Publications
Publication details [#48274]
Oliver, Rhonda, Alison Mackey and Jenefer Philp, eds. 2008. Second Language Acquisition and the Younger Learner. Child's play? (Language Learning & Language Teaching 23). John Benjamins. viii+334 pp.
Publication type
Book – edited volume
Publication language
English
Keywords
Annotation
This new volume of work highlights the distinctiveness of child SLA through a collection of different types of empirical research specific to younger learners. Characteristics of children’s cognitive, emotional, and social development distinguish their experiences from those of adult L2 learners, creating intriguing issues for SLA research, and also raising important practical questions regarding effective pedagogical techniques for learners of different ages. While child SLA is often typically thought of as simple (and often enjoyable and universally effortless), in other words, as “child’s play”, the complex portraits of young second language learners which emerge in the 16 papers collected in this book invite the reader to reconsider the reality for many younger learners. Chapters by internationally renowned authors together with reports by emerging researchers describe second and foreign language learning by children ranging from pre-schoolers to young adolescents, in home and school contexts, with caregivers, peers, and teachers as interlocutors.
Articles in this volume
Lightbown, Patsy M. and Howard Nicholas. Defining child second language acquisition, defining roles for L2 instruction. 27–51
Cekaite, Asta. Developing conversational skills in a second language: Language learning affordances in a multiparty classroom setting. 105–129
Philp, Jenefer, Alison Mackey and Rhonda Oliver. The impact of teacher input, guidance and feedback on ESL children's task-based interactions. 131–147
Branden, Kris Van den. Negotiation of meaning in the classroom: Does it enhance reading comprehension? 149–169
Alcón-Soler, Eva and Maria del Pilar García Mayo. Incidental focus on form and learning outcomes with young foreign language classroom learners. 173–192
Iwasaki, Junko. Acquiring Japanese as a second language (JSL) in a naturalistic context: A longitudinal study of a young child from a Processability Theory (PT) perspective. 231–253