{"id":1453,"date":"2011-04-08T10:00:39","date_gmt":"2011-04-08T08:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elanguage.net\/blogs\/booknotices\/?p=1453"},"modified":"2011-03-30T12:26:50","modified_gmt":"2011-03-30T10:26:50","slug":"theories-in-second-language-acquisition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/?p=1453","title":{"rendered":"Theories in second language acquisition"},"content":{"rendered":"
Theories in second language acquisition<\/strong>: <\/strong>An introduction. Ed. by Bill VanPatten<\/strong> and Jessica Williams<\/strong>. (Second language acquisition research series.) Mawah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006. Pp. 272. ISBN 9780805857382<\/a>. $41.95.<\/div>\n

Reviewed by Dustin De Felice<\/strong><\/a>, University of South Florida<\/em><\/p>\n

In this volume, Bill VanPatten and Jessica Williams collect introductions to nine theories in second language acquisition (SLA) currently used to explain the acquisition of a linguistic system by the foremost proponents of each theory or model. The text is written with the beginning student in SLA theory and research in mind. Each chapter addresses the following: an overview of the theory, the evidence that is used for the theory, a brief discussion of some of the common misunderstandings held about that theory or model, and an exemplary study employing it. The last area addressed in each chapter comes from a condensed list of phenomena and observations that have been catalogued over the years in numerous studies and texts, presented as a series of discussion points for each approach in Chs. 1 and 2 (1\u201336).<\/p>\n

Within the text, the following theories or models are discussed. In Ch. 3 (37\u201356), Lydia White<\/strong> discusses the contributions of generative linguistics, and in Ch. 4 (57\u201376) Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig<\/strong> covers the functional approach. In Ch. 5 (77\u201396), Nick C. Ellis<\/strong> details the view that SLA is construction-based, rational, exemplar-driven, emergent, and dialectic. In Ch. 6 (97\u2013114), Robert DeKeyser<\/strong>, discusses the skill acquisition theory, while Bill VanPatten<\/strong> handles input processing in Ch. 7 (115\u201336), and Manfred Pienemann<\/strong> discusses the processability theory in Ch. 8 (137\u201354). In Ch. 9 (155\u201374), Susanne E. Carroll<\/strong> details the autonomous induction theory. In Ch. 10 (175\u2013200), Susan M. Gass <\/strong>and Alison Mackey<\/strong> cover input, output, and interaction theories and models. Finally, Ch. 11 (201\u201324), by James P. Lantolf <\/strong>and Steven L. Thorne<\/strong>, handles socio-cultural theory.<\/p>\n

According to Louis Ortega<\/strong> in the concluding chapter (Ch. 12, 225\u201350), the ten observable phenomena outlined in Ch. 1 can be combined into five central areas that have been the focus of attention for most SLA researchers over the past forty years: the nature of second language knowledge, the nature of interlanguage development, the influence of the first language on the second language, the linguistic environment, and the limits on output, the effects of frequency, and the effects of instruction. The author summarizes the nine theories in terms of the five central areas of attention, and uses figures to illustrate how each theory addresses the observable phenomena.<\/p>\n

While this volume might be challenging for a novice reader, students will benefit from such an efficiently organized overview of some of the most important current theories in the SLA field. For the teacher, the text provides an annotated bibliography with suggested further readings, as well as discussion questions and a succinct reference list at the end of each chapter that can provide novice readers the opportunity for further study of seminal as well as current research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction. Ed. by Bill VanPatten and Jessica Williams. (Second language acquisition research series.) Mawah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006. Pp. 272. ISBN 9780805857382. $41.95. Reviewed by Dustin De Felice, University of South Florida In this volume, Bill VanPatten and Jessica Williams collect introductions to nine theories in second language […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1454,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453\/revisions\/1454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}