Second Language Acquisition Processes in the Classroom: Learning Japanese(Second Language Acquisition Research Series)

Language learners in the classroom are not passive isolated receptacles for grammar and vocabulary but active - and interactive - participants, each internalizing lessons and sharing their insights with others (whether intentionally or not). This book provides a window onto the process of learning a second language through a longitudinal study of seven adult learners of Japanese in a classroom setting. The research is grounded in a socio-cognitive framework based on Vygotsky's theory, which allows for analysis of both the interactions between individuals in the learning situation and the private speech used by individual learners. The data bear on questions of the role of private speech in foreign language development, the role of peer interaction in learning and error correction, and the development of interactional competence. In addition to its significance for theory and pedagogy, the research demonstrates the utility of this methodology for studying second language acquisition in situ. The book is designed both for researchers interested in second language development and for those who work to promote second language learning - language teachers. It may also be used as a text in courses on second language learning/acquisition and ESL.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface. From Social Tool to Cognitive Resource: Foreign Language Development as a Process of Dynamic Internalization. Private Speech: A Window on Classroom Foreign Language Acquisition. Peer Interactive Tasks and Assisted Performance in Classroom Language Learning. A Learner-Centered Analysis of Corrective Feedback as a Resource in Foreign Language Development. The Development of Interactional Style in the First-Year Classroom: Learning to Listen in Japanese. From Task to Activity: Relating Task Design and Implementation to Language Use in Peer Interaction. Appendix.

Review :
"We conclude this review by affirming that Ohta's book is a valuable innovation in the study of classroom foreign language learning...Ohta has painted a very valuable portrait of the secret talk of foreign language learners, one that we can recommend to colleagues in the fields of SLA and teacher education." —Contemporary Psychology "The book sheds some new light by introducing novel theoretical and methodological perspective in dealing with this old topic...The theoretical explanation is easy to follow, and the description of the data and its analysis is thorough." —Studies in Second Language Aquisition "Highly original....The carefully transcribed data alone is valuable for students and professionals as a methodology of transcription and analysis, including the hard-to-capture private speech of learners....The quality of scholarship which has gone into the treatment of the data, from transcription to coding and analysis, is truly outstanding....This book offers new information and novel perspectives on language learning processes in an unrelated language which potentially challenges and informs long-held beliefs on vocabulary learning, grammatical and pragmatic development in second languages." —Ruth Kanagy University of Oregon