This book explores how young children's language development is intricately connected to the context in which it takes place. The term 'context' not only specifies a geographical location, but also encompasses notions of culture, community and activity. 'Context' also refers to discourse features and functions, and to the relationships between the speakers. Every context thus embodies specific practices, intentions and values which privilege particular words, phrases, meanings and communication conventions. Each chapter highlights the dynamic, fluid and multifaceted interplays between language and context to illustrate how context, in every sense, is inextricably intertwined with young children's language and literacy learning opportunities. The chapters interrogate the topic of 'Young Children's Language in Context' by collectively exploring the multiple ways that context, broadly and variously conceptualised, intersects with language and literacy experiences. Authors examine how contexts shape language and literacy learning opportunities, how children's language shapes their social-interactive and relationship contexts, and how their language and literacy experiences are, themselves contexts which create socially and culturally endorsed ways to represent ideas, intentions and expectations. This book will be of interest to researchers and advanced students of early childhood education and language development. It was originally published as a special issue in the International Journal of Early Years Education.

Combines research with pedagogy to provide an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the topic for students approaching it for the first time. With a focus on the cognitive side of language contact, drawing on the closely related subjects of bilingualism and multilingualism, this textbook will also appeal to students beyond those taking Language Contact modules, on modules such as Bilingualism and SLA. The closest competitors all published at least 11 years ago, so this will be far and away the most up-to-date textbook on the market, combining cutting-edge insights from research with a core grounding in the subject.

The Diagnosis of Writing in a Second or Foreign Language is a comprehensive survey of diagnostic assessment of second/foreign language (SFL) writing. In this innovative book, a compelling case is made for SFL writing as an individual, contextual, and multidimensional ability, combining several theoretically informed approaches upon which to base diagnosis. Using the diagnostic cycle as the overarching framework, the book starts with the planning phase, cover design, development, and delivery of diagnostic assessment, ending with feedback and feed-forward aspects to feed diagnostic information into the teaching and learning process. It covers means to diagnose both the writing processes and products, including the design and development of diagnostic tasks and rating scales, as well as automated approaches to assessment. Also included is a range of existing instruments and approaches to diagnosing SFL writing. Addressing large-scale as well as classroom contexts, this volume is useful for researchers, teachers, and educational policy-makers in language learning.

Various contributors address central questions in the foundations of phonology and locate them within their larger linguistic and philosophical context. Phonology is a discipline grounded in observable facts, but like any discipline it rests on conceptual assumptions. This study investigates the nature, status and acquisition of phonological knowledge: it enquires into the conceptual and empirical foundations of phonology, considering the relation of phonology to the theory of language and other capacities of mind The authors address a wide range of interrelated questions, the most central of which is this: is phonological knowledge different from linguistic knowledge in general? They offer responses to this question from a variety of perspectives, each of which has consequences for how phonology and language are conceived. Each also involves a host of further questions concerning the modularity of mind and of language; whether phonology should be included in the language faculty; the nature-convention debate; the content of phonological elements and its relation to phonetic substance; the implications of sign languages for phonology; whether functional and variationist considerat

This book presents the current state of knowledge in the vibrant and diverse field of vocabulary studies, reporting innovative empirical investigations, summarising the latest research, and showcasing topics for future investigation. The chapters are organised around the key themes of theorising and measuring vocabulary knowledge, formulaic language, and learning and teaching vocabulary. Written by world-leading vocabulary experts from across the globe, the contributions present a variety of research perspectives and methodologies, offering insights from cutting-edge work into vocabulary, its learning and use. The book will be essential reading for postgraduate students and researchers interested in the area of second language acquisition, with a particular focus on vocabulary, as well as to those working in the broader fields of applied linguistics, TESOL and English studies.

This book offers a novel framework for describing and understanding student identity via the central concept of "genre practices", developed through an empirical focus on multimodality within the genre of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) undergraduate presentations. The author draws on interviews with undergraduate psychology students and recordings of their presentations to argue that by engaging in the multimodal practices of classroom presentations, presenters (re)produce both the genre and their identities as students. The resulting theory of student identity is widely applicable to tertiary settings, and the methodology described is applicable to the study of practices and identity in a range of other classroom genres. The book will therefore be of interest not only to researchers in EMI and TESOL settings, but also any tertiary-level educational practitioners whose courses include presentations.

Drawing on experiences of ESOL teachers from around the world, this book provides insights into how peer learning is understood and used in real language classrooms. Based on survey responses, interviews, and observations in a wide range of classroom settings, this book integrates research on peer interaction in second language learning from cognitive and social frameworks with original data on teacher beliefs and practices around the use of peer learning in their teaching. Readers will gain understanding, through teacher's own words, of how peer interaction is used to teach linguistic form, how learners collaborate to develop oral and written communication skills, and how technology is used with peer learning. This book also delineates the ways that current second language peer interaction research diverges from classroom practice, concluding with a classroom-centred research agenda that addresses the nexus of research and practice on second language peer interaction. The book provides a template for integrating research-based and practice-based perspectives on second language learning. Language teachers, teacher educators, second language researchers, and advanced students of applied linguistics, SLA, TESOL, and language pedagogy will benefit from this volume's perspective and unique work.

Language acquisition is a human endeavor par excellence. As children, all human beings learn to understand and speak at least one language: their mother tongue. It is a process that seems to take place without any obvious effort. Second language learning, particularly among adults, causes more difficulty. The purpose of this series is to compile a collection of high-quality monographs on language acquisition. The series serves the needs of everyone who wants to know more about the problem of language acquisition in general and/or about language acquisition in specific contexts.

The use of technology for second language learning is ever more present. This book offers a unique four-prong approach (theoretical, methodological, empirical, and pedagogical) to current and prospective uses of technology in L2 learning from a psycholinguistic perspective. It is accessible to teachers, graduate students, and professors of all disciplines interested in technology and L2 learning.

This book examines the unique characteristics of teaching foreign languages to senior learners. It discusses the potential age-related barriers and learning difficulties which may be encountered in senior foreign language education as well as solutions to overcome these challenges. The author describes the processes of human aging from different perspectives and introduces the concept of lifelong learning. The book proposes classroom practices, activities and materials that may be adopted when working with senior learners which will prove useful to teachers and teacher trainers, as well as to educational policymakers and planners. Furthermore, it describes potential modifications to educational programmes that may be introduced in order to eliminate affective barriers, making the learning material relevant and motivating, and encouraging the use of adult learning strategies.

This book revolves around educating recently arrived immigrant youth in the US who are emergent bilinguals. Drawing on a seven-year research collaboration with three ESL teachers in an urban secondary school in the US, it addresses questions around taking a critical approach to language and literacy education and what this looks like in everyday practice, as well as how recently arrived youth and emergent bilinguals participate in critical language and literacy education, and what can be learned and developed as a result. The chapters illustrate the praxis of critical language and literacy education undertaken by everyday ESL teachers; curricular materials and pedagogical practices that promote youths' engagement with, and analysis of, words and worlds; and finally, a methodological and relational approach to researching with classroom teachers. The book introduces teaching practices such as dialogic problem-posing, translanguaging and translation, the use of multimodal texts, and youth research on language. Arguing for the potential power of critical language and literacy education for immigrant youth and their teachers, this book will benefit educators, researchers, and graduate students in the fields of language and literacy, second language acquisition (SLA), ESL and TESOL pedagogy, and in curriculum studies, education of immigrant children and youth, and multicultural issues in education.

Phraseology is often thought of as an anomaly and a headache for language learners. However, researchers have tended to focus on just one end of the scale: fairly fixed, conventional multi-word units. Here their special status and any divergence from the standard form are clearly evident. What happens at the other end of the scale? How much and what kind of variability does phraseological patterning tolerate? Svetlana Vetchinnikova explores meaning-shift units (MSUs) in second language usage, acquisition and processing. Importantly, she argues for the value of looking at individual languages and tracing MSUs as they are learned from exposure, used in individual language output and processed in the mind - and advocates a shift of focus from groups to individuals. This important study develops a unified view on phraseological patterning in second language acquisition and use and the processes which lead to it.

This edited volume investigates the nature and possible applications of an expanded and reconceptualized theoretical construct of speaking as a dynamic socially-constructed endeavour. It addresses both theoretical perspectives and methodological procedures to define and circumscribe the assessment of contextualized speaking. The chapters focus on the complexity brought about by actual interactional competence in speaking tasks and discuss how testing and assessment models and practices can incorporate recent research findings on the inherently dynamic and situated nature of language use. The volume presents research on language assessment in a variety of languages other than English, including French, Chinese and Japanese. It also examines the role that embodied action (gaze, gesture, orientation to materials and texts in the environment) plays in assessment practices, an area that has heretofore remained under-explored. Chapter 6 is free to download as an open access publication. You can access it here: https://zenodo.org/record/5163340#.YQvJ0IhKjcs

This edited volume investigates the nature and possible applications of an expanded and reconceptualized theoretical construct of speaking as a dynamic socially-constructed endeavour. It addresses both theoretical perspectives and methodological procedures to define and circumscribe the assessment of contextualized speaking. The chapters focus on the complexity brought about by actual interactional competence in speaking tasks and discuss how testing and assessment models and practices can incorporate recent research findings on the inherently dynamic and situated nature of language use. The volume presents research on language assessment in a variety of languages other than English, including French, Chinese and Japanese. It also examines the role that embodied action (gaze, gesture, orientation to materials and texts in the environment) plays in assessment practices, an area that has heretofore remained under-explored. Chapter 6 is free to download as an open access publication. You can access it here: https://zenodo.org/record/5163340#.YQvJ0IhKjcs

This book is intended to introduce novice student researchers to second language acquisition in the study abroad learning environment. It reviews the existing literature and provides the emerging researcher an overview of the important factors to consider, informs them where to begin, and how to move forth an agenda for future research in this field. The book recognizes that aside from the academic advantages, study abroad programmes are an excellent tool for fostering extended and relevant interaction with native speakers. It provides reflection questions and activities, and guides the novice researcher in critically analysing existing research and to eventually carry out their own study. The book will be of use to beginning researchers who are new to linguistics in the areas of study abroad and second language acquisition.

Thomas Spence (1750-1814) was a native of Newcastle upon Tyne who is best known for his political writings, and more particularly for his radical `Plan' for social reform involving common ownership of the land. One hitherto neglected aspect of Spence's Plan was his proposal to extend the benefits of reading and of `correct' pronunciation to the lower classes by means of a phonetic script of his own devising, first set out and used in Spence's Grand Repository of the English Language (1775). The Grand Repository was one of many English pronouncing dictionaries produced in the late eighteenth century to satisfy the growing demands for a clear guide to `correct' pronunciation. It differs from its contemporaries firstly in that it was intended primarily for the lower classes, and secondly in that it is the only eighteenth-century pronouncing dictionary of English to use a truly `phonetic' script in the sense of one sound = one symbol. In this fascinating and unique account, Beal pays particular attention to the actual pronunciations advocated by Spence and his contemporaries with a view to reconstructing what was felt to be `correct' pronunciation in eighteenth-century Britain. With broad appeal to linguists and historians alike, this study highlights the importance of pronouncing dictionaries as a resource for the historical phonologist, and provides a valuable addition to the limited body of knowledge on eighteenth-century pronunciation.

This is the very first book to investigate the field of phraseology from a learner corpus perspective, bringing together studies at the cutting edge of corpus-based research into phraseology and language learners. The chapters include learner-corpus-based studies of phraseological units in varieties of learner language differentiated in terms of task and/or learner variables, compared with each other or with one or more reference corpora; mixed-methods studies that combine learner corpus data with more experimental data types (e.g. eyetracking); and instruction-oriented studies that show how learner-corpus-based insights can be used to inform second language (L2) teaching and testing. The detailed analysis of a wide range of multiword units (collocations, lexical bundles, lexico-grammatical patterns) and extensive learner corpus data provide the reader with a comprehensive theoretical, methodological and applied perspective onto L2 use in a wide range of situations. The knowledge gained from these learner corpus studies has major implications for L2 theory and practice and will help to inform pedagogical assessment and practice.

By the late 1980s, Government and Binding Theory - which was central to almost all research in generative grammar - threatened to become as large and as intricate as the language it described. To counter this, Noam Chomsky introduced a minimalist program with the aim of making explanations of language as simple and general as possible. It has since gained widespread (if not quite universal) acceptance, to the extent that the most recent first-year textbook in syntax (Radford, CUP, 1997) is based on it. One of the areas subjected to this minimalist scrutiny has been phrase structure, the fundamental basis of grammar. This book focuses on the most controversial area of phrase structure, the notion of specifiera notion encompassing the traditional categories of subjects, possessors, determiners, auxiliaries, and adjuncts. It examines what place the notion has in the new theory and how the projection of specifiers is to be eliminated or extended. The contributors (prominent American, British, and European scholars) draw on empirical, theoretical research in cross-linguistic phenomena and first and second language acquisition. The substantial introductory chapter provides an up-to-date account of minimalist syntactic theory and a critical evaluation of the notion of specifier within it.

The problem of definition has a long history and has engaged the minds of some of the most eminent thinkers in the Western tradition, from Plato and Aristotle onwards. But it is also an everyday problem constantly confronting all who have to draft or interpret the countless texts on which modern society depends. Definition in Theory and Practice focuses on two areas where difficulties arise in a particularly acute form: lexicography and the law. Examining a wide range of approaches and definitional techniques, backed up by detailed analyses of dictionary entries and court cases, the authors provide a comprehensive survey of their subject. They argue that what underlies the problem of definition are conflicting assumptions about the way language functions. This in-depth study of definition will be of interest to academics researching lexicography, semantics and the intersection of linguistics and jurisprudence.

Fundamental Considerations in Technology Mediated Language Assessment aims to address issues such as how the forced integration of technology into second language assessment has shaped our understanding of key traditional concepts like validity, reliability, washback, authenticity, ethics, fairness, test security, and more. Although computer assisted language testing has been around for more than two decades in the context of high-stakes proficiency testing, much of language testing worldwide has shifted to 'at home' mode, and relies heavily on the mediation of digital technology, making its widespread application in classroom settings in response to the COVID-19 outbreak as unprecedented. Integration of technology into language assessment has brought with it countless affordances and at the same time challenges, both theoretically and practically. One major theoretical consideration requiring attention is the way technology has contributed to a re-conceptualisation of major assessment concepts/constructs. There is very limited literature available on theoretical underpinnings of technology mediated language assessment. This book aims to fill this gap. This book will appeal to academic specialists, practitioners or professionals in the field of language assessment, advanced and/or graduate students, and a range of scholars or professionals in disciplines like educational technology, applied linguistics and TESOL.

Fundamental Considerations in Technology Mediated Language Assessment aims to address issues such as how the forced integration of technology into second language assessment has shaped our understanding of key traditional concepts like validity, reliability, washback, authenticity, ethics, fairness, test security, and more. Although computer assisted language testing has been around for more than two decades in the context of high-stakes proficiency testing, much of language testing worldwide has shifted to 'at home' mode, and relies heavily on the mediation of digital technology, making its widespread application in classroom settings in response to the COVID-19 outbreak as unprecedented. Integration of technology into language assessment has brought with it countless affordances and at the same time challenges, both theoretically and practically. One major theoretical consideration requiring attention is the way technology has contributed to a re-conceptualisation of major assessment concepts/constructs. There is very limited literature available on theoretical underpinnings of technology mediated language assessment. This book aims to fill this gap. This book will appeal to academic specialists, practitioners or professionals in the field of language assessment, advanced and/or graduate students, and a range of scholars or professionals in disciplines like educational technology, applied linguistics and TESOL.

Modern Chinese for Heritage Beginners aims to serve as a stepping-stone for Chinese heritage language learners' future Chinese learning, inspiring them to reflect on their identities, learn Chinese American history, and embrace their cultural heritage. The book starts with talking about individuals and families and then expands to the Chinese and Asian American communities in the U.S. and eventually to the entire American society, all from the unique perspective of Chinese American students. Taking a macro approach (Kagan & Dillon, 2008) that builds learners' literacy skills on their initial abilities in speaking and listening, each lesson starts with listening and speaking activities and then moves to reading and writing. The content complexity and language difficulty are balanced to present rich content that matches students' critical thinking abilities in a language appropriate for their literacy level. Lively and humorous language makes the book a joy to read. Each lesson has a conversation and an essay to expose students to informal and formal registers. Moreover, authentic tasks are designed to facilitate students' language output, following the three modes of communication promoted by the American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational. This theme-based Chinese textbook is written for high school and college-level Chinese heritage language learners.

Modern Chinese for Heritage Beginners aims to serve as a stepping-stone for Chinese heritage language learners' future Chinese learning, inspiring them to reflect on their identities, learn Chinese American history, and embrace their cultural heritage. The book starts with talking about individuals and families and then expands to the Chinese and Asian American communities in the U.S. and eventually to the entire American society, all from the unique perspective of Chinese American students. Taking a macro approach (Kagan & Dillon, 2008) that builds learners' literacy skills on their initial abilities in speaking and listening, each lesson starts with listening and speaking activities and then moves to reading and writing. The content complexity and language difficulty are balanced to present rich content that matches students' critical thinking abilities in a language appropriate for their literacy level. Lively and humorous language makes the book a joy to read. Each lesson has a conversation and an essay to expose students to informal and formal registers. Moreover, authentic tasks are designed to facilitate students' language output, following the three modes of communication promoted by the American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational. This theme-based Chinese textbook is written for high school and college-level Chinese heritage language learners.

This book is the first in-depth examination of the application of theories of space to issues of second language learning. The author introduces the work of key thinkers on the theory of space and place and the relevance of their ideas to second language acquisition (SLA). He also outlines a new conceptual framework and set of terms for researching SLA that centre on the idea of 'language learning environments'. The book considers the spatial contexts in which language learning takes place and investigates how these spatial contexts are transformed into individualised language learning environments, as learners engage with a range of human and nonhuman, and physical and nonphysical, resources in their daily lives. Revisiting linguistics and language learning theory from a spatial perspective, the book demonstrates that the question of where people learn languages is equally as important as that of how they do so. This work is essential reading for any researcher wishing to research the role of the environment as an active player in SLA.

This book is the first in-depth examination of the application of theories of space to issues of second language learning. The author introduces the work of key thinkers on the theory of space and place and the relevance of their ideas to second language acquisition (SLA). He also outlines a new conceptual framework and set of terms for researching SLA that centre on the idea of 'language learning environments'. The book considers the spatial contexts in which language learning takes place and investigates how these spatial contexts are transformed into individualised language learning environments, as learners engage with a range of human and nonhuman, and physical and nonphysical, resources in their daily lives. Revisiting linguistics and language learning theory from a spatial perspective, the book demonstrates that the question of where people learn languages is equally as important as that of how they do so. This work is essential reading for any researcher wishing to research the role of the environment as an active player in SLA.