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  • Second language learning theories by Rosamond Mitchell, Florence Myles
  • Marc Picard
Second language learning theories. By Rosamond Mitchell and Florence Myles. London & New York: Arnold, 1998. Pp. xii, 228.

An educator specializing in second language teaching (Mitchell) and a linguist with research interests in second language acquisition (Myles) have pooled their knowledge and efforts to produce a book whose ‘general aim is to provide an up-to-date, introductory overview of the current state of second language learning studies’ (ix). It contains nine chapters followed by a rather extensive bibliography, an author index, and a subject index.

After a few introductory remarks, Ch. 1 opens with the authors’ definition of second language learning (SLL) as ‘the learning of any language to any level, provided only that the learning of the “second” language takes place sometime later than the acquisition of the first language’ (1). This is followed by a summary of what they deem to be the key concepts and issues of this field, viz., what makes for a valid theory, the nature of language, the language learning process and its links with social practice, and the various attitudes towards the language learner.

The second chapter consists of ‘a brief narrative account of the recent history of second language learning research, plus summary descriptions of some of the more specific language learning phenomena which any theory must explain’ (21). Thus, M & M trace the development of approaches such as contrastive analysis, error analysis, and the monitor model, and they briefly discuss research-driving concepts like order of acquisition, interlanguage, and comprehensible input.

In the next three chapters, the authors examine individual theoretical perspectives on second language acquisition. They start with a review of the research on the products of the acquisition process from both a descriptive and explanatory point of view with the emphasis placed on the application of the concept of universal grammar to SLL research. Then they turn to cognitive approaches to L1 and L2 acquisition, investigating three of these in particular: perceptual saliency, connectionism, and information processing. Finally, they review ‘the work of . . . researchers who adopt a functional/pragmatic approach to the study of second language learning’ (100).

Chs. 6–8 are devoted to theories which view language learning in more social terms, a position which stems from an argument that was first advanced in the 1980s to the effect that ‘in order to understand more fully the nature and usefulness of input to second language learning, greater attention should be paid to the interactions in which learners were engaged’ (122). They examine the nature and scope of input and interaction research and then turn their attention to theories in which language learning is viewed in essentially sociocultural and sociolinguistic terms. The book concludes with an overview of the main achievements of recent SLL research, its future directions and its relation to language education. [End Page 178]

In sum, as stated by the authors, ‘[t]his book is intended as an introduction to the field, for students without a substantial prior background in linguistics’ (x). Just as Barry McLaughlin set out in his 1987 book Theories of second language learning (London & Baltimore, MD: Arnold) to provide an introduction to the key L2 learning theories of that period, M & M have endeavored to present the major ‘theoretical orientations on language learning which seem most productive and significant from the perspective of the late 1990s’ (ix). And in that they have succeeded amazingly well.

Marc Picard
Concordia University
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