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EARLY ENGLISH: Second language acquisition |
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Second
language acquisition
The class on second language acquisition focuses on how children acquire a second or foreign language. It begins with a discussion of bilingualism, both in society and at the individual level, in order to set the framework for the specific case of child FL instruction to be studied in the course. This raises the issue of age of acquisition, which is the next topic of the class: what are the differences between children and adults in terms of second language acquisition and what are the implications for instruction? The second part of the course addresses the notion of learner language, or interlanguage, to characterise the processes and products of SLA, and to discuss the role of the first language in the learning of subsequent languages. The last classes will be devoted to second language instruction, including a discussion of its effect on second language acquisition and an overview of current approaches to second language teaching. Course overview Bilingualism (weeks 1-3) · bilingualism in society · the bilingual individual · bilingual education Age (weeks 4-6) · child-adult differences in SLA · the critical period hypothesis · best age for second language instruction Learner language (weeks 7-9) · interlanguage variability · acquisition orders and developmental sequences · role of L1 Instruction (weeks 10-12) · effect of instruction on SLA · interaction · comprehensible input · the teachability hypothesis · focus on form Syllabus
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