How Languages Are Learned

A thoroughly updated edition of this prize-winning, readable introduction to the main theories of first and second language acquisition.

This book introduces you to some of the language acquisition research that will help you not just to evaluate existing materials, but also to adapt and use them in a way that fits what we currently understand about how languages are learned.

-Content including new research and new areas in pedagogy to provide an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of research in the field.
-Chapter Preview s and Summaries with round-up questions.
-Companion website with vodcasts, content updates, and shared user content.
-Also available as an e-book. More

Patsy M. Lightbown is Distinguished Professor Emerita at Concordia University in Montreal and Past President of the American Association for Applied Linguistics. Her research focuses on how instruction and feedback affect second-language acquisition in classrooms where the emphasis is on "communicative" or "content-based" language teaching. The contexts for her work have included elementary schools in Canada and, more recently, dual-language bilingual classes in the U.S. Nina Spada is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Modern Language Centre, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Canada. Her main areas of professional interest are second language acquisition, classroom research in L2 teaching and learning, and English as a Second Language.