specialization

Cognitive
style Motivation

Personality Attitude
5. Learner Variables

Age

Hemisphere
Aptitude
specialization

Cognitive
style Motivation

Personality Attitude
5. Learner Variables

Age

Hemisphere
Aptitude
specialization

Cognitive
style Motivation

Personality Attitude
 Recommended books I

Flowerdew, John. 2012. Discourse in English Language Education.

Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
The book is aimed at anyone new to the field of Discourse
Studies. The chapters are organised according to specific areas
(Systemic Functional Linguistics,Speech Act Theory, Politeness,
Conversation Analysis, Genre, CDA, Corpus Linguistics, etc) with
questions at the end of each section.

Saville-Troike, Muriel. 2006. (2nd edition 2010). Introducing

Second Language Acquisition. New York: Cambridge University
Press.
An introduction to Second Language Acquisition for students. It
explains in nontechnical language how a second language is
acquired, what the second language learner needs to know and
why some learners are more successful than others. The author
considers SLA from linguistic, psychological, and social
perspectives. There are activities in each one of the chapters.
 Recommended books II

Ellis, Rod. 1994. The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford:

Oxford University Press.
A comprehensive introduction to SLA and a reference book for this
field of study. It deals with topics such as a general framework for the
study of SLA, a description of learner language, the learner’s internal
mechanisms, the role of the linguistic environment, individual
differences in language learning, and a review of the research on
classroom SLA.

Larsen-Freeman, Diane and Michael H. Long. 1999. An Introduction

to Second Language Acquisition Research. London: Longman
This book does not assume any previous knowledge of SLA. It
includes the scope of SLA research, the linguistic environment for
SLA, learner variables and explanation for success and failure. It also
includes current theories of SLA and the effects of formal instruction
on language learning.
 Recommended books III

Clavel-Arroitia, Begoña. 2012. Second Language Acquisition and Teaching

English as a Foreign Language. Valencia: Publicacions de la Universitat de
València.
A handbook for students, it offers a comprehensive overview of the fields of
SLA and TEFL. It has questions and activities at the end of each chapter, self-
corrective activities at the end of the book and a glossary of basic terms. It
can be complemented by online activities available at anglotic.blogs.uv.es
and gentext.blogs.uv.es.

Edge, Julian. 1993. Essentials of English Language Teaching. London:

Longman.
It contains the basics any new teacher will need to make a start and it also
offers an overview of the field which can make experienced teachers reflect
on their own ideas and practices. It includes information on learners,
learning processes, the English language, teaching materials, teaching
equipment, class management and testing.
 Recommended web links
• http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/SLA/index.htm: Created by Vivian Cook, the
webpage offers a series of resources on Second Language Acquisition topics such as
bibliography, publications, photos, archives, research tools, etc.

• http://www.sdkrashen.com/SL_Acquisition_and_Learning/index.html: You can find

Dr. Krashen’s book Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning
(1981) online.

• http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/language_stages.php: Created by Judie

Haynes, this page offers articles on SLA together with lesson plans and other
resources related to teaching.

• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/additional_needs.shtml:
sponsored by the British Council, this webpage deals with methodology and the
teaching of English. Of special interest are the two sections dealing with identifying
TBL (Task Based Learning) and innovations in teaching.

• http://anglotic.blogs.uv.es/: Anglotic innovation group webpage

• http://gentext.blogs.uv.es/: Gentext research group webpage

http://quietube.com/v.php/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YoCQYJez
NA&feature=related, youtube, 2,39, by David Marsh, uploaded
05/01/2007.
This clip introduces the need to prepare youngsters in a different way.

• Let’s watch the video now:

ü What are the main ideas shown in the video?

ü How has the teaching of languages changed in the last years?

ü What is globalization?

ü What is CLIL?
Answers:

ü What are the main ideas shown in the video?

• The traditional way in which languages were taught was not very
realistic nor useful.
• Everything is changing very rapidly and using languages to
communicate is vital now

ü How has the teaching of languages changed in the last years?

• Now people “learn by doing”; it is what teachers call learning by

construction as opposed to learning by instruction.
Answers:

ü What is globalization?

• Globalization seemed to be a distant concept, but now it has gone

global. Things are speeding up and societies across Europe are
adjusting. We need to rethink how we do what we do in order to not
just cope with change but also enjoy the opportunities it presents.

ü What is CLIL?

• It involves competence building in languages and communication at the

same time as developing vocational and professional knowledge and
skills. It’s not language learning and it’s not subject learning: it’s a
fusion of both.
• Clavel-Arroitia, B. (2012). Second Language Acquisition and Teaching English as a
Foreign Language. Valencia: Publicacions de la Universitat de València.
• Corder, P.S. (1981) "The significance of learners’ errors”. International Review of
Applied Linguistics 5: 161-9.
• Edge, J. (1993). Essentials of English Language Teaching. London: Longman.
• Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
• Flowerdew, J. (2012). Discourse in English Language Education. Abingdon, UK:
Routledge.
• Larsen-Freeman, D. and M. H. Long. (1999). An Introduction to Second Language
Acquisition Research. London: Longman
• Saville-Troike, M. (2006) (2nd edition 2010). Introducing Second Language Acquisition.
New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Selinker, L. (1972). “Interlanguage”. IRAL 10/3: 209-231.