Understanding Second Language Acquisition

Second Language Acquisition is a theoretical, experimental and fast-paced field of study which looks at, and seeks to understand, how native speakers of one language learn to speak another language fluently.

Understanding Second Language Acquisition provides an approachable but authoritative introduction to this area of linguistics. The essentials are clearly explained with pointers for further study. The author focuses on the key notions involved rather than arguing for a particular theoretical position.

This second edition is fully up-to-date and includes the latest empirical developments and theoretical refinements in second language acquisition, such as new sections on age and learner-language development. New features also include end-of-chapter questions for revision and further discussion, and a full glossary of terms.

The extensive online resources have been updated and expanded to include more powerpoint slides for lecturers and reading suggestions for students, and are available at www.routledge.com/cw/ortega.

This is the ideal book for anyone looking for an accessible but comprehensive introduction to second language learning.

Lourdes Ortega is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University. Her main area of research is in second language acquisition, particularly sociocognitive and educational dimensions in adult classroom settings. In her research, she applies insights from bilingualism and from usage-based linguistics to the investigation of second language development. She has also long-standing interests in second language writing and foreign language education and has published widely about systematic research synthesis and epistemological and ethical dimensions of second language acquisition research. She was co-recipient of the Pimsleur and the TESOL Research awards and has been a doctoral Mellon fellow, a postdoctoral Spencer/National Academy of Education fellow, and a senior research fellow at the Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies. Her publications include the book Understanding Second Language Acquisition (1^st edition with Hodder, 2009; 2^nd revised edition with Routledge, 2014). She has served/serves as area editor for ＂Language Learning and Teaching＂ for the Wiley Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (2012), editor of Language Learning (2010-2015), and as editorial board member on several journals.