Second Language Acquisition An Introductory Course

by Susan M. Gass, Larry Selinker

The new and updated edition of this bestselling introductory textbook is a comprehensive overview of the field of second language acquisition. In an easy-to-read, accessible style, it provides students with information about the scope of the field, but also provides background information on related areas such as first language acquisition. The book introduces students to current issues of data collection and data analysis, as well as provides an historical overview of the field, thus giving students context and perspective about how today's issues arise from earlier approaches.

Each chapter offers discussion questions and/or problems so that students can put their knowledge to use in a way that is relevant to what they have learned, but that also challenges them to go beyond what is in the chapter and to relate information across chapters.

The book covers a range of areas of second language research including sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic, and linguistic perspectives. It also includes a chapter on the lexicon and on instructed second language learning. The concluding chapter pulls the information in the previous chapters together into a coherent framework that challenges students to think about the field of second language acquisition as a whole.

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Education, Language, Reference, School, Textbooks

593 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1993

About the author

Susan Gass is University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages at Michigan State University. Her research is in Second Language Acquisition and includes the areas of Input and Interaction, Language Universals and Language Transfer.

More recently she has become interested in the area of attention and how it relates to acquisition. She has written/edited a number of books on second language acquisition and has taught and lectured in various parts of the world. She co-edits Second Language Acquisition Research with Alison Mackey - published by Routledge

Currently at MSU, she is the Director of the English Language Center, Co-Director of the Center for Language Education And Research, co-Director of the Center for Language Teaching Advancement and Director of the Second Language Studies Ph.D. Program. She recently served as President of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (2002-2008) and is Associate Editor of Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

She has been invited to give lectures in Europe (most recently, Greece and Germany) and in Asia (most recently, Japan, S. Korea, China).

Reviews

[Paul, · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a long, complex book. It is an introduction, and unlike most introductions, it does an in-depth job of introducing the reader to the controversies in the field. The problem is that SLA is mostly problems, with very few concrete solutions. As such, the beginning reader is probably going to feel lost in the midst of a thousand competing theories. What is really important? Which ideas are winning, at least for now? Those are key questions that I would like to see answered. Some of the information was not as well organized as I thought and there was a lot of extraneous information. I didn't really notice until I tried to write summaries of the chapters. Wow! This book needs a nice, thorough rewrite. I feel like if the author were really disciplined and thoughtful, she could cut out 100-150 pages and this book would be a real gem.

Side Note: I thought it was strange that Gass kept setting up Krasher's view on input-centric language learning and knocking it down. His view was the only one that was treated in more than one chapter, and his was treated in at least 3! Strange.

[km · Rating 2 out of 5]

according to my linguistics professor, there isn't really a better option for this sort of textbook... which is too bad, because this book lacks clarity and/or specificity in multiple instances.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was awful -- an absolutely terrible textbook. Of course, I only read it because it was required, but the author managed to take a somewhat interesting topic and make it boring.

[Edy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read while I was in graduate school. Language acquisition is fascinating. The focus of my dissertation was on bilingual education, so this was an important read for me.

[Carla Hahn · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you get your kicks reading literature reviews, this 400-page textbook is for you.

[Megan Conner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This topic does not have very many options when looking at texts. However, this provides the most thorough discussion of the field. Though some of the text is drawn out, it could use more explanations in certain areas. The examples were thoroughly refreshing!

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot: C
Writing: A
Vocabulary: B
Level: Intermediate-College
Rating: G
Themes: How do people learn another language?

This textbook is written with considerably clear language and explanations targeted for a beginning student of SLA. I highly recommend it!

[Samar Almossa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will read what i really interested in .

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview textbook from my class at University of Washington.

[Jesse Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gass and Selinker (2008) delineate foundations of SLA from a historical perspective as well as more modern approaches to understanding SLA. Full of basic and useful terms!

[Esteban del Mal · Rating 1 out of 5]

A laundry list of second language acquisition studies with a few adjectives peppered in between.

[Betsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly dry, but well organized introduction to SLA.