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This book presents a set of compelling essays collectively making a persuasive case for why a usage-based perspective on language is fast becoming a leading theoretical framework for investigating second language (L2) learning and the foundation for effective, innovative, engaging pedagogy. Drawing on 20 years of research in psychology, psycholinguistics, cognitive science, and linguistic theory, including discourse analytic approaches, the combined contributions paint a picture of theoretically-informed L2 pedagogy which emphasizes all facets of language as meaningful, embodied, and socially situated. The introduction and conclusion offer an outline of five foundational tenets essential to a usage-inspired pedagogy and a heuristic for developing usage-inspired L2 research and pedagogy. Each essay provides a unique vantage on usage-inspired L2 instruction and a demonstration of the efficacy of usage-based pedagogy. This volume will be invaluable for SLA researchers, graduate students, and classroom teachers interested in exploring usage-inspired L2 pedagogy.
This edited volume, based on papers presented at the 2017 Georgetown University Round Table on Language and Linguistics (GURT), approaches the study of language variation from a variety of angles. Language variation research asks broad questions such as, "Why are languages' grammatical structures different from one another?" as well as more specific word-level questions such as, "Why are words that are pronounced differently still recognized to be the same words?" Too often, research on variation has been siloed based on the particular question—sociolinguists do not talk to historical linguists, who do not talk to phoneticians, and so on. This edited volume seeks to bring discussions from different subfields of linguistics together to explore language variation in a broader sense and acknowledge the complexity and interwoven nature of variation itself.
This volume, grounded on usage-based models of language, is an edited collection of empirical research examining how cognitive linguistics can advance Japanese pedagogy. Each chapter presents an acquisition or classroom study which focuses on challenging features and leads instructors and researchers into new realms of analysis by showing innovative views and practices resulting in better understanding and improved L2 learning of Japanese.
Approaches to Discourse Analysis demonstrates the importance of the diverse perspectives that various approaches to discourse bring to bear on human communication. Linguists and other readers interested in the interplay of language and culture will gain new insight and understanding from this rich compilation.
This book provides a systematic, empirical account of the language typically presented in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks, based on a large corpus of EFL textbooks used in secondary schools. A modified version of the Multi-Dimensional Analysis (MDA) framework serves to examine linguistic variation both within textbooks and compared to corpora representing ‘real-life’ English as used outside the EFL classroom. The results highlight the characteristics of Textbook English that define it as a distinct variety of English. In light of the study's pedagogical implications, this book proposes a range of corpus-based approaches to improve the naturalness of textbook texts. It also contributes to advancing quantitative corpus linguistics methodology: its detailed online supplements aim for methodological transparency and reproducibility in line with the principles of Open Science. This book will be of interest to linguistics and language education students and researchers, as well as EFL teachers, textbook authors and editors, and those involved in curriculum development and teacher training.
The studies of the Japanese language and psycholinguistics have advanced quite significantly in the last half century thanks to the progress in the study of cognition and brain mechanisms associated with language acquisition, use, and disorders, and in particular, because of technological developments in experimental techniques employed in psycholinguistic studies. This volume contains 18 chapters that discuss our brain functions, specifically, the process of Japanese language acquisition - how we acquire/learn the Japanese language as a first/second language - and the mechanism of Japanese language perception and production - how we comprehend/produce the Japanese language. In turn we addre...
Sociocultural linguistics has long conceived of languages as well-bounded, separate codes. But the increasing diversity of languages encountered by most people in their daily lives challenges this conception, and more recent scholarship complicates traditional associations between languages and social identities. Diversity—and even super-diversity—is now the norm. This volume examines the increasing diversity of linguistic phenomena and addresses the theoretical-methodological challenges that accounting for such phenomena pose to sociocultural linguistics. Diversity and Super-Diversity brings together top scholars in the field and stages the debate on super-diversity that will be sure to interest sociocultural linguists, generating discussion and informing future research.
By integrating cognitive linguistics and sociocultural theories, this groundbreaking book presents empirical studies on selected grammatical and semantic aspects that are challenging for second/foreign language learners. Through in-depth studies exploring eight different languages, this book offers insights generated through the synergy between cognitive linguistics and sociocultural theories that can be readily incorporated into teaching.
Many SLA professionals remain unaware of what CL and Applied Cognitive Linguistics are and of the tremendous potential these approaches offer for our understanding of L2 learning and pedagogy. The volume addresses this gap by presenting theoretically-grounded, empirically-based studies which illustrate the application of key concepts of CL and demonstrate the efficacy of using the concepts in the classroom or in basic L2 research.
This volume, derived from papers presented at the 2016 GURT conference, seeks to explore research and examples of practice of assessment and evaluation in language education. The specific--and varied--ways in which assessment and evaluation are able to impact learning and teaching have become an important language education research concern, particularly as educators are increasingly called upon to implement these processes for improvement, accountability, or curricular development purposes. This volume is divided into three parts, each exploring a different element of the conversation around assessment: "Connecting assessment, learners, and learning"; "Innovating, framing, and exploring assessment in language education"; and "Validity evaluation."