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Title:
The Study of Second Language Acquisition, by Rod Ellis. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press,
1994. vii + 824 pp.
Journal Issue:
Issues in Applied Linguistics, 6(1)
Author:
Robbins, Scarlett L., University of California, Los Angeles
Publication Date:
1995
Permalink:
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6wg540t3
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Ellis.
Oxford,
Reviewed by
Scarlett L.
Robbins
The
field
diverse field.
ISSN 1050-4273
Vol. 6 No.
1995 99-103
100 Reviews
outline
past 25 years; these subfields include the effects of learner external factors
(e.g., social, interactive,
linguistic
universals) on
SLA,
LI
the role of
interaction
language teaching.
Considering the organization and contents of the text in more detail,
Part One has one chapter which serves as an introduction and which offers a
brief summary of the scope of research conducted in the field of SLA and
provides the reader with necessary background information. This chapter
also outlines the conceptual framework of the text and provides a rationale
Following this framework throughout the text, Ellis
for its organization.
separates research which seeks to describe SLA phenomena (Part Two) from
that
which seeks
Part
Two
to explain
it
(Parts
Three
to Six).
first
motherese or foreigner
6,
No.
101
SLA
phenomena.
SLA
The
first
of these chapters
The two
SLA.
SLA.
102 Reviews
course due to
seems unlikely
cover the
Although the text is
logically organized into discrete chapters and sections which are largely
independent of one another, I hesitate to suggest that an instructor assign
only certain chapters of the text because of the risk that students would miss
out on critical information or an appreciation of the breadth and scope of
research in the field of SLA.
A second weakness of the book as an
introductory text is its lack of study questions and exercises at the end of
each chapter which can serve to provoke thought and discussion of the
fundamental issues and to afford students an opportunity to begin thinking of
how the issues raised and the results presented in the text might be applied
to language pedagogy or could be further researched in future studies. Such
questions and exercises seem especially important for future language
teachers who might be reading the text in an earnest attempt to gain an
awareness of the field of SLA research and attempt to apply the theoretical
concepts and empirical results of this research to the actual practice of
language teaching. Ellis does, however, provide readers with an extensive
glossary of key terms which appear throughout the text in italic type. He
also offers quite helpful suggestions for further reading at the end of each
chapter accompanied by descriptions of the relevance and strengths of each
of the references.
The glossary, in particular, makes this text very
approachable for students from any discipline who are just beginning their
nearly
its
length;
700 pages of
it
SLA.
The Study of Second Language Acquisition
study of
SLA
is
ideally suited as a
experts
whom
in
is
closely
first
becoming a
SLA
No. 1
103
who
6,
REFERENCES
Beebe, L. (Ed.). (1988). Issues in SLA: Multiple Perspectives. New York, NY:
Newbury House.
An Introduction to Second Language
(1991).
Larsen-Freeman, D. & Long, M.
Acquisition Research. London, UK: Longman.