Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition “With its cornucopia of information, both thorough and practical, this book is a must for our methodology shelves. Its study questions and project suggestions will be a boon for many research methods courses.” Robert M. DeKeysevr, University of Maryland “This guide to collecting, coding and analyzing second language acquisition data will be an essential reference for novice and experienced researchers alike.” Peter Robinson, Aoyama Gakuin University “Comprehensive and technically up-to-date, yet accessible and cogent! This remarkable textbook is sure to become a premier choice for the research training of many future SLA generations.” Lourdes Ortega, University of Hawaii “Alison Mackey and Susan Gass’ valuable new book offers hands-on methodological guidance from established experts on all kinds of second language research.” Michael H. Long, University of Maryland Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition: A Practical Guide is an informative guide to research design and methodology in this growing and vibrant field. Utilizing research methods and tools from varied fields of study including education, linguistics, psychology, and sociology, this collection offers complete coverage of the techniques of second language acquisition research. This guide covers a variety of topics, such as second language writing and reading, meta-analyses, research replication, qualitative data collection and analysis, and more. Each chapter of this volume offers background, step-by-step guidance, and relevant studies to create comprehensive coverage of each method. This carefully selected and edited volume will be a useful text for graduate students and scholars looking to keep pace with the latest research projects and methodologies in second language acquisition.

Introduction to Instructed Second Language Acquisition is the first book to present a cohesive view of the different theoretical and pedagogical perspectives that comprise instructed second language acquisition (ISLA), defined as any type of learning that occurs as a result of the manipulating the process and conditions of second language acquisition. The book begins by considering the effectiveness of ISLA and the differences between ISLA and naturalistic L2 learning. It then goes on to discuss the theoretical, empirical, and pedagogical aspects of such key issues in ISLA as grammar learning; interaction in the classroom; focus on form, function and meaning; vocabulary learning; pronunciation learning; pragmatics learning; learning contexts; and individual differences. This timely and important volume is ideally suited for the graduate level ISLA course, and provides valuable insights for any SLA scholar interested in the processes involved in second language learning in classroom settings.

Written for novice and established scholars alike, Instructed Second Language Acquisition Research Methods is a stand-alone research methods guide from an Instructed Second Language Acquisition (ISLA) lens. After offering foundations of conducting ISLA research, the subsequent chapters are organized by four skill areas (listening, speaking, reading, writing) and four major linguistic features (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, pragmatics). In each chapter, authors define the target sub-domain of ISLA, outline the basics of research design, provide concrete guidance on crafting robust research questions, identifying appropriate methodology and method(s), adapting an existing instrument or creating your own, carrying out a study, analyzing and interpreting data, and determining how/where/when to share your work. The volume also dedicates chapters to addressing common inquiries of conducting ISLA research (e.g., obtaining ethics permission, recruiting your own students, working with small and heterogeneous sample sizes, accounting for individual differences), and to maximizing research impact beyond academia. Written by leading experts on each topic, this book is an essential resource for ISLA, SLA, and research methods scholars.

Methods in current instructed second language acquisition research range from laboratory experiments to ethnography using non-obtrusive participant observation, from cross-sectional designs to longitudinal case studies. Many different types of data serve as the basis for analysis, including reaction times measurements, global test scores, paper and pencil measures, introspective comments, grammaticality judgements, as well as textual data (elicited or naturalistic, oral or written, relating to comprehension or production). Some studies rely on extensive quantification of data, while others may favour a more qualitative and hermeneutic analytic approach. Many of these issues and methods are exemplified by the contributions to this volume. Data-based studies included here deal with the acquisition of specific linguistic phenomena (e.g. verb and noun morphology, lexicon, clause structures) in a range of target languages (e.g. English, French, German, Russian) from a variety of settings involving different instructional approaches (e.g. traditional foreign language classes, immersion classes, intensive ESL classes, content and language integrated language classes). Collectively, the chapters in this book illustrate the productivity and diversity of current research on instructed second language acquisition. As such they serve as a valuable resource for researchers in SLA, psycholinguistics, linguistics, and language education.

The Routledge Handbook of Instructed Second Language Acquisition is the first collection of state-of-the-art papers pertaining to Instructed Second Language Acquisition (ISLA). Written by 45 world-renowned experts, the entries are full-length articles detailing pertinent issues with up-to-date references. Each chapter serves three purposes: (1) provide a review of current literature and discussions of cutting edge issues; (2) share the authors’ understanding of, and approaches to, the issues; and (3) provide direct links between research and practice. In short, based on the chapters in this handbook, ISLA has attained a level of theoretical and methodological maturity that provides a solid foundation for future empirical and pedagogical discovery. This handbook is the ideal resource for researchers, graduate students, upper-level undergraduate students, teachers, and teacher-educators who are interested in second language learning and teaching. .

This volume brings together theoretical perspectives and empirical studies in second language (L2) acquisition and bilingualism and discusses their implications for L2 pedagogy. The book is organized into three sections that focus on prominent linguistic and cognitive theories and together provide a compelling set of state-of-the-art works. Part I consists of studies that give rise to innovative applications for second language teaching and learning and Part II discusses how findings from cognitive research can inform practices for L2 teaching and learning. Following these two sections, Part III provides a summative commentary of the theories explored in the volume along with suggestions for future research directions. The book is intended to act as a valuable reference for scholars, applied linguists, specialists in pedagogy, language educators, and anyone wishing to gain an overview of current issues in SLA and bilingualism.

Task Sequencing and Instructed Second Language Learning provides theoretical rationales for, and empirical studies of, the effects of sequencing language learning tasks to maximize second language learning. Examples of task sequences, and both laboratory and classroom-based research into them, are presented. This is the first collection of so far under-researched studies on the effects of task sequencing, framed within the Cognition Hypothesis of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) and the SSARC model for task sequencing. Perspectives include -- laboratory-based and classroom-based research designs -- implications for teacher training -- laboratory and classroom research methods -- conversational interaction -- task sequencing and Task Based Language Teaching syllabus design