Introduction
This chapter compares and critiques selected theories of conditions for second language (L2) learning. These theories are important because they greatly influence L2 teaching, design of curricula and materials, and learning, either for good or ill. Specific chapter goals are to: (1) explain and critically analyze chosen theories, including non‐L2 theories that have influenced L2 research, theories originating in the L2 field, and very recent L2 theories; (2) present four overarching problems; and (3) propose future directions. To be included in this chapter, a theory has to address L2 development broadly, not just one or two aspects; has to be published or in press; and has to be potentially influential across the whole field or at least among a large number of researchers and practitioners. I selected theories from various perspectives, such as teacher‐centered/structured, sociocultural, cognitive‐psycholinguistic, natural, whole‐person‐focused, and technology‐based. I...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Benson, P.: 2006, ‘State‐of‐the‐art article: Autonomy in language teaching and learning,’ Language Teaching, 40, 21–40.
Bracken, P.: 2005, Trauma: Culture, Meaning, and Philosophy, Wiley, New York.
Brophy, J. (ed.): 2002, Socially Constructivist Teaching: Affordances and Constraints, Elsevier Science, New York.
Brown, H.D.: 2001, Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, Second edition, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Brown, P.C.: 2002, ‘A model of SLA and its andragogical implications in teaching EFL to young adult Japanese learners,’ The Language Teacher, 26, 3. Retrieved Sept. 29, 2006 from http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/articles/2002/03/brown
Cohen, A.D.: 1998, Strategies in Learning and Using a Second Language, Longman, Essex, UK.
Cummins, R.: 1983, The Nature of Psychological Explanation, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Davies, A.: 2003, The Native Speaker: Myth and Reality, Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, Avon, UK.
Dörnyei, Z.: 2001, Teaching and Researching Motivation, Pearson Education, London.
Egbert, J., Chao, C., and Hanson‐Smith, E.: 1999, ‘Computer‐enhanced language learning environments: An overview,’ in J. Egbert and E. Hanson‐Smith (eds.), CALL Environments: Research, Practice, and Critical Issues, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Inc., Alexandria, VA, 1–13.
Ellis, R.: 1999, Learning a Second Language through Interaction, Studies in Bilingualism 17, Benjamins, Philadelphia, PA.
Ellis, R.: 2005, Instructed Second Language Acquisition: A Literature Review, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Wellington, NZ.
Gagné, R.M.: 1965, The Conditions of Learning, first edition, Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, New York.
Gagné, R.M., Briggs, L., and Wagner, W.: 1992, Principles of Instructional Design, fourth edition, HBJ College, Fort Worth, TX.
Gagné, R.M.: 1993, ‘Computer‐based instructional guidance,’ in J.M. Spector, M.C. Polson, and D.J. Muraida (eds.), Automating instructional design: Concepts and issues, Educational Technology, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 133–146.
Gregg, K.R.: 1999, Oct. 22, ‘The logical and developmental problems of second language acquisition,’ paper presented at the meeting of the Forum for Language Acquisition Research Exchange (FLARE), University of California at Los Angeles, Retrieved Sept. 28, 2006, www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/teslal/flare/handouts_old/gregg_96.pdf .
Hanks, W.: 1991, ‘Foreword’, in J. Lave and E. Wenger, Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 13–24.
Kalaja, P. and Barcelos, A.M.F. (eds.): 2003, Beliefs about SLA: New Research Approaches, Springer, New York.
Kozulin, A., Gindis, B., Ageyev, V.S., and Miller, S.M.: 2003, Vygotsky's Educational Theory in Cultural Context, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Krashen, S.: 1982, Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition, Pergamon, Oxford, UK.
Krashen, S.D.: 1985, The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications, Longman, London.
Krashen, S.D. and Terrell, T.D.: 1983, The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom. Pergamon, Oxford, UK.
Lantolf, J.P.: 2000, Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
Lantolf, J.P. and Appel, G. (eds.): 1994, Vygotskian Approaches to Second Language Research, Ablex, Norwood, NJ.
Lave, J. and Wenger, E.: 1991, Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Lightbown, P.M. and Pienemann, M.: 1993, ‘Comments on Stephen D. Krashen's ‘ “Teaching Issues: Formal grammar instruction” ’, TESOL Quarterly 26(3), 717–722.
Little, D.: 1994, ‘Learner autonomy: A theoretical construct and its practical application’, Die Neueren Sprachen 93, 430–442.
Long, M.: 1983, ‘Linguistic and conversational adjustments to non‐native speakers’, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 5, 177–193.
MacIntyre, P.D.: 2002, ‘Motivation, anxiety and emotion in second language acquisition’, in P. Robinson (ed.), Individual Differences and Instructed Language Learning, John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 45–68.
Masten, A.S.: 2006, ‘Children who overcome adversity to succeed in life’, in B. Warren (ed.), Just in Time: Resilient Communities, University of Minnesota Extension Service, Minneapolis. Retrieved April 2, 2006 from http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution\familydevelopment\components\7565_06.html
McLaughlin, B.: 1987, Theories of Second Language Learning, Edward Arnold, London.
Norton, B.: 2000, Identity and Language Learning: Gender, Ethnicity, and Educational Change, Pearson Education, Harlow, UK.
Norton, B.: 2001, ‘Non‐participation, imagined communities, and the language classroom’, in M. Breen (ed.), Learner Contributions to Language Learning: New Directions in Research, Pearson Education, Harlow, UK, 159–171.
O'Malley, J.M. and Chamot, A.U.: 1990, Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Oxford, R.L.: 1990, Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know, Heinle/Thomson Learning, Boston, MA.
Oxford, R.L. (ed.): 1996, Language learning strategies around the world: Crosscultural perspectives. University of Hawaii Press, Manoa.
Oxford, R.L.: 2001, ‘The bleached bones of a story; Learners’ constructions of language teachers’, in M. Breen (ed.), Learner Contributions to Language Learning: New Directions in Research, Longman, London, 86–111.
Oxford, R.L: 2003, ‘Toward a more systematic model of second language learner autonomy’, in D. Palfreyman and R. Smith (eds.), Learner Autonomy across Cultures: Language Education Perspectives, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 75–91.
Oxford, R.L.: in press, ‘Learning strategies and autonomy in second or foreign language (L2) learning’, in T. Lewis and S. Hurd (eds.), Language Learning Strategies in Independent Settings, Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, North Somerset, UK.
Oxford, R.L., Meng, Y., Zhou, Y., Sung, J., and Jain, R.: 2007, ‘Uses of adversity: Moving beyond L2 learning crises’, in A. Barfield and S. Brown (eds.), Reconstructing Autonomy in Language Education: Inquiry and Innovation, Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Pavlenko, A. (ed.): 2006, Bilingual Minds: Emotional Experience, Expression, and Representation, Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, Avon, UK.
Pavlenko, A. and Blackledge, A.: 2004, Negotiation of Identities in Multilingual Contexts, Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, Avon, UK.
Pennington, M.C.: 1996, ‘The power of the computer in language education’, in M.C. Pennington (ed.), The Power of CALL, Athelstan, Houston, TX, 1–14.
Ryan, R.M. and Deci, E.L.: 2000, ‘Self‐determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well‐being’, American Psychologist LV, 68–78.
Scarcella, R. and Oxford, R.: 1992, The Tapestry of Language Learning: The Individual in the Communicative Classroom, Heinle and Heinle, Boston, MA.
Singh, R. (ed.): 1998, The Native Speaker: Multilingual Perspectives, Sage, New Delhi.
Spolsky, B.: 1989, Conditions for Second Language Learning, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
Vygotsky, L.S.: 1962, Thought and Language, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Vygotsky, L.S.: 1978, Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Wells, G.: 2000, ‘Dialogic inquiry in education’, in C.D. Lee and P. Smagorinsky (eds.), Vygotskian Perspectives on Literacy Research: Constructing Meaning through Collaborative Inquiry, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 51–85.
Wenger, E.: 1998, Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Wertsch, J.V.: 1985, Vygotsky and the Social Development of Mind, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Zhao, Y. and Lai, C.: 2007, ‘Technology and second language learning: Promises and problems’, in L.A. Parker (ed.), Technology‐Based Learning Environments for Young English Learners: In and Out of School Connections, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer Science+Business Media LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
Oxford, R.L. (2008). Conditions for Second Language (L2) Learning. In: Hornberger, N.H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_88
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_88
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-32875-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-30424-3
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law