Course title: SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Instructors: Asst. Prof. Renata Geld
ECTS credits: 4
Status: mandatory for MEd in English students; elective for other graduate English Studies students
Semester: VII
Enrollment requirements: none
Course description: SLA as an interdisciplinary field; a historical overview of research in the field; theories of SLA; models of language processing (with special focus on models of bilingual and multilingual processing); interlanguage; cross-linguistic interaction; role of age in language acquisition; role of cognition in second language acquisition; role of individual variables in second language acquisition; role of interaction and social context in second language acquisition; SLA research methodology.
Objectives: Students will gain an insight into the complexity of the process of second language acquisition, language processing and language use. They will be able to develop a critical approach to SLA theories and motivation for carrying out independent research in SLA.
Course requirements Students will be expected to read the literature assigned by the course instructor. High level of participation, especially in seminars, is expected. Students who pass the three revision tests do not have to sit for the final oral exam.
Week by week schedule:
| week | topics |
| 1 | Introduction Scope of inquiry and goals of second language acquisition as a discipline |
| 2 | Theories of second language acquisition (part I) |
| 3 | Theories of second language acquisition (part II) |
| 4 | Language processing capacity – monolingual and bilingual models Language processing capacity – multilingual models |
| 5 | Learner language and cross-linguistic influences |
| 6 | REVISION Test 1 |
| 7 | Age factor in second language acquisition |
| 8 | Individual factors in second language acquisition (cognitive factors) |
| 9 | Individual factors in second language acquisition (affective factors) |
| 10 | Social contexts Input and interaction |
| 11 | REVISION Test 2 |
| 12 | Instruction and L2 acquisition |
| 13 | Research methods in second language acquisition (defining and measuring SLA) |
| 14 | Research methods in second language acquisition (data collection in SLA research) |
| 15 | REVISION Test 3 |
Required reading:
– Doughty, C. J. & Long, M. H. (eds.) (2003). The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Malden, MA, Oxford, Melbourne, Berlin: Blackwell Publishing. [selected chapters]
– Ellis, R. (1997). Second Language Acquisition: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [selected chapters]
– Kaplan, R. B. (ed.) (2002). The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics. Oxford : OUP.
– Larsen-Freeman, D. & Long, M. H. (ed.) (1991). An Introduction to SLA Research. London: Longman. [selected chapters]
– Medved Krajnović, M. (2010). Od jednojezičnosti do višejezičnosti: Uvod u istraživanje procesa ovladavanja inim jezikom. Zagreb: Leykam International d.o.o.
Recommended reading:
– Cook, V. (ed.) (2002). Portraits of the L2 User. Clevedon, Buffalo, Toronto, Sydney: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
– Cook, V. (ed.) (2003). Effects of the Second Language on the First. Clevedon, Buffalo, Torontom, Sydney: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
– Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: OUP.
– Mihaljević Djigunović, J. (1998). Uloga afektivnih faktora u učenju stranoga jezika. Zagreb: Filozofski fakultet.
– Gleason, J. B. & Ratner, N.B. (1998). Psycholinguistics. 2nd ed. Wadsworth: Thomson Learning.
– Singleton, D. & Ryan, L. (2004). Language Acquisition: The Age Factor. Clevdeon, Buffalo, Toronto, Sydney: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
– Journals: Applied Linguistics; Language Learning; Studies in Second Language Acquisition; TESOL Quarterly.
