How Languages are Learned

reviewed by Rahsan Kocoglu, Turkey

Rahsan Kocoglu is a teacher of English in Istanbul, Turkey. She has an M.A. in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from Bahcesehir University. Currently she is an instructor at Bahcesehir University. Her interests include teaching via technology and social media.
E-mail: rahsan.kocoglu@bahcesehir.edu.tr

How Languages are Learned
Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada (Authors), 2006
Oxford University Press
ISBN: 978-0194370004

I came to know How Languages are Learned (2006) by Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada due to the Reading Club organized by Professional Development Unit (PDU) in Bahçeşehir University (BU) in the 2007-2008 Academic year. The reason why we had chosen this book to read in the Reading Club was that it is a good book to brush up our information about the language learning theories. At the beginning, we were anxious to get drown in the wide jargon of linguistics, however, the book was not as complex as its name suggests. Lightbown and Spada's "How Languages are Learned" makes a good introduction to first and second language acquisition and some of the related linguistic theories. In addition, the book presents the data gathered from classroom research. Without overloading the reader with details, the book gives you enough to make some more informed choices about the classroom.

Chapters 1 examines several theories on how young children acquire their first language, including behaviorist, innatist, and interactionist models. It also addresses the issue of bilingualism. It is a nice chapter to review the theories about first language acquisition. I have not learned anything new but it was good to review the characteristics of first language acquisition.

Chapter 2 presents and analyzes several theories on second language learning. It provides overviews of theories of first and second language acquisition respectively. The writers have tried to keep the explanations brief and easy, in addition, they have also represented the different theoretical positions. The strengths and weaknesses of each theory are discussed and supported with examples of data from various researches. It has given me the chance to make comparisons with my teaching style in the classroom.

Chapter 3, “Individual differences in second language learning,” is about how individual learner characteristics can affect success in second language learning. It begins with a task that asks us to rate a set of characteristics of “a good language learner” according to our degree of importance from 1 to 5. For instance, how important the characteristic “willing to make mistakes” is compared to “constantly looks for patterns in the language”. In my opinion, it is a nice task to discuss what we think before we get down to the theories behind it and read the research findings. This chapter focuses on intelligence, aptitude, learning styles, personality, motivation and attitudes, identity and group affiliation and learner beliefs which are as important in the course of language learning as teaching methods. There is also a section about age of acquisition is widely discussed with reference to specific research findings. There are useful comments about the problems presented by different research methodologies. The topic “At what age should second language learning instruction begin?” is a very important question for learners, parents and teachers. The writers have approached this question in a sensible way and concluded that the aim of the learner defines it.

Chapter 4 is a bit long because it deals with the “learner language” It is a detailed topic in which the writers focus on how a learner uses the second language. They examine the acquisition of some syntax and morphology and especially dwell on the errors of language learners because they tell a lot about the language learning process.

Chapter 5 presents the process in second language classrooms. It is one of the detailed chapters in which we can see the theory and the practice. There are a lot of examples of classroom interaction and error correction which are a great help for the reader to understand the process clearly. It is a good way to compare what the theories are and what you do in class. Especially in error correction part, I have found out that I mainly focus on meaning and use metalinguistic comments while correcting my students’ errors.

In Chapter 6, “Second Language Learning In The Classroom”, is one of the best parts of the book because there are lots of classroom situation examples which I liked examining and comparing with my own. Six proposals are presented for classroom teaching situation. Each proposal is related to a particular language theory, however, Lightbown and Spada do not claim that only a particular theory can be applied in class. They demonstrate how these theories work in the classroom situation with examples. Each proposal is introduced with the theory which is closely related, and then an excerpt of a class lesson is given which is followed by the research findings.

Chapter 7 discusses the popular ideas about language learning and then summarizes the research related to that area. It is a nice chapter to encourage the reader to think about his/her own beliefs about language learning and about the ways in which the research addresses, or does not address, those beliefs. It makes you think about everything that has been said so far and think about your own teaching. In my opinion, this type of presentation makes the theory more relevant to classroom language teachers.

Overall, the book is a brief introduction to second language acquisition (SLA), but addresses to the main areas of SLA which are particularly interesting for language teachers. Another good point of the book is that it focused on the teacher and the classroom applications rather than just the researchers and theories. The explanations of the major theories are clear and overall the book is direct with the minimum use of jargon so it makes it easier especially for the beginner to get a grasp of SLA theories. The tasks in the book are a nice way of reflection. It encourages the reader to revise his/her own knowledge, ideas, experience, and opinions. This helps to make the information more understandable and lasting (vivid) for the reader. Discussions and possible interpretations of the data are followed after the findings of the authors’ research. At the end of each chapter, there is a topical list of suggested readings. Complete references are given in a bibliography at the end of the book. There is also a glossary of terms at the end of the book, and terms included in the glossary are italicized throughout the book. In general, this book is a must particularly for all practicing language teachers.

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