Second Language Acquisition

1. Theories and Theorists
2. Language and culture
3. Language Learning
4. Handy ESL teaching tools and resources
5. English
6. Glossaries

Theories and Theorists

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Language and Culture

Ask a Linguist
Ask-A-Linguist is a service provided by The LINGUIST List, an Internet network for professional linguists. Although the list itself is restricted to messages relating to linguistic research, many LINGUIST List members are interested in language-related questions of all kinds; and a number of these have volunteered to staff this page. Ask-A-Linguist is designed to be a place where anyone interested in language or linguistics can ask a question and get the response of a panel of professional linguists.

Bilingual Parenting in a Foreign Language
For parents interested in raising their children in a foreign language (non-native language to both parents).

Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA)
Launched in 1993, the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota supports a number of interrelated programs of research, training, development, and dissemination of information related to second language teaching, learning, and assessment.

Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)
Improving communication through better understanding of language and culture.

Critical Period Hypothesis (Eric Lenneberg)
In 1967, Lenneberg theorized that the acquisition of language is an innate process determined by biological factors which limit the critical period for acquisition of a language from roughly two years of age to puberty. According to Lenneberg, learning tasks including learning a second language is best done before lateralization is complete.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center:

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a five-year, $34.6 million contract to Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) of Rockville, Md., along with its subcontractors, to develop and operate a new database system for the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). The ERIC database will use the latest search and retrieval methods to cull education literature and give high-quality access to educators, researchers, and the general public. Complete text of press release.

During the transition period, continue to use this ERIC website to:
Search the ERIC database.
Toll-free contact for general questions about ERIC: (800) LET-ERIC (538-3742).

ETHNOLOGUE (2005)
The most extensive database of the world's 6,800+ languages; published by the Summer Institute of Linguistics, a missionary organization associated with the Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Fossilization in Language Acquisition (Larry Selinker)
"... fossilizable linguistic phenomena are linguistic items, rules, and subsystems which speakers of a particular NL (natural language) tend to keep in their IL (interlanguage) relative to a particular TL (target language), no matter what the age of the learner or the amount of explanation and instruction he receives in the TL ... Fossilizable structures tend to remain as potential performance, reemerging in the productive performance of an IL even when seemingly eradicated." (Selinker, 1972; revised thereafter).

International Clearinghouse for Endangered Languages

Language Policy Web Site and Emporium (Jim Crawford)

National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE)
Through research, professional development, public education and legislative advocacy, NABE pursues the implementation of educational policies and practices which ensure equity of education opportunity for linguistically and culturally diverse students and advance U.S. interests in an era of global interdependence and competition.

National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition & Language Instruction Educational Programs
The most extensive electronic resource in this field, with hundreds of publications available for download, a
searchable database of more than 20,000 references, and constantly updated information about research and policy developments.

Native Languages Page (Lisa Mitten)
Native American resources in the Internet.

Peal, E. and Lambert, W.E. (1962). The Relation of Bilingualism to Intelligence. Psychological Monographs 76 (Entire Issue). See also: Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, Vol 1(2), 1969. pp. 123-128.

Bilingual education was looked upon negatively until the 1960s. In 1962, Peal & Lambert's research by highlighting many positive and advantageous aspects of bilingualism turned the tide in the field of educational research. Since then, all kinds of bilingual education programs have been shown consistently to have beneficial effects on all kinds of learners in diverse types of schooling contexts.

Rethinking Schools On-Line
Bilingual Educational Resources: "Bilingual education is both a civil and human right. Unfortunately with
the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States, bilingual education has been attacked at the state and federal level. Statewide anti-bilingual initiatives have passed in California, Arizona and Massachusetts. Federal legislation recently passed (as part of George W. Bush's Elementary and Secondary Education Act) includes provisions which further disadvantage those who are learning English. "

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
TESOL's mission is to develop the expertise of its members and others involved in teaching English to speakers of other languages to help them foster effective communication in diverse settings while respecting individual's language rights.

Total Physical Response, TPR (James J. Asher)
TPR is a language learning method based on the coordination of speech and action developed in1965 by James Asher. It involves physical registration--using body movements or kinesthetic situations-- to place subject matter into long term memory. TPR is linked to the trace theory of memory, which holds that the more often or intensively a memory connection is traced, the stronger the memory will be.

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Language Learning

Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

A National Study of School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students' Long-Term Academic
Achievement.
Conducted from 1996-2001, by Wayne Thomas and Virginia Collier, professors of education at George Mason University, includes quantitative and qualitative research findings from urban and rural research sites in northeast, northwest, south-central, and southeast U.S. The study examines the types of school programs provided for linguistically and culturally diverse students and the resulting long-term academic
achievement of these students. It concludes by proposing answers to urgent policy questions at federal and state levels.

By the 2030s, students whose first language is not English will make up an estimated 40 percent of K-12 student population in the United States. Although a range of programs exists to serve these students, there has been little conclusive data available to indicate which programs are the most effective and why - until now. A newly released national study, conducted through CREDE presents in-depth data on the effectiveness of various programs and recommendations on design, implementation, and evaluation for education reform for language minority students.

Handy ESL teaching tools and resources
(and where they can be found)

Oral and Vernacular Englishes [OVE] are mixtures of English and local languages, or versions of local languages which incorporating lots of English "pop" or commercial phrases.

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Glossaries

Glossary of Terms Related to the Education of Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students (NCELA)
The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition & Language Instruction Educational Programs (NCELA) is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement & Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) to collect, analyze, and disseminate information relating to the effective education of linguistically and culturally diverse learners in the U.S.

ESL Idioms Page (Dennis Oliver)

ESOL/Bilingual Terminology -- by Michael Pierce
Professor Pierce teaches ESOL Strategies for Content Area Teachers at Florida State University.

London Teacher Training Center
Since 1985 LTTC has trained hundreds of EFL teachers who have gone on to develop their careers in many countries around the world.

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