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Achieving Success in Second Language Acquisition
This clear and informative textbook is designed to help the student achieve optimal success as a language learner and user. Aimed at beginning to intermediate undergraduates and above, it teaches students to understand their own preferences in learning, to develop individual learning plans and approaches, and to select appropriate learning strategies. The authors - all leading experts in language teaching - base their advice on theories of learning, cognition, and memory, concepts which they explain in simple and accessible terms. The book is divided into three sections - learning, language, and communication - and provides students with communicative strategies for use in real-life interaction with native speakers. Each chapter contains an overview and review section, with learning activities that students can carry out by themselves, in groups, or in the classroom. Equally suitable for use both by individuals and as a class text, this book will become an invaluable resource for all language learners.
- GenresLanguageLinguistics
280 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 6, 2005
7 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Betty Lou Leaver
16 books5 followersThe oldest of eight children, Dr. Betty Lou Leaver grew up on a farm in rural Maine. She earned a B.A. in linguistics and M.A. in comparative literature at Penn State University. Having spent considerable time working in the Soviet Union and being the first American to conduct linguistic research at the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Akademgorodok, she earned her Ph.D. in applied linguistics from the Pushkin Institute in Moscow. Including Russian, she has studied 20 languages and has provided consultation to ministries of education and institutions of higher education in 24 countries.
Prior to coming to DLIFLC in 2006 as Associate Provost for Continuing Education, Dr. Leaver worked as the chief academic officer of the Amman, Jordan branch of the New York Institute of Technology (operated in partnership with the Jordan University of Science and Technology) and for a short while dual-hatted as the Academic Dean of the Manama, Bahrain branch. Dr. Leaver has also served as coordinator and developer of the Russian and English language programs for NASA's International Space Station & liaison to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia; subject matter expert at the Foreign Language Training Lab; Director of the Russian and Ukrainian programs and founding member of the Division of Research & Development at the Foreign Service Institute; and president of the American Global Studies Institute.
At DLIFLC, from 1989 to 1992, Dr. Leaver was Dean of the Slavic School, and from 1992 to 1993, Dean of the Central European School. Earlier, she attended the Russian basic and LeFoxe (combined intermediate-advanced) courses. She served in the U.S. Army as a cryptolinguist, then, after receiving a direct commission, as a military intelligence officer at the U.S. Army Intelligence School at Ft. Devens (USAISD). Later assigned to the U.S. Army Reserves, she took special assignments at Sebana Seca Naval Station (Puerto Rico), USAISD, and Allison Park, PA.
Dr. Leaver has taught graduate, undergraduate, and language teacher courses at Middlebury College, Monterey Institute of International Studies, University of Pittsburgh, Bryn Mawr College, and community colleges. She founded the Center for the Advancement of Distinguished Language Proficiency at San Diego State University, the Center for the Languages of the Central Asian Region at Indiana University, and the Coalition of Distinguished Language Centers.
Her publications include Developing Professional-Level Foreign Language Proficiency and Achieving Success in Second Language Acquisition (Cambridge University Press), Content-Based Instruction for Foreign Language Education and Task-Based Instruction for Foreign Language Education (Georgetown University Press), and two dozen other books. She has published more than 200 articles, book chapters, and monographs and has made nearly as many conference presentations including several dozen keynote speeches. She received the Elsevier Prize for a jointly authored article on learner variables and the International Society for Performance Improvement's award for joint research on cultures of the Middle East and Russia, funded by the U.S. Army Research Institute.
She is the mother of four birth children, three other children taken in as teenagers, and two grandchildren. She is married to Carl Leaver.
- excerpted from Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Centre
Prior to coming to DLIFLC in 2006 as Associate Provost for Continuing Education, Dr. Leaver worked as the chief academic officer of the Amman, Jordan branch of the New York Institute of Technology (operated in partnership with the Jordan University of Science and Technology) and for a short while dual-hatted as the Academic Dean of the Manama, Bahrain branch. Dr. Leaver has also served as coordinator and developer of the Russian and English language programs for NASA's International Space Station & liaison to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia; subject matter expert at the Foreign Language Training Lab; Director of the Russian and Ukrainian programs and founding member of the Division of Research & Development at the Foreign Service Institute; and president of the American Global Studies Institute.
At DLIFLC, from 1989 to 1992, Dr. Leaver was Dean of the Slavic School, and from 1992 to 1993, Dean of the Central European School. Earlier, she attended the Russian basic and LeFoxe (combined intermediate-advanced) courses. She served in the U.S. Army as a cryptolinguist, then, after receiving a direct commission, as a military intelligence officer at the U.S. Army Intelligence School at Ft. Devens (USAISD). Later assigned to the U.S. Army Reserves, she took special assignments at Sebana Seca Naval Station (Puerto Rico), USAISD, and Allison Park, PA.
Dr. Leaver has taught graduate, undergraduate, and language teacher courses at Middlebury College, Monterey Institute of International Studies, University of Pittsburgh, Bryn Mawr College, and community colleges. She founded the Center for the Advancement of Distinguished Language Proficiency at San Diego State University, the Center for the Languages of the Central Asian Region at Indiana University, and the Coalition of Distinguished Language Centers.
Her publications include Developing Professional-Level Foreign Language Proficiency and Achieving Success in Second Language Acquisition (Cambridge University Press), Content-Based Instruction for Foreign Language Education and Task-Based Instruction for Foreign Language Education (Georgetown University Press), and two dozen other books. She has published more than 200 articles, book chapters, and monographs and has made nearly as many conference presentations including several dozen keynote speeches. She received the Elsevier Prize for a jointly authored article on learner variables and the International Society for Performance Improvement's award for joint research on cultures of the Middle East and Russia, funded by the U.S. Army Research Institute.
She is the mother of four birth children, three other children taken in as teenagers, and two grandchildren. She is married to Carl Leaver.
- excerpted from Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Centre
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 28, 2012
An excellent book for those who desire to fully engage in learning a foreign language. Having studied three different non-native languages, this is the first time I feel prepared for the various twists and turns of the challenging yet rewarding adventure to proficiency. As I set off for my first ever attempt at full immersion studies, thanks to these authors, I possess myriad strategies to help me if I'm struggling, as well as to promote continued success.
June 8, 2015
An excellent, clear overview of a lot of the meta-processes behind learning a language. Probably not for everyone, though the authors make it as approachable as perhaps it could be, given how much they cram in this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews