The Cognitive Science and Second Language Acquisition Series is designed to provide systematic and accessible coverage of the links between basic concepts and findings in cognitive science and second language acquisition (SLA). Titles in the series summarize issues and research in areas of cognitive science which have relevance to SLA, and when read in combination, provide a comprehensive overview of the conceptual and methodological intersects between these two fields. Books in the series are organized under the subfields of cognitive science (representational, functional, developmental, and differential cognitive psychology), and will cover such topics as speech production, fluency, gestures, lexical processing, sentence processing, connectionism, social cognition, working memory, and more.
Research findings and theoretical constructs from cognitive science have become increasingly influential in SLA research in recent years. The Cognitive Science and Second Language Acquisition Series is a valuable reference for scholars who want to increase their knowledge of theoretical and operational definitions in cognitive science, and their applications to SLA. Its titles are ideal for graduate students and researchers in SLA, applied linguistics, cognitive psychology, educational psychology, and language education, and can also serve as textbooks for advanced courses in these fields.
The Routledge encyclopedia of second language acquisition (paperback edition), 2015
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition offers a user-friendly, authoritative s... more The Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition offers a user-friendly, authoritative survey of terms and constructs that are important to understanding research in second language acquisition (SLA) and its applications. The Encyclopedia is designed for use as a reference tool by students, researchers, teachers and professionals with an interest in SLA. The Encyclopedia has the following features:
• 252 alphabetized entries written in an accessible style, including cross references to other related entries in the Encyclopedia and suggestions for further reading
• Among these, 9 survey entries that cover the foundational areas of SLA in detail: Development in SLA, Discourse and Pragmatics in SLA, Individual Differences in SLA, Instructed SLA, Language and the Lexicon in SLA, Measuring and Researching SLA, Psycholingustics of SLA, Social and Sociocultural Approaches to SLA, Theoretical Constructs in SLA.
• The rest of the entries cover all the major subdisciplines, methodologies and concepts of SLA, from “Accommodation” to the “ZISA project.”
Written by an international team of specialists, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition is an invaluable resource for students and researchers with an academic interest in SLA.
Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition (Chinese paperback edition), 2016
Paperback. Pub Date: 2016 Publisher: World Book Publishing Company/ Routledge. Cognitive Lingui... more Paperback. Pub Date: 2016 Publisher: World Book Publishing Company/ Routledge. Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition. a collection of chapters on cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition theory connecting these two areas and research. Cognitive linguistics section consists of nine chapters. providing an update on explorations of theoretical and empirical issues in the rapidly growing field of cognitive linguistics. The second language acquisition and teaching L2 section demonstrates the importance of these basic concepts of cognitive linguistics and theoretical frameworks to the study of second language acquisition and language teaching. See <https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7510095263/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i5≥
Task sequencing and instructed second language learning (paperback edition), 2016
Task Sequencing and Instructed Second Language Learning provides theoretical rationales for, and ... more Task Sequencing and Instructed Second Language Learning provides theoretical rationales for, and empirical studies of, the effects of sequencing language learning tasks to maximize second language learning. Examples of task sequences, and both laboratory and classroom-based research into them, are presented.
This is the first collection of so far under-researched studies on the effects of task sequencing, framed within the Cognition Hypothesis of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) and the SSARC model for task sequencing.
Perspectives include
-- laboratory-based and classroom-based research designs -- implications for teacher training -- laboratory and classroom research methods -- conversational interaction -- task sequencing and Task Based Language Teaching syllabus design
Task sequencing and instructed second language learning, 2014
Task Sequencing and Instructed Second Language Learning provides theoretical rationales for, and ... more Task Sequencing and Instructed Second Language Learning provides theoretical rationales for, and empirical studies of, the effects of sequencing language learning tasks to maximize second language learning. Examples of task sequences, and both laboratory and classroom-based research into them, are presented.
This is the first collection of so far under-researched studies on the effects of task sequencing, framed within the Cognition Hypothesis of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) and the SSARC model for task sequencing.
Perspectives include
-- laboratory-based and classroom-based research designs -- implications for teacher training -- laboratory and classroom research methods -- conversational interaction -- task sequencing and Task Based Language Teaching syllabus design
The Routledge encyclopedia of second language acquisition, 2013
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition offers a user-friendly, authoritative s... more The Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition offers a user-friendly, authoritative survey of terms and constructs that are important to understanding research in second language acquisition (SLA) and its applications. The Encyclopedia is designed for use as a reference tool by students, researchers, teachers and professionals with an interest in SLA. The Encyclopedia has the following features:
• 252 alphabetized entries written in an accessible style, including cross references to other related entries in the Encyclopedia and suggestions for further reading
• Among these, 9 survey entries that cover the foundational areas of SLA in detail: Development in SLA, Discourse and Pragmatics in SLA, Individual Differences in SLA, Instructed SLA, Language and the Lexicon in SLA, Measuring and Researching SLA, Psycholingustics of SLA, Social and Sociocultural Approaches to SLA, Theoretical Constructs in SLA.
• The rest of the entries cover all the major subdisciplines, methodologies and concepts of SLA, from “Accommodation” to the “ZISA project.”
Written by an international team of specialists, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition is an invaluable resource for students and researchers with an academic interest in SLA.
Second language task complexity: Researching the cognition hypothesis of language learning and performance, 2011
Understanding how task complexity affects second language learning, interaction and spoken and wr... more Understanding how task complexity affects second language learning, interaction and spoken and written performance is essential to informed decisions about task design and sequencing in TBLT programs. The chapters in this volume all examine evidence for claims of the Cognition Hypothesis that complex tasks should promote greater accuracy and complexity of speech and writing, as well as more interaction, and learning of information provided in the input to task performance, than simpler tasks. Implications are drawn concerning the basic pedagogic claim of the Cognition Hypothesis, that tasks should be sequenced for learners from simple to complex during syllabus design. Containing theoretical discussion of the Cognition Hypothesis, and cutting-edge empirical studies of the effects of task complexity on second language learning and performance, this book will be important reading for language teachers, graduate students and researchers in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and cognitive and educational psychology.
This volume contains papers addressing issues in task-based research into second language learnin... more This volume contains papers addressing issues in task-based research into second language learning which are essential to informed pedagogic decision-making about how best to achieve this aim. These issues include research into the design characteristics of pedagogic tasks that promote the accuracy, fluency and complexity of learner language; the role of individual differences in the motivational and other cognitive variables that demands made by pedagogic tasks draw on; the extent to which tasks, and teacher interventions during task performance, promote the quantity and quality of interaction that facilitate L2 learning; and the generalizability of task-based research in laboratory contexts to classroom settings.
La dimension cognitiva en la enseñanza de lenguas, 2011
La dimensión cognitiva en la enseñanza de lenguas Este libro intenta reflejar la influencia de lo... more La dimensión cognitiva en la enseñanza de lenguas Este libro intenta reflejar la influencia de los procesos cognitivos (la atención, la memoria a corto y largo plazo o la memoria operativa) en el ámbito de la adquisición de segundas lenguas (ASL) y en el desarrollo de la enseñanza de una lengua segunda (L2). En el presente volumen se examinan, en primer lugar, las bases teóricas de los procesos cognitivos que subyacen a la adquisición de una segunda lengua y, en segundo lugar, se describen varias de las implicaciones que se desprenden para la investigación orientada desde la pedagogía y para la práctica en el aula de segundas lenguas. Esta combinación entre la investigación procedente de las ciencias cognitivas y la lingüística aplicada hace de este libro una excelente introducción tanto para lingüistas aplicados como para profesores interesados en los procesos psicolingüísticos que subyacen a la adquisición de una segunda lengua.
Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition, 2008
This cutting-edge volume describes the implications of Cognitive Linguistics for the study of sec... more This cutting-edge volume describes the implications of Cognitive Linguistics for the study of second language acquisition (SLA). The first two sections identify theoretical and empirical strands of Cognitive Linguistics, presenting them as a coherent whole. The third section discusses the relevance of Cognitive Linguistics to SLA and defines a research agenda linking these fields with implications for language instruction. Its comprehensive range and tutorial-style chapters make this handbook a valuable resource for students and researchers alike.
Task complexity, the cognition hypothesis and second language instruction, 2007
Guest edited Special Issue of International Review of Applied Linguistics.
Link to the issue a... more Guest edited Special Issue of International Review of Applied Linguistics.
Chapters describe the links between language comprehension, linguistics, second language acquisit... more Chapters describe the links between language comprehension, linguistics, second language acquisition, and language education.
Individual differences and instructed language learning, 2002
Second language learners differ in how successfully they adapt to, and profit from, instruction. ... more Second language learners differ in how successfully they adapt to, and profit from, instruction. This book aims to show that adaptation to L2 instruction, and subsequent L2 learning, is a result of the interaction between learner characteristics and learning contexts. Describing and explaining these interactions is fundamentally important to theories of instructed SLA, and for effective L2 pedagogy. This collection is the first to explore this important issue in contemporary task-based, immersion, and communicative pedagogic settings. In the first section, leading experts in individual differences research describe recent advances in theories of intelligence, L2 aptitude, motivation, anxiety and emotion, and the relationship of native language abilities to L2 learning. In the second section, these theoretical insights are applied to empirical studies of individual differences-treatment interactions in classroom learning, experimental studies of the effects of focus on form and incidental learning, and studies of naturalistic versus instructed SLA.
The influence of cognitive processing on second language acquisition (SLA), and on the developmen... more The influence of cognitive processing on second language acquisition (SLA), and on the development of second language (SL) instruction, has always been a subject of major interest to both SLA researchers and those involved in SL pedagogy. Recent theoretical research into SLA and SL pedagogy has shown renewed interest in the role of cognitive variables such as attention, short, working, and long term memory, and automaticity of language processing. This volume first examines the theoretical foundations of research into the cognitive processes underlying SLA, and then describes various implications for pedagogically oriented research and for SL classroom practice. The blend of research from the cognitive sciences and applied linguistics make it an excellent introduction to applied linguists and language teachers interested in the psycholinguistic processes underlying SLA.
The Cognitive Science and Second Language Acquisition Series is designed to provide systematic and accessible coverage of the links between basic concepts and findings in cognitive science and second language acquisition (SLA). Titles in the series summarize issues and research in areas of cognitive science which have relevance to SLA, and when read in combination, provide a comprehensive overview of the conceptual and methodological intersects between these two fields. Books in the series are organized under the subfields of cognitive science (representational, functional, developmental, and differential cognitive psychology), and will cover such topics as speech production, fluency, gestures, lexical processing, sentence processing, connectionism, social cognition, working memory, and more.
Research findings and theoretical constructs from cognitive science have become increasingly influential in SLA research in recent years. The Cognitive Science and Second Language Acquisition Series is a valuable reference for scholars who want to increase their knowledge of theoretical and operational definitions in cognitive science, and their applications to SLA. Its titles are ideal for graduate students and researchers in SLA, applied linguistics, cognitive psychology, educational psychology, and language education, and can also serve as textbooks for advanced courses in these fields.
The Routledge encyclopedia of second language acquisition (paperback edition), 2015
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition offers a user-friendly, authoritative s... more The Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition offers a user-friendly, authoritative survey of terms and constructs that are important to understanding research in second language acquisition (SLA) and its applications. The Encyclopedia is designed for use as a reference tool by students, researchers, teachers and professionals with an interest in SLA. The Encyclopedia has the following features:
• 252 alphabetized entries written in an accessible style, including cross references to other related entries in the Encyclopedia and suggestions for further reading
• Among these, 9 survey entries that cover the foundational areas of SLA in detail: Development in SLA, Discourse and Pragmatics in SLA, Individual Differences in SLA, Instructed SLA, Language and the Lexicon in SLA, Measuring and Researching SLA, Psycholingustics of SLA, Social and Sociocultural Approaches to SLA, Theoretical Constructs in SLA.
• The rest of the entries cover all the major subdisciplines, methodologies and concepts of SLA, from “Accommodation” to the “ZISA project.”
Written by an international team of specialists, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition is an invaluable resource for students and researchers with an academic interest in SLA.
Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition (Chinese paperback edition), 2016
Paperback. Pub Date: 2016 Publisher: World Book Publishing Company/ Routledge. Cognitive Lingui... more Paperback. Pub Date: 2016 Publisher: World Book Publishing Company/ Routledge. Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition. a collection of chapters on cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition theory connecting these two areas and research. Cognitive linguistics section consists of nine chapters. providing an update on explorations of theoretical and empirical issues in the rapidly growing field of cognitive linguistics. The second language acquisition and teaching L2 section demonstrates the importance of these basic concepts of cognitive linguistics and theoretical frameworks to the study of second language acquisition and language teaching. See <https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7510095263/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i5≥
Task sequencing and instructed second language learning (paperback edition), 2016
Task Sequencing and Instructed Second Language Learning provides theoretical rationales for, and ... more Task Sequencing and Instructed Second Language Learning provides theoretical rationales for, and empirical studies of, the effects of sequencing language learning tasks to maximize second language learning. Examples of task sequences, and both laboratory and classroom-based research into them, are presented.
This is the first collection of so far under-researched studies on the effects of task sequencing, framed within the Cognition Hypothesis of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) and the SSARC model for task sequencing.
Perspectives include
-- laboratory-based and classroom-based research designs -- implications for teacher training -- laboratory and classroom research methods -- conversational interaction -- task sequencing and Task Based Language Teaching syllabus design
Task sequencing and instructed second language learning, 2014
Task Sequencing and Instructed Second Language Learning provides theoretical rationales for, and ... more Task Sequencing and Instructed Second Language Learning provides theoretical rationales for, and empirical studies of, the effects of sequencing language learning tasks to maximize second language learning. Examples of task sequences, and both laboratory and classroom-based research into them, are presented.
This is the first collection of so far under-researched studies on the effects of task sequencing, framed within the Cognition Hypothesis of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) and the SSARC model for task sequencing.
Perspectives include
-- laboratory-based and classroom-based research designs -- implications for teacher training -- laboratory and classroom research methods -- conversational interaction -- task sequencing and Task Based Language Teaching syllabus design
The Routledge encyclopedia of second language acquisition, 2013
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition offers a user-friendly, authoritative s... more The Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition offers a user-friendly, authoritative survey of terms and constructs that are important to understanding research in second language acquisition (SLA) and its applications. The Encyclopedia is designed for use as a reference tool by students, researchers, teachers and professionals with an interest in SLA. The Encyclopedia has the following features:
• 252 alphabetized entries written in an accessible style, including cross references to other related entries in the Encyclopedia and suggestions for further reading
• Among these, 9 survey entries that cover the foundational areas of SLA in detail: Development in SLA, Discourse and Pragmatics in SLA, Individual Differences in SLA, Instructed SLA, Language and the Lexicon in SLA, Measuring and Researching SLA, Psycholingustics of SLA, Social and Sociocultural Approaches to SLA, Theoretical Constructs in SLA.
• The rest of the entries cover all the major subdisciplines, methodologies and concepts of SLA, from “Accommodation” to the “ZISA project.”
Written by an international team of specialists, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition is an invaluable resource for students and researchers with an academic interest in SLA.
Second language task complexity: Researching the cognition hypothesis of language learning and performance, 2011
Understanding how task complexity affects second language learning, interaction and spoken and wr... more Understanding how task complexity affects second language learning, interaction and spoken and written performance is essential to informed decisions about task design and sequencing in TBLT programs. The chapters in this volume all examine evidence for claims of the Cognition Hypothesis that complex tasks should promote greater accuracy and complexity of speech and writing, as well as more interaction, and learning of information provided in the input to task performance, than simpler tasks. Implications are drawn concerning the basic pedagogic claim of the Cognition Hypothesis, that tasks should be sequenced for learners from simple to complex during syllabus design. Containing theoretical discussion of the Cognition Hypothesis, and cutting-edge empirical studies of the effects of task complexity on second language learning and performance, this book will be important reading for language teachers, graduate students and researchers in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and cognitive and educational psychology.
This volume contains papers addressing issues in task-based research into second language learnin... more This volume contains papers addressing issues in task-based research into second language learning which are essential to informed pedagogic decision-making about how best to achieve this aim. These issues include research into the design characteristics of pedagogic tasks that promote the accuracy, fluency and complexity of learner language; the role of individual differences in the motivational and other cognitive variables that demands made by pedagogic tasks draw on; the extent to which tasks, and teacher interventions during task performance, promote the quantity and quality of interaction that facilitate L2 learning; and the generalizability of task-based research in laboratory contexts to classroom settings.
La dimension cognitiva en la enseñanza de lenguas, 2011
La dimensión cognitiva en la enseñanza de lenguas Este libro intenta reflejar la influencia de lo... more La dimensión cognitiva en la enseñanza de lenguas Este libro intenta reflejar la influencia de los procesos cognitivos (la atención, la memoria a corto y largo plazo o la memoria operativa) en el ámbito de la adquisición de segundas lenguas (ASL) y en el desarrollo de la enseñanza de una lengua segunda (L2). En el presente volumen se examinan, en primer lugar, las bases teóricas de los procesos cognitivos que subyacen a la adquisición de una segunda lengua y, en segundo lugar, se describen varias de las implicaciones que se desprenden para la investigación orientada desde la pedagogía y para la práctica en el aula de segundas lenguas. Esta combinación entre la investigación procedente de las ciencias cognitivas y la lingüística aplicada hace de este libro una excelente introducción tanto para lingüistas aplicados como para profesores interesados en los procesos psicolingüísticos que subyacen a la adquisición de una segunda lengua.
Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition, 2008
This cutting-edge volume describes the implications of Cognitive Linguistics for the study of sec... more This cutting-edge volume describes the implications of Cognitive Linguistics for the study of second language acquisition (SLA). The first two sections identify theoretical and empirical strands of Cognitive Linguistics, presenting them as a coherent whole. The third section discusses the relevance of Cognitive Linguistics to SLA and defines a research agenda linking these fields with implications for language instruction. Its comprehensive range and tutorial-style chapters make this handbook a valuable resource for students and researchers alike.
Task complexity, the cognition hypothesis and second language instruction, 2007
Guest edited Special Issue of International Review of Applied Linguistics.
Link to the issue a... more Guest edited Special Issue of International Review of Applied Linguistics.
Chapters describe the links between language comprehension, linguistics, second language acquisit... more Chapters describe the links between language comprehension, linguistics, second language acquisition, and language education.
Individual differences and instructed language learning, 2002
Second language learners differ in how successfully they adapt to, and profit from, instruction. ... more Second language learners differ in how successfully they adapt to, and profit from, instruction. This book aims to show that adaptation to L2 instruction, and subsequent L2 learning, is a result of the interaction between learner characteristics and learning contexts. Describing and explaining these interactions is fundamentally important to theories of instructed SLA, and for effective L2 pedagogy. This collection is the first to explore this important issue in contemporary task-based, immersion, and communicative pedagogic settings. In the first section, leading experts in individual differences research describe recent advances in theories of intelligence, L2 aptitude, motivation, anxiety and emotion, and the relationship of native language abilities to L2 learning. In the second section, these theoretical insights are applied to empirical studies of individual differences-treatment interactions in classroom learning, experimental studies of the effects of focus on form and incidental learning, and studies of naturalistic versus instructed SLA.
The influence of cognitive processing on second language acquisition (SLA), and on the developmen... more The influence of cognitive processing on second language acquisition (SLA), and on the development of second language (SL) instruction, has always been a subject of major interest to both SLA researchers and those involved in SL pedagogy. Recent theoretical research into SLA and SL pedagogy has shown renewed interest in the role of cognitive variables such as attention, short, working, and long term memory, and automaticity of language processing. This volume first examines the theoretical foundations of research into the cognitive processes underlying SLA, and then describes various implications for pedagogically oriented research and for SL classroom practice. The blend of research from the cognitive sciences and applied linguistics make it an excellent introduction to applied linguists and language teachers interested in the psycholinguistic processes underlying SLA.
The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (2nd edition)
Aptitude for language learning is a theoretical construct, operationalized in the form of a test,... more Aptitude for language learning is a theoretical construct, operationalized in the form of a test, which aims to predict individual differences between learners in the extent of successful second language acquisition. This article describes traditional measures of language learning aptitude, such as the Modern Language Aptitude Test, and then argues for the need to develop new tests of aptitude which are situationally and developmentally sensitive, in the sense that they can predict successful learning in different implicit, incidental or explicit learning conditions, and the situations that give rise to them, and across the range of proficiency levels, from beginner to advanced stages of second language development. Two recent measures of aptitude that may be able to meet this need, the LLAMA and Hi-LAB aptitude tests, are discussed in conclusion.
The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Individual Differences, 2022
The Cognition Hypothesis claims pedagogic tasks should be sequenced from simple to complex (in ... more The Cognition Hypothesis claims pedagogic tasks should be sequenced from simple to complex (in instructional settings, and syllabuses) in terms of their attentional, memory, reasoning and other intrinsic cognitive resource demands, and that such sequencing will promote the development of the language needed to accomplish tasks, as well as the ability to successfully perform real world tasks that pedagogic tasks are based on, outside classrooms, or other settings for second language (L2) instruction (Robinson, 2011, 2015).
The Cognition Hypothesis distinguishes between resource-directing
dimensions of task complexity, in which the cognitive demands tasks make (such as understanding and explaining why an event or series of events caused another event to occur) also direct attention to aspects of the second language that can be used to perform them (e.g., causal connectors `because`, `therefore`, linking conjoined
clauses), and resource-dispersing dimensions of task complexity which increase
attentional and other cognitive demands, but without directing attentional or memory resources to any aspects of language that can be used to accomplish the task (such as taking away planning time).
There are five ancillary theoretical claims of the Cognition Hypothesis. The first concerns effects of task complexity on language production: 1) monologic tasks which are complex along resource-directing dimensions lead to greater accuracy and complexity of production, but less fluency than simpler tasks along those dimensions. Interactive tasks which are complex along resource-directing dimensions will lead to greater accuracy and less fluency than simpler counterpart versions of tasks. In contrast, along resource-dispersing dimensions of task complexity complex versions of tasks will lead to lower accuracy, fluency and complexity of language used relative to simpler versions. Other ancillary theoretical claims are that 2) complex versions of interactive L2 tasks, along any dimensions of task complexity, will lead to more interaction, negotiation of meaning and Language Related Episodes(LREs) to resolve misunderstandings, and 3) more uptake of corrective feedback provided proactively in the input or reactively during performance, as well as 4) greater long-term retention and memory for input provided on cognitively complex, compared to simpler, versions of tasks, and that 5) individual differences between learners in abilities, affective states and dispositions will increasingly differentiate learning and performance on tasks as they increase in complexity (Robinson, 2011, 2015).
The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching, 2022
Operationalizing a theory of task-based learning requires a specification of the features of task... more Operationalizing a theory of task-based learning requires a specification of the features of task design that can be manipulated and sequenced during the time-course of instructional language learning programs to promote both performance success (measured in terms of the degree to which tasks can be accomplished in the second language), as well as progress in second language development (measured in terms of progress learners make in the increasing accuracy, complexity and fluency of their language production and comprehension). This chapter describes a theoretically motivated framework for pedagogic task design and sequencing which is currently being implemented and researched to assess the extent to which it facilitates target task success and language development for learners performing sequences of pedagogic tasks following the design criteria it proposes.
The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching, 2022
Abstract: Operationalizing a theory of task-based learning requires a specification of the featur... more Abstract: Operationalizing a theory of task-based learning requires a specification of the features of task design that can be manipulated and sequenced during the time-course of instructional language learning programs to promote both performance success (measured in terms of the degree to which tasks can be accomplished in the second language), as well as progress in second language development (measured in terms of progress learners make in the increasing accuracy, complexity and fluency of their language production and comprehension). This chapter describes a theoretically motivated framework for pedagogic task design and sequencing which is currently being implemented and researched to assess the extent to which it facilitates target task success and language development for learners performing sequences of pedagogic tasks following the design criteria it proposes.
The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, 2020
Abstract: Over the past thirty years, proposals for task-based language teaching (TBLT) have dra... more Abstract: Over the past thirty years, proposals for task-based language teaching (TBLT) have drawn on a variety of claims about, and research into, the cognitive processes thought to promote successful second language acquisition (SLA). This article reviews issues fundamental to the cognitive underpinnings and rationales for these proposals. They reflect a shift from a concern with the cognitive processes that facilitate comprehension of input (Krashen, 1982), to a concern with the cognitive processes promoted during interaction and attention to output (Long, 1985; Swain, 1985), and the development of increasingly target-like spoken and written production (Robinson, 2005; Skehan, 1998). This article then describes design features of second language tasks that have been claimed to impose cognitive demands and summarises findings concerning the effects of these demands on interaction, learning and language production.
The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, 2020
Abstract: Aptitude for language learning is a theoretical construct, operationalized in the form ... more Abstract: Aptitude for language learning is a theoretical construct, operationalized in the form of a test, which aims to predict individual differences between learners in the extent of successful second language acquisition. This article describes traditional measures of language learning aptitude, such as the Modern Language Aptitude Test, and then argues for the need to develop new tests of aptitude which are situationally and developmentally sensitive, in the sense that they can predict successful learning in different implicit, incidental or explicit learning conditions (Robinson, 1997, 2001), and the situations that give rise to them (Robinson, 2005, 2007, 2012), and across the range of proficiency levels, from beginner to advanced stages of second language development.
This commentary includes consideration of theory, opinion, empirical work, evaluative work and pr... more This commentary includes consideration of theory, opinion, empirical work, evaluative work and practice in a subset of papers that appeared in ARAL (2016) on task-based language teaching. Addressing the wider logic, theoretical underpinnings and instructional implications of TBLT is a serious applied linguistics challenge and one that the TBLT area is increasingly in a position to engage with in the search for evidence-based solutions to problems in designing, implementing and assessing the effects of TBLT. The contributors take a sometimes approving, occasionally critical and always forward looking perspective on the contributions of ARAL 2016 and the directions and challenges facing the field.
The Encyclopedia of Language and Education: Vol. 6. Language Awareness and Multilingualism, 2017
Abstract: Attention and awareness are closely related concepts and can function in the environmen... more Abstract: Attention and awareness are closely related concepts and can function in the environment for language learning at different levels. To begin with the concept of attention, a distinction needs to be made between two levels of attention, and the mechanisms regulating them, which will be important to the issues of language learning raised below. This distinction is between (1) perceptual atten- tion to the numerous phenomena which we attend to automatically and involun- tarily (during, for example, a conversation with a colleague), such as the room temperature or noises from the room next door, and (2) focal attention which is under some degree of voluntary executive control, such as the attention we pay to our colleague’s words and facial expressions while they are speaking and while we are trying to understand what they intend to communicate. Issues of how much, and also what quality of, attention to input is necessary for subsequent retention and learning are major topics of research in the broad field of cognitive psychology and in the content specific domain of second language acquisition (SLA). Although there have been claims in both these broad and narrowe domains that nonattentional learning is possible, this almost always means learning without focal attention to the input stimuli, which selects them for further processing and encoding in memory. In such cases, simple detection of input at a stage of perceptual processing prior to selection is argued to contribute to learning. If this is so, then learning could be said to take place without awareness, since focal attention is widely argued to be a precondition for awareness (see Robinson, P. Attention and memory during SLA. In C. Doughty & M. H. Long (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 631–678). Oxford: Black- well, 2003; Schmidt, R. Attention. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 3–32). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001, for review). The necessity of awareness of input for SLA (or for other learning domains) is therefore more disputed than the claim that attention to input is necessary. Like attention, awareness can also be at a number of different levels, varying from what Schmidt (Appl Linguist 11:129–158, 1990) called “noticing” of elements of the surface structure of utterances in the input to those higher levels of awareness implicated in “understanding” metalinguistic rules and regularities which the surface structure elements conform to.
The Encyclopedia of Language and Education (3rd edition): Vol. 6. Language Awareness and Multilingualism, 2017
Abstract: Attention and awareness are closely related concepts, and can function in the environme... more Abstract: Attention and awareness are closely related concepts, and can function in the environment for language learning at different levels. To begin with the concept of attention, a distinction needs to be made between two levels of attention, and the mechanisms regulating them, which will be important to the issues of language learning raised below. This distinction is between; (1) perceptual attention to the numerous phenomena which we attend to automatically and involuntarily (during, for example, a conversation with a colleague), such as the room temperature or noises from the room next door, and; (2) focal attention which is under some degree of voluntary executive control, such as the attention we pay to our colleague's words and facial expressions while they are speaking and while we are trying to understand what they intend to communicate. Issues of how much, and also what quality of, attention to input is necessary for subsequent retention and learning are major topics of research in the broad field of cognitive psychology, and in the content specific domain of second language acquisition (SLA). Although there have been claims in both these broad and narrower domains that nonattentional learning is possible, this almost always means learning without focal attention to the input stimuli, which selects them for further processing and encoding in memory. In such cases simple detection of input, at a stage of perceptual processing prior to selection is argued to contribute to learning. If this is so, then learning could be said take place without awareness, since focal attention is widely
2
argued to be a precondition for awareness (see Robinson, 2003; Schmidt, 2001, for review). The necessity of awareness of input for SLA (or for other learning domains) is therefore more disputed than the claim that attention to input is necessary. Like attention, awareness can also be at a number of different levels, varying from what Schmidt (1990) called 'noticing' of elements of the surface structure of utterances in the input to those higher levels of awareness implicated in 'understanding' metalinguistic rules and regularities which the surface structure elements conform to.
Domains and Directions in the Development of TBLT, 2015
This chapter first summarises the basic pedagogic claim of the Cognition Hypothesis, that the cog... more This chapter first summarises the basic pedagogic claim of the Cognition Hypothesis, that the cognitive demands of tasks be sequenced from simple to complex for learners, and describes a theoretically motivated model for syllabus designers and teachers to follow in planning and implementing such task sequences. This is followed by a description of the Triadic Componential Framework of task characteristics, which makes distinctions between task complexity, task conditions, and task diffculty. Next, I discuss the extent to which individual differences in cognitive and aective factors may mediate the effects of task complexity and task conditions on learning, interaction, and language production, and I argue for the need to research the interactions between task complexity/condition and task diffculty. The chapter concludes by identifying some points of contrast between the claims of the Cognition Hypothesis and Peter Skehan`s Trade-Off Hypothesis, and the differences in their intended scope of application to pedagogy.
This chapter first summarises the basic pedagogic claim of the Cognition Hypothesis, that the cog... more This chapter first summarises the basic pedagogic claim of the Cognition Hypothesis, that the cognitive demands of tasks be sequenced from simple to complex for learners, and describes a theoretically motivated model for syllabus designers and teachers to follow in planning and implementing such task sequences. This is followed by a description of the Triadic Componential Framework of task characteristics, which makes distinctions between task complexity, task conditions, and task difficulty. Next, I discuss the extent to which individual differences in cognitive and affective factors may mediate the effects of task complexity and task conditions on learning, interaction and language production, and argue for the need to research the interactions between task complexity/condition and task difficulty. The chapter concludes by identifying some points of contrast between the claims of the Cognition Hypothesis and Peter Skehan`s Trade-Off Hypothesis, and the differences in their intended scope of application to pedagogy.
Abstract: Syllabus design involves decisions about the units of classroom instruction and organiz... more Abstract: Syllabus design involves decisions about the units of classroom instruction and organization, and the order in which they are to be taught, or organized for learners. These decisions are constrained, in different ways, by two purposes that syllabi fulfill in educational settings —to promote “learning” and to ensure “accountability.” With the first of these purposes in mind, choice of the unit of analysis for sequencing whatever is to be worked on in classrooms must draw on what is known of the psycholinguistic processes implicated in second language acquisition (SLA). Consequently, there are variations between proposals for syllabus design which reflect different theoretical positions on the psycholinguistically valid units of analysis for L2 learning, and also the sequence in which they should be presented to learners. One could call these “bottom-up” proposals, made by SLA researchers who are concerned with the complementarity of decisions about units and sequencing with what is known about learning processes, and the levels of L2 attainment that they lead to.
On the other hand, syllabi are necessary so that government agencies, institutions, and teachers can be accountable for what is taught in a program, and so that comparisons can be made across institutions, enabling instruction to be coordinated across settings and national boundaries (North, 2001). One could call these “top-down” proposals, which are concerned with the feasibility of implementing decisions about syllabus design across a range of settings and languages taught, and with how comparable their concomitant assessment procedures are with respect to the societal goals of L2 education. Since these “top-down” implementational considerations must logically assume the correctness of one or another of the “bottom-up” language-learning process proposals for syllabus design, only the latter are described in what follows.
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition aims to provide readers with a user fri... more The Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition aims to provide readers with a user friendly, authoritative survey of terms and constructs that are currently thought to be important to understanding research in second language acquisition (SLA) and its applications. As such this encyclopedia can be used as a reference tool by students, researchers, teachers and professionals with an interest in SLA. As described in a number of recent introductions to SLA (e.g., Ellis, 2008; Ortega, 2009), theoretical thinking about, and empirical research into SLA has accumulated over the last forty years, with the result that there are now a number of Handbooks of SLA (e.g., Doughty & Long, 2003; Gass & Mackey, 2012; Ritchie & Bhatia, 2009) providing valuable in-depth chapter length treatment of many of the topics covered in this encyclopedia. However, the number of chapters in these handbooks is limited (24 chapters in Doughty & Long, 2003; 35 in Gass & Mackey, 2012; and 27 in Ritchie & Bhatia, 2009) and each of these chapters often deals simultaneously with many of the terms and topics addressed separately by entries in this encyclopedia. Consequently, the more broadly presented, concise, and focused treatment of terms and topics in this encyclopedia should be useful for readers to consult either in preparation for, or whilst reading the in-depth surveys provided by various introductions to SLA, or by contemporary handbook chapters on SLA.
The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition
Issues of attention `bear on every area of cognitive science` (Allport, 1989, p. 631).Attention, ... more Issues of attention `bear on every area of cognitive science` (Allport, 1989, p. 631).Attention, however, is not a unitary construct; many mechanisms have been proposed to explain how it affects different aspects of behavior and learning. Attentional mechanisms have been evoked to explain such diverse phenomena in second language acquisition (SLA) as variation in the accuracy, fluency and complexity of second language (L2) speech in different social environments, and the effects on performance of tasks that make different attentional demands on learners. Availability of attentional resources has also been argued to predict the extent to which instructional conditions manipulating the focus of learners’ attention affect the quality of perception, and, as a consequence, memory for targeted aspects of input. Explaining variational phenomena implicates mechanisms of attention which are used to control action while using the L2. Explaining perceptual, learning and memory phenomena implicates mechanisms of attention which are used to select (or inhibit) and mentally rehearse information in the L2 input. These twobroad classes of attentional mechanisms interact to affect SLA in ways that researchers have explored in both experimental and classroom settings.
Attentional mechanisms regulating the use and learning of L2s can be studied at a number of different levels. For example, at the neurobiological level (Schumann, 2004), research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows changes in areas of neural activation during stages of behaviorally induced visual orienting (overt head and eye movement toward visual stimuli), as well as in subsequent stages of accurate discrimination between and in response to visual targets (Posner & Peterson, 1990). One aim of research at this level is to show how attentional networks in the brain give rise to awareness—the subjective, contentful `feel` of experience that can be reported to others, to varying extents. For example, Beck, Rees, Frith and Lavie (2001) found that the ability to successfully detect and report awareness of changes in a visual scene was associated not only with visual cortex activity related to the changing object, but also with additional activity in regions of the frontoparietal cortex commonly associated with directed attention. Neurobiological research has identified a number of these types of attentional networks (Raz & Buhle, 2006), and has begun to influence accounts of the neural components of attention to language (Arabski & Wojtaszek, 2010; Chee, 2009; Green, 2003; Green, Crinion & Price, 2006; Indefrey, Hagoort, Herzog, Seitz & Brown, 2001) and how they interact with phonological working memory to affect such processes as rule-learning and fossilization (de Diego-Balaguer & Lopez-Barroso, 2010; Schuchert, 2004); language selection and control in bilinguals (Fabbro, 1999; Rodriguez-Fornells, de Diego-Balaguer & Munte, 2006), and the influence of selection and control on the attainment of varying levels of bilingual proficiency (Chee, 2005).
Attention can also be studied at the information processing level, in which performance oncognitively demanding tasks, rather than less demanding tasks, is thought to implicate attentional mechanisms that differentiate performance on each task type. At this level, attention is conceptualized as having functions that regulate our actions in and facilitate our learning about the environment. These functions include selecting information for processing, focusing on it and inhibiting distractions, activating concepts in long term memory, and coordinating participation in multiple simultaneous activities. Many of the models of attention that have guided SLA research have their origins in areas of cognitive science addressing one of these information- processing functions. These include models proposed for the study of selective attention in visual processing (Posner & Peterson, 1990); the study of mental workload and divided attention (Kahneman, 1973; Wickens, 1984, 2007); the relationship of focal attention to rehearsal in working memory (Cowan, 1995); conditioned attention and associative learning (Rescorla & Wagner, 1972); and the withdrawal of attention during the development of automaticity and skilled responding (Anderson, 1993; Logan, 1988; Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977). In order to address specific issues in SLA theory, some models of attention have been adapted from the form in which they were originally proposed (see Chaudron, 1985; Gass, 1997; McLaughlin, Rossman & McLeod, 1988; Robinson, 1995). Debate continues about which models are most effective in their explanations of aspects of information-processing during SLA, such as the allocation of attention to competing task demands and the resulting effects on second language (L2) production. In addition, there is disagreement regarding how detailed or `fine-grained` attentional models should be for explaining the effects of L2 instruction (Leow, 2002; Robinson, 2003; Simard & Wong, 2001).
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Biography, Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics by Peter Robinson
Books by Peter Robinson
https://www.routledge.com/Cognitive-Science-and-Second-Language-Acquisition-Series/book-series/LEACSSLAS
The Cognitive Science and Second Language Acquisition Series is designed to provide systematic and accessible coverage of the links between basic concepts and findings in cognitive science and second language acquisition (SLA). Titles in the series summarize issues and research in areas of cognitive science which have relevance to SLA, and when read in combination, provide a comprehensive overview of the conceptual and methodological intersects between these two fields. Books in the series are organized under the subfields of cognitive science (representational, functional, developmental, and differential cognitive psychology), and will cover such topics as speech production, fluency, gestures, lexical processing, sentence processing, connectionism, social cognition, working memory, and more.
Research findings and theoretical constructs from cognitive science have become increasingly influential in SLA research in recent years. The Cognitive Science and Second Language Acquisition Series is a valuable reference for scholars who want to increase their knowledge of theoretical and operational definitions in cognitive science, and their applications to SLA. Its titles are ideal for graduate students and researchers in SLA, applied linguistics, cognitive psychology, educational psychology, and language education, and can also serve as textbooks for advanced courses in these fields.
• 252 alphabetized entries written in an accessible style, including cross references to other related entries in the Encyclopedia and suggestions for further reading
• Among these, 9 survey entries that cover the foundational areas of SLA in detail: Development in SLA, Discourse and Pragmatics in SLA, Individual Differences in SLA, Instructed SLA, Language and the Lexicon in SLA, Measuring and Researching SLA, Psycholingustics of SLA, Social and Sociocultural Approaches to SLA, Theoretical Constructs in SLA.
• The rest of the entries cover all the major subdisciplines, methodologies and concepts of SLA, from “Accommodation” to the “ZISA project.”
Written by an international team of specialists, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition is an invaluable resource for students and researchers with an academic interest in SLA.
More Info: http://www.amazon.com/Routledge-Encyclopedia-Second-Language-Acquisition/dp/1138817058/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
This is the first collection of so far under-researched studies on the effects of task sequencing, framed within the Cognition Hypothesis of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) and the SSARC model for task sequencing.
Perspectives include
-- laboratory-based and classroom-based research designs
-- implications for teacher training
-- laboratory and classroom research methods
-- conversational interaction
-- task sequencing and Task Based Language Teaching syllabus design
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Sequencing-Instructed-Language-Learning-Acquisition/dp/1474274072/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
This is the first collection of so far under-researched studies on the effects of task sequencing, framed within the Cognition Hypothesis of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) and the SSARC model for task sequencing.
Perspectives include
-- laboratory-based and classroom-based research designs
-- implications for teacher training
-- laboratory and classroom research methods
-- conversational interaction
-- task sequencing and Task Based Language Teaching syllabus design
More Info: http://www.amazon.com/Sequencing-Instructed-Language-Learning-Acquisition/dp/1623562767/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic/Continuum
Publication Date: 2014
• 252 alphabetized entries written in an accessible style, including cross references to other related entries in the Encyclopedia and suggestions for further reading
• Among these, 9 survey entries that cover the foundational areas of SLA in detail: Development in SLA, Discourse and Pragmatics in SLA, Individual Differences in SLA, Instructed SLA, Language and the Lexicon in SLA, Measuring and Researching SLA, Psycholingustics of SLA, Social and Sociocultural Approaches to SLA, Theoretical Constructs in SLA.
• The rest of the entries cover all the major subdisciplines, methodologies and concepts of SLA, from “Accommodation” to the “ZISA project.”
Written by an international team of specialists, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition is an invaluable resource for students and researchers with an academic interest in SLA.
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Second-Language-Task-Complexity-Researching/dp/9027207208/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Task-Based-Language-Learning-Peter-Robinson/dp/1444350234/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Cognitive-Linguistics-Language-Acquisition/dp/0805853529
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
Link to the issue at DeGruyter : http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/iral.2007.45.issue-3/issue-files/iral.2007.45.issue-3.xml
More info: http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4874243037/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Individual-Differences-Instructed-Language-Learning/dp/1588112314/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
https://www.routledge.com/Cognitive-Science-and-Second-Language-Acquisition-Series/book-series/LEACSSLAS
The Cognitive Science and Second Language Acquisition Series is designed to provide systematic and accessible coverage of the links between basic concepts and findings in cognitive science and second language acquisition (SLA). Titles in the series summarize issues and research in areas of cognitive science which have relevance to SLA, and when read in combination, provide a comprehensive overview of the conceptual and methodological intersects between these two fields. Books in the series are organized under the subfields of cognitive science (representational, functional, developmental, and differential cognitive psychology), and will cover such topics as speech production, fluency, gestures, lexical processing, sentence processing, connectionism, social cognition, working memory, and more.
Research findings and theoretical constructs from cognitive science have become increasingly influential in SLA research in recent years. The Cognitive Science and Second Language Acquisition Series is a valuable reference for scholars who want to increase their knowledge of theoretical and operational definitions in cognitive science, and their applications to SLA. Its titles are ideal for graduate students and researchers in SLA, applied linguistics, cognitive psychology, educational psychology, and language education, and can also serve as textbooks for advanced courses in these fields.
• 252 alphabetized entries written in an accessible style, including cross references to other related entries in the Encyclopedia and suggestions for further reading
• Among these, 9 survey entries that cover the foundational areas of SLA in detail: Development in SLA, Discourse and Pragmatics in SLA, Individual Differences in SLA, Instructed SLA, Language and the Lexicon in SLA, Measuring and Researching SLA, Psycholingustics of SLA, Social and Sociocultural Approaches to SLA, Theoretical Constructs in SLA.
• The rest of the entries cover all the major subdisciplines, methodologies and concepts of SLA, from “Accommodation” to the “ZISA project.”
Written by an international team of specialists, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition is an invaluable resource for students and researchers with an academic interest in SLA.
More Info: http://www.amazon.com/Routledge-Encyclopedia-Second-Language-Acquisition/dp/1138817058/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
This is the first collection of so far under-researched studies on the effects of task sequencing, framed within the Cognition Hypothesis of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) and the SSARC model for task sequencing.
Perspectives include
-- laboratory-based and classroom-based research designs
-- implications for teacher training
-- laboratory and classroom research methods
-- conversational interaction
-- task sequencing and Task Based Language Teaching syllabus design
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Sequencing-Instructed-Language-Learning-Acquisition/dp/1474274072/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
This is the first collection of so far under-researched studies on the effects of task sequencing, framed within the Cognition Hypothesis of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) and the SSARC model for task sequencing.
Perspectives include
-- laboratory-based and classroom-based research designs
-- implications for teacher training
-- laboratory and classroom research methods
-- conversational interaction
-- task sequencing and Task Based Language Teaching syllabus design
More Info: http://www.amazon.com/Sequencing-Instructed-Language-Learning-Acquisition/dp/1623562767/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic/Continuum
Publication Date: 2014
• 252 alphabetized entries written in an accessible style, including cross references to other related entries in the Encyclopedia and suggestions for further reading
• Among these, 9 survey entries that cover the foundational areas of SLA in detail: Development in SLA, Discourse and Pragmatics in SLA, Individual Differences in SLA, Instructed SLA, Language and the Lexicon in SLA, Measuring and Researching SLA, Psycholingustics of SLA, Social and Sociocultural Approaches to SLA, Theoretical Constructs in SLA.
• The rest of the entries cover all the major subdisciplines, methodologies and concepts of SLA, from “Accommodation” to the “ZISA project.”
Written by an international team of specialists, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition is an invaluable resource for students and researchers with an academic interest in SLA.
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Second-Language-Task-Complexity-Researching/dp/9027207208/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Task-Based-Language-Learning-Peter-Robinson/dp/1444350234/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Cognitive-Linguistics-Language-Acquisition/dp/0805853529
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
Link to the issue at DeGruyter : http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/iral.2007.45.issue-3/issue-files/iral.2007.45.issue-3.xml
More info: http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4874243037/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Individual-Differences-Instructed-Language-Learning/dp/1588112314/
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
More info: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Robinson/e/B00WNZZKP0
The Cognition Hypothesis distinguishes between resource-directing
dimensions of task complexity, in which the cognitive demands tasks make (such as understanding and explaining why an event or series of events caused another event to occur) also direct attention to aspects of the second language that can be used to perform them (e.g., causal connectors `because`, `therefore`, linking conjoined
clauses), and resource-dispersing dimensions of task complexity which increase
attentional and other cognitive demands, but without directing attentional or memory resources to any aspects of language that can be used to accomplish the task (such as taking away planning time).
There are five ancillary theoretical claims of the Cognition Hypothesis. The first concerns effects of task complexity on language production: 1) monologic tasks which are complex along resource-directing dimensions lead to greater accuracy and complexity of production, but less fluency than simpler tasks along those dimensions. Interactive tasks which are complex along resource-directing dimensions will lead to greater accuracy and less fluency than simpler counterpart versions of tasks. In contrast, along resource-dispersing dimensions of task complexity complex versions of tasks will lead to lower accuracy, fluency and complexity of language used relative to simpler versions. Other ancillary theoretical claims are that 2) complex versions of interactive L2 tasks, along any dimensions of task complexity, will lead to more interaction, negotiation of meaning and Language Related Episodes(LREs) to resolve misunderstandings, and 3) more uptake of corrective feedback provided proactively in the input or reactively during performance, as well as 4) greater long-term retention and memory for input provided on cognitively complex, compared to simpler, versions of tasks, and that 5) individual differences between learners in abilities, affective states and dispositions will increasingly differentiate learning and performance on tasks as they increase in complexity (Robinson, 2011, 2015).
2
argued to be a precondition for awareness (see Robinson, 2003; Schmidt, 2001, for review). The necessity of awareness of input for SLA (or for other learning domains) is therefore more disputed than the claim that attention to input is necessary. Like attention, awareness can also be at a number of different levels, varying from what Schmidt (1990) called 'noticing' of elements of the surface structure of utterances in the input to those higher levels of awareness implicated in 'understanding' metalinguistic rules and regularities which the surface structure elements conform to.
On the other hand, syllabi are necessary so that government agencies, institutions, and teachers can be accountable for what is taught in a program, and so that comparisons can be made across institutions, enabling instruction to be coordinated across settings and national boundaries (North, 2001). One could call these “top-down” proposals, which are concerned with the feasibility of implementing decisions about syllabus design across a range of settings and languages taught, and with how comparable their concomitant assessment procedures are with respect to the societal goals of L2 education. Since these “top-down” implementational considerations must logically assume the correctness of one or another of the “bottom-up” language-learning process proposals for syllabus design, only the latter are described in what follows.
Attentional mechanisms regulating the use and learning of L2s can be studied at a number of different levels. For example, at the neurobiological level (Schumann, 2004), research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows changes in areas of neural activation during stages of behaviorally induced visual orienting (overt head and eye movement toward visual stimuli), as well as in subsequent stages of accurate discrimination between and in response to visual targets (Posner & Peterson, 1990). One aim of research at this level is to show how attentional networks in the brain give rise to awareness—the subjective, contentful `feel` of experience that can be reported to others, to varying extents. For example, Beck, Rees, Frith and Lavie (2001) found that the ability to successfully detect and report awareness of changes in a visual scene was associated not only with visual cortex activity related to the changing object, but also with additional activity in regions of the frontoparietal cortex commonly associated with directed attention. Neurobiological research has identified a number of these types of attentional networks (Raz & Buhle, 2006), and has begun to influence accounts of the neural components of attention to language (Arabski & Wojtaszek, 2010; Chee, 2009; Green, 2003; Green, Crinion & Price, 2006; Indefrey, Hagoort, Herzog, Seitz & Brown, 2001) and how they interact with phonological working memory to affect such processes as rule-learning and fossilization (de Diego-Balaguer & Lopez-Barroso, 2010; Schuchert, 2004); language selection and control in bilinguals (Fabbro, 1999; Rodriguez-Fornells, de Diego-Balaguer & Munte, 2006), and the influence of selection and control on the attainment of varying levels of bilingual proficiency (Chee, 2005).
Attention can also be studied at the information processing level, in which performance oncognitively demanding tasks, rather than less demanding tasks, is thought to implicate attentional mechanisms that differentiate performance on each task type. At this level, attention is conceptualized as having functions that regulate our actions in and facilitate our learning about the environment. These functions include selecting information for processing, focusing on it and inhibiting distractions, activating concepts in long term memory, and coordinating participation in multiple simultaneous activities. Many of the models of attention that have guided SLA research have their origins in areas of cognitive science addressing one of these information- processing functions. These include models proposed for the study of selective attention in visual processing (Posner & Peterson, 1990); the study of mental workload and divided attention (Kahneman, 1973; Wickens, 1984, 2007); the relationship of focal attention to rehearsal in working memory (Cowan, 1995); conditioned attention and associative learning (Rescorla & Wagner, 1972); and the withdrawal of attention during the development of automaticity and skilled responding (Anderson, 1993; Logan, 1988; Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977). In order to address specific issues in SLA theory, some models of attention have been adapted from the form in which they were originally proposed (see Chaudron, 1985; Gass, 1997; McLaughlin, Rossman & McLeod, 1988; Robinson, 1995). Debate continues about which models are most effective in their explanations of aspects of information-processing during SLA, such as the allocation of attention to competing task demands and the resulting effects on second language (L2) production. In addition, there is disagreement regarding how detailed or `fine-grained` attentional models should be for explaining the effects of L2 instruction (Leow, 2002; Robinson, 2003; Simard & Wong, 2001).