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2023/2024

Contexts of Instructed Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

Code: 44031 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
4313157 Advanced English Studies OT 0 1

Contact

Name:
Elisabet Pladevall Ballester
Email:
elisabet.pladevall@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject. Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2023.

Teachers

Elisabet Pladevall Ballester

Prerequisites

- Students are expected to have a C1 level of English according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) to follow the course as well as oral and written English academic skills.

- Students are expected to have basic knowledge of linguistics to follow the course.


Objectives and Contextualisation

This course aims at exploring Instructed Second Language Acquisition in different contexts: English as a Foreign Language contexts, immersion, CLIL, EMI and interaction contexts. We will analyse L2 knowledge and different types of instruction and how these are acquired in different contexts. The course will also explore individual differences in language learning.


Competences

  • Analyse the relationship between factors, processes or phenomena in the acquisition of English as a second language, its learning and teaching methods, and its literature, history and culture.
  • Apply methodological knowledge of statistical analysis and data generation, treatment and codification of multilingual databases, analysis of literary texts, etc. to research.
  • Critically argue, issue judgements and present ideas on the basis of the analysis of information originating from scientific production in these areas.
  • Develop autonomous learning skills applicable to the research process.
  • Distinguish and contrast between the different methodological and theoretical models applied to the academic study of the acquisition, teaching and use of English as a second language in multilingual and multicultural contexts, literary studies and cultural studies.
  • Resolve problems in multicultural academic and/or professional environments associated with the studies of the acquisition, teaching and use of English as a second language in multilingual and multicultural contexts, and the literature and culture of this language.
  • Show respect towards the opinions, values, behaviours and/or practices of others.
  • Use new technologies for capturing and organising information relevant to lifelong learning and problem-solving in professional activities.
  • Use the English language for academic and professional purposes related to research into the acquisition, teaching and use of English as a second language in multilingual and multicultural contexts, literary studies and cultural studies.
  • Work effectively in teams in multilingual, multicultural and interdisciplinary professional and/or academic environments.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Critically read academic articles and chapters on the characteristics of second/foreign language acquisition in instructional contexts and on the teaching programmes that such contexts use.
  2. Design activities and questionnaires to evaluate the effects of second/foreign language teaching programmes.
  3. Design didactic activities linked to second/foreign language teaching programmes.
  4. Develop autonomous learning skills applicable to the research process.
  5. Distinguish second/foreign language acquisition contexts and the factors that characterise them.
  6. Evaluate data published in academic articles on second/foreign language acquisition in instructional contexts.
  7. Explain the advantages and difficulties inherent in the implementation of distinct second/foreign language acquisition programmes in instructional contexts.
  8. Explain the different individual factors influencing second/foreign language acquisition in instructional contexts.
  9. Explain the relationship between different types of instruction and different types of second/foreign language proficiency.
  10. Identify the main principles of second/foreign language acquisition in instructional contexts and their contribution to the development of multilingualism and multiculturalism.
  11. Show respect towards the opinions, values, behaviours and/or practices of others.
  12. Use new technologies for capturing and organising information relevant to lifelong learning and problem-solving in professional activities.
  13. Work effectively in teams in multilingual, multicultural and interdisciplinary professional and/or academic environments.
  14. Write advanced academic papers on second/foreign language acquisition in instructional contexts and on the teaching programmes that such contexts use.

Content

1. Instructed Second Language Acquisition (ISLA)

2. The nature of L2 knowledge and types of instruction

3. English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning through interaction.

4. Immersion, CLIL and EMI programmes.

5. Individual differences in language learning in instructed contexts.


Methodology

Lectures, practical sessions, guided readings, class discussions, project work, bibliographical research, individual written assignments.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Directed activities (lectures, practical sessions) 30 1.2 4, 11, 12, 13
Type: Supervised      
Supervised activities (assignments, readings, oral presentations) 35 1.4 4
Type: Autonomous      
Autonomous activities (personal study, readings, bibliographical research) 60 2.4 4, 11, 12, 13

Assessment

Assessment

Assignment: 20%

Exam: 40%

Final term paper: 40%

Students will obtain a Not assessed/Not submitted course grade unless they have submitted more than 40% of the assessment items.

 

Procedure for Reviewing Grades Awarded

On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.

Reassessment

Re-assessment for this subject will be undertaken on an item-by-item basis, for which the following conditions are applicable:

-       The student must previously have submitted a minimum of two-thirds of the course-assessment items.

-       Any item awarded a grade of less than 4 may be re-assessed. The grade for those items awarded 4 or higher will be included in the calculation of the global average grade for the subject.

-       The maximum grade for re-assessed items is 5.

 

VERY IMPORTANT: Total or partial plagiarism of any of the exercises will automatically be considered “fail” (0) for the plagiarized item. Plagiary is copying one or more sentences from   unidentified sources, presenting it as original work (THIS INCLUDES COPYING PHRASES OR FRAGMENTS FROM THE INTERNET AND ADDING THEM WITHOUT MODIFICATION TO A TEXT WHICH IS PRESENTED AS ORIGINAL).    Plagiarism is a serious offense. Students must learn to respect the intellectual property of others, identifying any source they may use, and take responsibility for the originality and authenticity of the texts they produce.

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awardedto an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero forthis activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject. Irregularities refer, for instance, to copying in an exam, copying from sources without indiacting authorship, or a misuse of AI such as presenting work as original that has been generated by an AI tool or programme. These evaluation activities will not be re-assessed.

 

Single assessment

Students opting for single assessment will have to carry out the following activities on the same day:

  • Exam (60%)
  • Data analysis (40%)

The same reassessment method as continuous assessment will be used.


Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assignment 20% 5 0.2 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14
Exam 40% 5 0.2 5, 7, 8, 9, 10
Final term paper 40% 15 0.6 1, 4, 12, 14

Bibliography

Behney, Jennifer and Gass, Susan (2021). Interaction. Elements in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bruton, Anthony (2013) CLIL: Some of the reasons why...and why not. System, 41, 587-597.

Csizer, Kata and Dörnyei, Zoltán (2005). Language learners' motivational profiles and their motivate learning behaviour. Language Learning, 55, 613-59.

Dalton-Puffer, Christiane (2011) Content-and-Language Integrated Learning: From Practice to Principles? Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 182-204

De Graaf, Rick and Housen, Alex (2009). Investigating the Effects and Effectiveness of L2 Instruction. In M. H.Long and C. Doughty (eds.) The Handbook of Language Teaching (pp. 726-755). Oxford: Blackwell.

De Graaff, Rick, Koopman, Gerrit Jan, Yulia Anikina and Gerard Westhoff (2007). An observation tool for effective L2 pedagogy in content and language integrated learning (CLIL). International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10(5), 603-624.

DeKeyser, Robert. (2000). The robustness of critical period effects in second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 22, 499-533.

Dornyei, Zoltán (2005). The Psychology of the Language learner: Individual Differences in Second Language. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Acquisition

Dörnyei, Zoltán (2006). Individual differences in second language acquisition. AILA Review, 19, 42-68. 

Ellis, Rod (2008). Principles of Instructed second language acquisition. CAL Digest, available athttp://www.cal.org/resources/digest/instructed2ndlang.html

Enever, Janet (Ed.). (2011). ELLiE: Early language learning in Europe. London, UK: The British Council.

Horwitz, Elaine. (2001). Language anxiety and achievement. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 21,112-126.

Johnson, Janice, Prior, Suzanne, & Artuso, Mariangela. (2000). Field dependence as a factor in second language communicative production. Language Learning, 50, 529-567.

Lambert, Craig and Oliver, Rhonda (2020). Using Tasks in Second Language Teaching: Practice in Diverse Contexts. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Lasagabaster, David and Sierra, Juan Manuel (2010) Immersion and CLIL in English: more differences than similarities. ELT Journal, 64/4, 367-375.

Li, Shaofeng, Hiver, Phil and Papi, Mostafa (2022). The Routledge HAndbook of Second Language Acquisition and Individual Differences. New York: Routledge.

Lightbown, Patsy and Spada, Nina (2006) How Languages are Learned. 3rd Edition. Cambridge: CUP.

Loewen, Shawn (2015). Introduction to Instructed Second Language Acquisition. New York: Routledge.

Loewen, Shawn and Sato, Masotoshi (2019). The Routledge Handbook of Instructed Second Language Acquisition. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge.

Long, Mike (2015). Second Language Acquisition and Task-Based Language Teaching. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.

Lundberg, Ingvar. (2002). Second language learning and reading with the additional load of dyslexia. Annals of Dislexia, 52.1, 165-187.

Macaro, Ernesto (2006). Strategies for language Learning and for language use: revising the theoretical framework. Modern Language Journal, 90, 320-37.

Miller-Guron, Louise, and Ingvar Lundberg (2000). Dyslexia and second language reading: Asecond bite at the apple? Reading and Writing, 12, 41-61.

Nikula, Tarja, Dafouz, Emma, Moore, Pat, and Smit, Ute (2016). Conceptualising Integration in CLIL and Multilingual Education.Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Ortega,Lourdes (2009). Understanding Second Language Acquisition, London: Hodder Education.

Pfenninger, Simone, Festman, Julia and Singleton, David (2023). Second Language Acquisition and Lifelong Learning. New York: Routledge.

Philp, Jenefer., Adams, Rebecca, and Iwashita, Noriko (2014). Peer interaction and second language learning. Routledge.

Philp, Jenefer and Tognini, Rita (2009). Language acquisition in foreign language contexts and the differential benefits of interaction. IRAL-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching47(3-4), 245-266.

Philp, Jenefer, Walter, Susan, and Basturkmen, Helen (2010). Peer interaction in the foreign language classroom: what factors foster a focus on form? Language Awareness19(4), 261-279.

Pladevall-Ballester, Elisabet (2019). A longitudinal study of primary school EFL learning motivation in CLIL and non-CLIL settings. Language Teaching Research 23(6), 765-786. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168818765877

Pladevall-Ballester, Elisabet and Vallbona Anna (2016). CLIL in minimal input contexts: a longitudinal study of primary school learners’ receptive skills. System, 58, 37-48.

Robinson, Peter (2005). Aptitude and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 25, 46-75.

VanPatten, Bill, Keating, Gregory D., Wulff, Stefanie (2020). Theories in Second Language Acquisition. An Introduction. New York: Routledge.

Vraciu, Alexandra and Pladevall-Ballester, Elisabet (2020). L1 use in peer interaction: exploring time and proficiency pairing effects in primary school EFL. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2020.1767029


Software

No specific software will be used.