How second languages are learned : an introduction / Roger Hawkins.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hawkins, Roger (Roger D.), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Second language acquisition.

Physical Description:

xviii, 328 pages ; 26 cm

Other Title:

How 2nd languages are learned

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Summary:

"Some people are apparently very good at learning languages beyond the one(s) they acquire in infancy. The 19th century British explorer Sir Richard Burton claimed to have spoken more than 40 languages and dialects (Farwell, 1963). There are also 'linguistic savants', people who, despite a number of cognitive impairments, have a precocious ability to learn languages. Christopher, a linguistic savant studied by Smith and Tsimpli (1995), has a number of cognitive impairments that make it difficult for him to find his way around or deal with everyday tasks like doing up buttons or shaving. However 'he can read, write and communicate in any of fifteen to twenty languages' (1995: 1). In contrast to these examples, other people appear to be rather poor at language learning. In 2008, the Guardian newspaper reported the attempts of a French teacher at a London school to motivate a Vietnamese boy in his bottom French class, Tommy, for an upcoming French exam. In doing so he was presented with a challenge"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Second language learning: the nature of the task

How words and their parts are learned

Exploring the L2 learning of English verb forms

How sentence structure is learned

Second language learning and universal grammar

How phrasal and sentential meaning are learned

How sound systems are learned

Real-time and contextual use of language by second language speakers

The role of input in second language learning

The effect of starting age on learning second languages

Pulling the threads together: a theory of how second languages are learned?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781108475037

1108475035

9781108468435

1108468438

OCLC:

1044782581