Introduction to Instructed Second Language Acquisition

Shawn Loewen

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781138671775
• eBook ISBN: 9781317206019
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Now in its second edition, Introduction to Instructed Second Language Acquisition continues to present a cohesive view of the different theoretical and pedagogical perspectives that comprise instructed second language acquisition (ISLA). Loewen provides comprehensive discussions of the theoretical, empirical, and pedagogical aspects of a range of key issues in ISLA, and has added to this edition a comprehensive exploration of the relationship between ISLA research and second language pedagogy. Also new is the addition of supporting features including new end-of-chapter activities, points for reflection, and discussion questions, as well as thoroughly revised content to reflect the most recent research in ISLA. This is an essential resource for students new to ISLA, or working in second language acquisition more generally.

1

Introduction

The academic discipline of instructed second language acquisition (ISLA), at its most basic, attempts to answer two questions: (1) is instruction beneficial for second language (L2) learning, and (2) if so, how can the effectiveness of instruction be optimized? Because of this instructional perspective, ISLA addresses aspects of second language acquisition (SLA) theory and research that pertain directly to the L2 classroom. ISLA has focused, in particular, on the cognitive and psycholinguistic processes of L2 development which are arguably similar for all learners. In addition, the social aspects of L2 acquisition have been investigated, and increasingly so since the social turn (Block, 2003) in the field of applied linguistics, which has seen an increase in research that focuses on social and contextual factors involved in L2 acquisition. Numerous research studies have investigated various facets of ISLA, and several books have provided a collection of studies (e.g., Housen & Pierrard, 2005; Sato & Loewen, 2019) or a synthesized view of individual components of ISLA, such as grammar (e.g., Ellis, 1990) or vocabulary (Boers & Lindstromberg, 2009). While there has been a proliferation of interest in ISLA research in the past decade (as is evidenced, in part, by the recent formation of the journal of Instructed Second Language Acquisition), few works have attempted to go beyond individual research studies or specific linguistic areas to consider the broader scope of ISLA in an effort to bring together various issues and strands of research.

Now in its second edition, this book endeavors to bring together and explore a fuller range of topics and concerns related to ISLA. To that end, the current chapter considers the defining features and limits of ISLA. In addition, this chapter considers the foremost assumption of ISLA that L2 instruction matters and can be beneficial for L2 learning. Although most L2 teachers and students may consider such an assumption to be self-evident (otherwise why spend so much time in the classroom?), they would surely agree that L2 instruction is not always successful and students do not always learn what is taught in the L2 classroom. Some SLA researchers (e.g., Krashen, 1982, 2003) would contend, in fact, that L2 learners acquire very little in the classroom that enables them to use the L2 for spontaneous communicative purposes; rather, these researchers and others (e.g., VanPatten, 2017) argue that learners acquire a second language in a similar way to their first language, by being exposed to large amounts of input from speakers and from other sources such as books, movies, and music. Even though such views about the overall ineffectiveness of L2 instruction are in the minority in the field of SLA, it is nevertheless important to ask, and investigate, if instruction really makes a difference for L2 acquisition.

What Is ISLA?

Before addressing the effectiveness of instruction, however, it is important to consider the scope of ISLA. Recently, there has been an attempt to consider in detail the characteristics and definition of ISLA. For example, multiple scholars (e.g., Ellis, 1990; Housen & Pierrard, 2005; Leow, 2019; Long, 2017; Toth & Moranski, 2018; VanPatten, 2017) have proposed definitions of ISLA and have considered its relationship to the overarching field of SLA. Several researchers and theorists have presented more systematic definitions and operationalizations of the term. Ellis (1990), in his book entitled Instructed Second Language Acquisition, states simply that he is ‘concentrating on the research that has addressed how classroom second language acquisition takes place’ (original emphasis: p. vii). R. Ellis (2005) further states that ‘instruction can be viewed as an attempt to intervene in the process of language learning’ (p. 9). Much later, Loewen (2013) stated that ISLA investigates L2 learning or acquisition that occurs as a result of teaching and that ‘the defining feature of L2 instruction is that there is an attempt by teachers, or instructional materials, to guide and facilitate the process of L2 acquisition’ (p. 2716). An even more detailed definition of instruction is provided by Housen and Pierrard (2005) in their edited volume of research studies investigating various aspects of ISLA. They define ISLA as ‘any systematic attempt to enable or facilitate language learning by manipulating the mechanisms of learning and/or the conditions under which these occur’ (p. 2). One main theme that runs through these various definitions, as well as more recent ones (e.g., Long, 2017), is the emphasis on an attempt to intervene in the learning process. Therefore, based on these previous works, the definition of ISLA upon which this book is premised is as follows:

Instructed Second Language Acquisition is a theoretically and empirically based field of academic inquiry that aims to understand how the systematic manipulation of the mechanisms of learning and/or the conditions under which they occur enable or facilitate the development and acquisition of an additional language.

Before considering in more detail the instructed component of ISLA, it is also important to consider the other terms in the acronym: Second, language, and acquisition. The term second refers to any language other than one’s first language. In many cases, it is clear what a learner’s second language is because they started learning it well after their first language was fully established. For example, in the United States, many students begin studying a second language at the age of 13 or 14, by which time their knowledge of English is essentially complete. There are, however, instances where the difference between a person’s first and second language is less clear. In multilingual societies or in bilingual families, children may be exposed to two or more languages from birth, and these languages may develop in tandem. In general, such contexts are studied more in the field of bilingualism than in ISLA, in part because much of the language development in these contexts occurs naturalistically outside of a classroom. Finally, it is acknowledged that many people study more than one additional language and thus may be involved in third or fourth language acquisition. However, for convenience sake, the fields of SLA and ISLA have retained the term second with the understanding that it may refer to multiple additional languages.

Language is another term that needs some consideration. In general, language can be considered a system of form-meaning mappings that is used for communication. It has traditionally been thought of as containing various subcomponents, such as grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation (or morphosyntax, lexis, and phonology to use more technical terminology) (Housen & Pierrard, 2005). In addition, pragmatics, the study of language use in social contexts, has received attention in ISLA research and, to a lesser degree, in the L2 classroom. Because of the importance of each of these areas of language, and the existence of unique learning and instructional challenges associated with them, each of these areas will be explored in more depth in their respective, subsequent chapters. In addition, language is often operationalized in the L2 classroom as a set of skills, namely speaking, listening, reading, and writing. While these overlap with and include the above-mentioned linguistic components of language, they are often addressed individually in L2 instruction. Indeed, there are often classes that focus specifically on one or two of these skills, such as speaking and listening courses, or writing courses.

Finally, it is necessary to consider acquisition. At first, the meaning of acquisition may also seem self-evident, but on further reflection, acquisition is also a complex concept. Furthermore, difficulties in definition are compounded by the use of terms such as learning and development to refer to similar constructs. In many cases, the terms acquisition and learning have been used synonymously, but some researchers, particularly Stephen Krashen (1982, 2003) in the acquisition-learning hypothesis of his Monitor Model of SLA, have made significant distinctions between the two terms, with learning referring to the accumulation of metalinguistic, declarative knowledge about the L2, and acquisition referring to gaining the implicit L2 knowledge that results in learners’ ability to use the L2 for communication. Although these processes and types of knowledge are important to distinguish, in keeping with current ISLA usage, the terms learning and acquisition will not be used in this book to convey these distinctions; instead, terms such as implicit and explicit knowledge or declarative and procedural knowledge will be used, while learning and acquisition will be used interchangeably. Another term that is sometimes used to refer to acquisition is development. In fact, Loewen and Reinders (2011) define acquisition as ‘the process of L2 development’ (p. 6). There are slightly different connotations between acquisition and development, with the former emphasizing the end product of learning, while the latter underscores the process of learning. Yet in both cases, there is the notion of an increase in L2 knowledge and/or proficiency, and it is this idea that will serve as a general definition of acquisition.

In order to highlight the instructed nature of ISLA, it is helpful to consider ISLA in relation to other related, but distinct areas, including uninstructed L2 acquisition (sometimes also called naturalistic L2 acquisition), the more general discipline of SLA, as well as L2 pedagogy. The distinction between instructed and uninstructed L2 acquisition might be thought of as merely the difference between learners being inside or outside of the classroom, with the classroom providing teaching and more formal opportunities for learning (Ellis, 1990). And yet the definitions of ISLA in the previous paragraph do not focus on the location of instruction, but rather on the manipulation of the L2 learning process. Thus, according to the definition in this book, it is possible for instructed L2 acquisition to occur outside the classroom, for example, if learners are participating in study abroad programs or are using textbooks or computer-assisted language learning materials for self-selected, individual study programs.

In an effort to more fully understand the contexts with which ISLA is concerned, it is helpful to consider its two prerequisites, namely instruction and acquisition, or more specifically, intention to acquire the L2. Without these two conditions, ISLA does not exist. With the previously discussed definitions of instruction and acquisition in mind, it is possible to place the terms on intersecting scales, as in Figure 1.1, to help identify the scope of ISLA. When considering acquisition, it is true that it does not always occur even though there is effort on the part of learners and teachers, and indeed the reasons for such failure are a primary concern of both ISLA and SLA. However, an assumption of ISLA is that learners are making an effort to acquire the L2; if acquisition is not a goal of an encounter with the L2, then such a situation would fall outside of the realm of ISLA. For example, Quadrants 3 and 4 in Figure 1.1 represent contexts in which there is no intention to acquire the L2 by an individual. This lack of effort may exist even though the person is surrounded by the L2, as in the case of expatriates who live in a larger L2 society but interact mostly with other L1 speakers (Quadrant 3). Additionally, it is possible that there is no intention to acquire the L2 because of the unlikely possibility that an individual is completely unengaged with the instructional process even though he or she is within the four walls of a classroom (Quadrant 4). ISLA is not concerned with such situations because there is no intention to acquire the L2.

FIGURE 1.1 Defining instructed second language acquisition.

In addition to learners intending to acquire the L2, there must be some systematic attempt to manipulate the conditions for learning, and here is the primary way in which instructed and uninstructed SLA differ. If there is no attempt to manipulate the conditions for learning, then there is no instruction, and any learning is uninstructed in nature (Quadrant 1). For example, individuals may simply be immersed in an L2 environment, and they may acquire the language incidentally as they go about their daily lives, even though they may not have the time or make the effort to engage in any type of more formal or systematic study. In contrast, other individuals may take advantage of their presence in the L2 context to more actively and systematically pursue learning the language. This latter case would approach, and perhaps blur, the boundary between instructed and uninstructed SLA.

Although individuals may engage in autonomous L2 study, the prototypical context of ISLA is the L2 classroom, in which there is generally both systematic manipulation of the learning conditions and an intention to learn. This manipulation can happen in at least two ways: First, the linguistic input itself can be transformed. For example, a teacher might take an authentic Internet news article and simplify the vocabulary and grammar before presenting it to the class. Alternatively, a textbook passage might be written to include numerous examples of a specific grammatical structure. In these ways, the input that the learners receive has been altered in some way in hopes of facilitating the L2 learning process. A second type of manipulation is altering the way in which learners engage with the input. In the previous example of the Internet news article, the teacher may decide to provide the authentic, unaltered version, but she might ask students to read it multiple times, each time focusing on a specific comprehension issue or linguistic feature. In many cases in the L2 classroom, both the input and the processes of learner engagement with that input are manipulated. An example of this combination is found in processing instruction (VanPatten, 2015) which will be discussed in Chapter 6.

An issue to keep in mind when considering the manipulation of learning conditions is who is doing the manipulating. Typically, this manipulation is done by teachers, either in traditional classroom contexts or in private tutoring situations. Teachers may draw on their own experiences and training in order to design lessons that they expect will benefit their students. Of course, teachers’ training and intuitions may or may not reflect current ISLA theory about optimal L2 learning conditions. In addition to drawing on their own experiences, teachers often rely greatly on textbooks and their authors to provide manipulated linguistic input, such as grammar and vocabulary, as well as activities that are intended to engage learners with the input in specific ways (Richards, 2007). Again, such resources may or may not utilize up-to-date ISLA concepts. It is also possible for learners themselves to manipulate the conditions for learning; however, such instances have not been a primary focus of ISLA research. Thus, while it is acknowledged that self-study can involve manipulation by individual learners, this book will be concerned mostly with manipulation that is done by teachers or other resources. The questions that ISLA seeks to address, as stated earlier, pertain to the effectiveness of manipulating the learning conditions, and what types of manipulations are most effective.

In sum, Quadrant 1 of Figure 1.1 represents contexts in which there is no systematic manipulation of learning conditions, but there is an attempt to acquire the L2. This situation is referred to as uninstructed ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction
• 2 The Nature of Second Language Knowledge
• 3 Interaction in the Second Language Classroom
• 4 Focus on Form
• 5 Sociocultural Theory in the Second Language Classroom
• 6 The Acquisition of Grammar
• 7 The Acquisition of Vocabulary
• 8 The Acquisition of Pronunciation
• 9 The Acquisition of Pragmatics
• 10 Contexts of Instructed Second Language Acquisition
• 11 Individual Differences and Instructed Second Language Acquisition
• 12 The Research–Pedagogy Link
• References
• Index