Compared with STEM fields, foreign language (FL) education and second language acquisition have only slowly embraced open education and the new knowledge ecologies it produces. FL educators may have been hesitant to participate in the open education movement due to a lack of research which investigates the benefits and challenges of FL learning and teaching in open environments. This book contextualizes open education in FL learning and teaching via an historical overview of the movement, along with an in-depth exploration of how the open movement affects FL education beyond the classroom context; fills the research void by exploring aspects of open second language learning and teaching across a range of educational contexts; and illustrates new ways of creating, adapting and curating FL materials that are freely shared among FL educators and students. This book is open access under a CC BY ND licence.

This book is a thorough revision of the highly successful text first published in 1994. The authors retain the multidisciplinary approach that presents research from linguistics, sociology, psychology, and education, in a format designed for use in an introductory course for undergraduate or graduate students. The research is updated throughout and there are new sections and chapters in this second edition as well. New chapters cover child language acquisition (first and second), Universal Grammar, and instructed language learning; new sections address issues, such as what data analysis doesn't show, replication of research findings, interlanguage transfer (multilingual acquisition and transfer), the aspect hypothesis, general nativism, connectionist approaches, and implicit/explicit knowledge. Major updates include nonlanguage influences and the lexicon. The workbook, Second Language Learning Data Analysis, Second Edition, makes an ideal accompaniment to the text.

Second Language Learning and Language Teaching provides an introduction to the application of second language acquisition research to language teaching. Assuming no previous background in second language acquisition or language teaching methods, this text starts by introducing readers to the basic issues of second language acquisition research. It then examines how people learn particular aspects of the second language, such as grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and the writing system, and at the strategies they adopt in their learning and the differences between individuals. Final chapters look at second language learning in a broader context – the goals of language teaching and how teaching methods relate to SLA research. This newly updated fifth edition builds on the comprehensive scope of earlier editions while also addressing more recent developments in the field, particularly multilingual approaches to language teaching.

This volume focuses on 'practice' from a theoretical perspective and includes implications for the classroom.

Dewey's idea of Project-based Learning (PBL) was introduced into the field of second language education nearly two decades ago as a way to reflect the principles of student-centered teaching (Hedge, 1993). Since then, PBL has also become a popular language and literacy activity at various levels and in various contexts (see Beckett, 1999; Fried-Booth, 2002; Levis & Levis, 2003; Kobayashi, 2003; Luongo- Orlando, 2001; Mohan & Beckett, 2003; Weinstein, 2004). For example, it has been applied to teach various ESL and EFL skills around the world (e.g., Fried-Booth, 2002). More recently, PBL has been heralded as the most appropriate approach to teaching content-based second language education (Bunch, et al., 2001; Stoller, 1997), English for specific purposes (Fried-Booth, 2002), community-based language socialization (Weinstien, 2004), and critical and higher order thinking as well as problem-solving skills urged by the National Research Council (1999). Despite this emphasis, there is a severe shortage of empirical research on PBL and research-based frameworks and models based on sound theoretical guidance in general and second and foreign language education in particular (Thomas, 2000). Also missing from the second and foreign language education literature is systematic discussion of PBL work that brings together representative work, identifying obvious gaps, and guiding the field toward future directions. This, first of its kind, volume bridges these obvious gaps through the original work of international scholars from Canada, Israel, Japan, Singapore, and the US.

This book is designed to provide practical applications of sociocultural theory with regard to teachers’ roles in second language education. By providing specific examples of teachers’ roles in the classroom, the book aims to help researchers, teacher educators, and classroom teachers make clear connections between practice and theory in second language learning. All the studies in this edited book are conducted in the PreK-16 classroom setting. Each chapter presents rigorous research analysis within the framework of sociocultural theory and provides rich descriptions of teachers’ roles. The book is intended to be used in teacher education courses. The primary audience of the book is in-service teachers who work with second language learners (SLLs) in their classrooms including ESL/Bilingual classrooms or regular classrooms. Since many SLLs receive instructions both in the ESL/Bilingual classrooms and in the regular classrooms, it is important to discuss teachers’ roles in both settings. The secondary audience of the book is teacher educators and researchers who work with pre-service and in-service teachers in teacher education. This book will be an excellent resource for book study groups and practitioners working with professional learning communities.

Debates in Second Language Education provides an up-to-date account of the key debates and areas of controversy in the field of second language learning and teaching. Adopting a broad and comparative perspective and emphasising the importance of considering a variety of learning contexts, it encourages students and practising teachers to engage with contemporary issues and developments in learning and teaching. Chapters are designed to stimulate thinking and understanding in relation to theory and practice, and help language educators to make informed judgements by arguing from a position based on theoretical knowledge and understanding. Bringing together leading contributors in the field, the book discusses a wide range of issues relating to second language learning and teaching including: the relationship between age and success in language learning aptitude versus motivation as predictors of successful language learning linguistic diversity and plurilingualism the teaching of grammar and vocabulary the value of phonics learning pronunciation the second language only versus the multilingual debate With reflective points in every chapter, Debates in Second Language Education will be a valuable resource for any student or practising teacher, as well as for those engaged in initial teacher education, continuing professional development or Master's level study. It will also be of interest to second language acquisition researchers and those studying applied linguistics.