On Discourse, Communication, and (Some) Fundamental Concepts in SLA Research

Abstract

This article argues for a reconceptualization of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research that would enlarge the ontological and empirical parameters of the field. We claim that methodologies, theories, and foci within SLA reflect an imbalance between cognitive and mentalistic orientations, and social and contextual orientations to language, the former orientation being unquestionably in the ascendancy. This has resulted in a skewed perspective on discourse and communication, which conceives of the foreign language speaker as a deficient communicator struggling to overcome an underdeveloped L2 competence, striving to reach the "target" competence of an idealized native speaker (NS). We contend that SLA research requires a significantly enhanced awareness of the contextual and interactional dimensions of language use, an increased "emic" (i.e., participant-relevant) sensitivity towards fundamental concepts, and the broadening of the traditional SLA data base. With such changes in place, the field of SLA has the capacity to become a theoretically and methodologically richer, more robust enterprise, better able to explicate the processes of second or foreign language (S/FL) acquisition, and better situated to engage with and contribute to research commonly perceived to reside outside its boundaries.

Review of developments in research into English as a lingua franca

“…Outside Germany, scholars elsewhere, even in Europe, tended to be slow in noting the significance of this early German lead. The field of ELF, or ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE (EIL) as it was also known at the time (and still is occasionally), thus remained a minority interest, with only occasional independent discussions of the phenomenon being published between the late 1980s and late 1990s (principally Haberland 1989;Firth 1996;Jenkins 1996aJenkins , 1996bFirth & Wagner 1997;Jenkins 1998;House 1999), and with little consistency across their approaches.…”

Finger dialogue: The embodied accomplishment of learnables in instructing grammar on a worksheet

“…It has, therefore, become increasingly central in the examination of learning (see Firth & Wagner, 1997;Markee, 2000;Seedhouse, 2004;Hall, Hellermann & Pekarek Doehler, 2011, Koschmann, 2011inter alia). Moreover, it has been argued that understanding the social mechanism of learning requires careful studies of how it is actualized in its various social contexts (see Donato, 2000), meaning that learning as a social activity should be studied in its 5 own network of social relations and actions, with participants' real practices, i.e.…”

“…in its social setting (see e.g. Firth & Wagner, 1997;Mondada & Pekarek Doehler, 2004;Sahlström, 2011;Melander, 2012;inter alia).…”

Corrective Feedback: A Bridge between Cognitive Interactionist and Social Interactionist Perspectives

“…This is apparent in numerous researches, including the works of Lantolf [20] and Lantolf and Thorne [19]. However, such a perspective has not received the attention it deserves either theoretically or practically [10]. Yet, this argument remains valid up to the present day [3].…”