The present volume provides a cross-linguistic perspective on the development of tense-aspect in L2 acquisition. Data-based studies included in this volume deal with the analysis of a wide range of target languages: Chinese, English, Italian, French, Japanese, and Spanish. Theoretical frameworks used to evaluate the nature of the empirical evidence range from generative grammar to functional-typological linguistics. Several studies focus on the development of past tense markers, but other issues such as the acquisition of a future marker are also addressed. An introductory chapter outlines some theoretical and methodological issues that serves as relevant preliminary reading for most of the chapters included in this volume. Additionally, a preliminary chapter offers a substantive review of first language acquisition of tense-aspect morphology. The analysis of the various languages included in this volume significantly advances our understanding of this phenomenon, and will serve as an important basis for future research.

This volume provides a definitive view of the relationship between input, interaction, and second language acquisition. In so doing, it should prove useful to those whose major concern is with the acquisition of a second or foreign language as well as for those who are primarily interested in these issues from a pedagogical perspective. The book does not explicate or advocate a particular teaching methodology, but does attempt to lay out some of the underpinnings of what is involved in interaction -- what it is and what purpose it serves. Research in second language acquisition is concerned with the knowledge that second language learners do and do not acquire and how that knowledge comes about. This book ties these issues together from three perspectives -- input/interaction framework, information-processing, and learnability.

A clear and accessible introductory textbook on second language acquisition research, focusing on methodological issues, L1 influence, theories of second language research, interlanguage issues, L2 input, nonlinguistic factors, affecting L2 acquisition, instructed SLA, and the role of the lexicon. It is intended for UG or G students who have little or no background in SLA research but do have a basic grounding in general linguistics. Each chapter has exercises and a list of references.

Whether we grow up with one, two, or several languages during our early years of life, many of us will learn a second, foreign, or heritage language in later years. The field of Second language acquisition (SLA, for short) investigates the human capacity to learn additional languages in late childhood, adolescence, or adulthood, after the first language --in the case of monolinguals-- or languages --in the case of bilinguals-- have already been acquired. Understanding Second Language Acquisition offers a wide-encompassing survey of this burgeoning field, its accumulated findings and proposed theories, its developed research paradigms, and its pending questions for the future. The book zooms in and out of universal, individual, and social forces, in each case evaluating the research findings that have been generated across diverse naturalistic and formal contexts for second language acquisition. It assumes no background in SLA and provides helpful chapter-by-chapter summaries and suggestions for further reading. Ideal as a textbook for students of applied linguistics, foreign language education, TESOL, and education, it is also recommended for students of linguistics, developmental psycholinguistics, psychology, and cognitive science. Supporting resources for tutors are available free at www.routledge.com/ortega.

Bringing together an international and interdisciplinary team of contributors, this Handbook is a wide-ranging and invaluable reference guide to language teaching. A comprehensive reference work on language teaching, which combines the latest research findings, coverage of core topics, and examples of teaching experience from a variety of languages and settings Provides a unique breadth of coverage, including: the psycholinguistic underpinnings of language learning; social, political, and educational contexts; program design; materials writing and course design; teaching and testing; teacher education; and assessment and evaluation Offers a balanced evaluation of the major positions and approaches, including examining the increasingly important social and political context of language teaching Written by an international and interdisciplinary group of authors from a dozen different countries; English is only one of the many languages used as examples throughout the volume