The Psychology of Second Language Acquisition

Abstract

The Psychology of Second Language Acquisition, has been simultaneously a challenge and a pleasure.This book is Zoltán Dörnyei's response to what he calls the 'paradigmatic earthquake' in applied linguistics and SL research.This 'paradigmatic earthquake' has been caused by both "the influence of brain research in the disciplines of psycholinguistics, neuropsychology, neurobiology, cognitive science and neuroscience", as well as "the emergence of new cognitive approaches in SLA" (p.xi).In the convergence of linguistics and psychology, new terminology has emerged while at the same time intellectual/conceptual shifts are continuing to be made by scholars, shifts which Dörnyei believes herald a new identity for applied linguists.SLA researchers wanting to develop a dynamic approach to their work will find The Psychology of Second Language Acquisition very useful.This is Dörnyei's main intention for the book, which is "to provide readers with enough background knowledge to be able to make use of this accumulating neuroscientific evidence" (p.10) while also noting researchers today need to become 'skilled rangers' in these areas.It is certainly arguable whether second language teachers could benefit from reading this book in spite of the fact that Dörnyei's motivation in writing was to develop insights and instructional strategies to help improve efficiency of L2 learning.It could prove useful to teachers, however, as part of their ongoing professional development if teachers were willing and able to use "the accumulating neuroscientific evidence" to further develop their theoretical/teaching approach.

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