1. Published by Routledge © 2009 Mark Sawyer
Introduction (Ch. 1)
Understanding SLA
Lourdes Ortega (2009)
Published by Routledge © 2009 Mark Sawyer

2. 1.1 What is SLA
1960s: borrowed from L2 teaching, linguistics, psychology, child LA
1980s/1990s: expanded to reach status as autonomous discipline
3 goals of chapter
Contextualization, aims, scope of SLA
Definitions of terms
Rationale for book

3. 1.2 Whence Language? Description, Evolution, & Acquisition
D: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, discourse, pragmatics, etc.
E: origins, or phylogenesis
from animal communication?
fundamentally different capability?
A: development, or ontogenesis

4. 1.3 First language acquisition, bilingualism, & SLA
F (or child)LA: well-defined stages, 0-6
0-1:　phonology, TT, one-word production
1-2: 2-words, vocabulary explosion
2-3: syntax & morphology
3-6: subtle pragmatics & syntax
6- : fewer common patterns, more diversity

5. 1.3 First language acquisition, bilingualism, & SLA
B (or M) LA: more-or-less simultaneous acquisition of 2 or more languages during early childhood.
2 key questions:
How represented in one brain?
How bilinguals switch between languages?
B includes child/adult bilingual processing (psych, socio, education)

6. 1.3 First language acquisition, bilingualism, & SLA
SLA: learning language once first language(s) have become established
Can overlap with B, but SLA focuses on
late starts & early stages
learning process rather than product (use)
the language actively being learned

7. 1.4 Main concepts & terms SLA (field) vs. L2 acquisition (process)
Acquisition = Learning
Mother tongue = first language = L1
Additional lg = second language = L2
Warnings about L1/L2 distinction:
Not always clear
Promotes monolingual bias
L2 learners, users, speakers, writers, participants
Naturalistic vs. Instructed learners

8. 1.4 More concepts & terms
L2 learners, users, speakers, writers, participants
Naturalistic vs. Instructed learners
Foreign vs. second vs. heritage contexts
Interlanguage: the special variety that learners generate when they speak, …

9. 1.5 Interdisciplinarity in SLA
Linguistics, 1st language acquisition (UG)
Cognitive psychology (skills, emergentism)
Language teaching (theory>practice quickly)
Bilingualism (representation, mutual CLI)
Psycholinguistics (processing)
Education (classroom processes)
Anthropology (ethnography, lang as culture)
Sociology (social relations, dynamics)

10. 1.6 SLA in the world Age of onset (best age to start)
Rate (realistic expectations)
Ultimate attainment (realism again)
Effective instruction (formal / experiential)
Thus, SLA can inform public debates & make people’s lives a little better.

11. 1.7 About this book Universal influences Individual differences
Age, mother tongue, environment, cognition
Learner language
Individual differences
Language aptitude, motivation, other
Social dimensions
SLA theories in larger perspective