Chapter 1. Second language task complexity, the Cognition Hypothesis, language learning, and performance

Recent second language acquisition (SLA) research into the cognitive abilities implicated in implicit, incidental, and explicit learning, and in learning and performance on tasks differing in their information processing demands has prompted new theoretical frameworks for conceptualizing L2 aptitude. This research is reviewed and related to measures of abilities operationalized in existing aptitude tests, as well as to measures of abilities that are the focus of more recent research in cognitive psychology. Finally, prospects for developing aptitude tests to serve the purposes of predicting both early and advanced level language learning success are discussed in the light of the SLA findings and aptitude frameworks reviewed.

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Chapter 1. Current research on instructed second language learning

Language Learning & Language Teaching - Doing SLA Research with Implications for the Classroom ◽

10.1075/lllt.52.01dek ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Robert M. DeKeyser ◽

Goretti Prieto Botana

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Second Language Learning

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Taking Technology to Task: Technology-Mediated TBLT, Performance, and Production

Annual Review of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.1017/s0267190516000039 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 36 ◽

pp. 136-163 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Nicole Ziegler

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Development ◽

Language Learning ◽

Reciprocal Relationship ◽

Computer Assisted ◽

Technology In The Classroom ◽

Second Language Development ◽

Integration Of Technology ◽

And Performance

ABSTRACTOver the last few decades, task-based language teaching (TBLT) has garnered increasing attention from researchers and educators alike. With a strong and growing body of research demonstrating the efficacy of tasks to support and facilitate second language development and performance (e.g., Keck, Iberri-Shea, Tracy-Ventura, & Wa-Mbaleka, 2006), TBLT has become a leading pedagogical approach. Similarly, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has also grown as a field, with the use and integration of technology in the classroom continuing to increase (Petersen & Sachs, 2015). As these fields have matured, a reciprocal relationship has developed (Lai & Li, 2011), with the literature on tasks and technology seeking to not only examine how technology might support and facilitate language learning, but how TBLT might serve as a framework to more thoroughly investigate CALL. In light of the expanding research on tasks and technology, this review article aims not only to provide a current state of the art of how technology-mediated TBLT facilitates and supports second language development and performance, but also to describe how technology can contribute to our understanding of how features of TBLT, such as task design features and task implementation, influence the success of second language acquisition. Suggestions for possible research agendas in technology-mediated TBLT are also made.

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Informal Learning in Second Language Acquisition

Computer-Assisted Language Learning ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-7663-1.ch053 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1111-1122

Author(s):

Helen, Yeh Wai Man

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Acquisition ◽

Language Learning ◽

Informal Learning ◽

English Proficiency ◽

Self Directed Learning ◽

Directed Learning ◽

And Performance

This chapter has investigated the importance of informal language learning in second language acquisition through a case study of two ESL learners. The effect of various kinds of informal learning with various resources on language proficiency and performance are discussed in relation to Bennett's model (2012). The case study shows that an “intake-type” informal environment can provide input to the language acquisition and self-directed learning and is crucial to effective language learning. Through the interviews with the subject learners, it can be seen that the learner with higher English proficiency and performance has been using self-directed language learning throughout his childhood and youth whereas the learner with lower English proficiency and performance generally has adopted tacit learning, which seems to be less effective in informal learning. Hence, self-directed learning should be promoted in schools and colleges by raising students' awareness of its importance and promoting learning-to-learn strategies.

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