Foreign Language Acquisition
Code
711131059
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Linguística
Credits
6
Weekly hours
4
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
Prerequisites
None.
Subject matter
1. Introduction to second language (L2) acquisition: goals and research questions.
2. Methods for data collection, treatment and analysis.
3. The age factor and the Critical Period Hypothesis.
4. The role of crosslinguistic influence.
5. An overview of the different approaches to the study of L2 acquisition.
6. Grammatical development: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics.
7. L2 acquisition and non-native language teaching/learning.
Bibliography
Doughty, C. & M. Long (eds.) (2005) The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Wiley-Blackwell.
Ellis, R. (1994) The Study of Second Language Acquisition, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Mitchell, R. & F. Myles (2004) Second Language Learning Theories, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2nd ed.
Ortega, L. (2008) Understanding Second Language Acquisition (Understanding Language), Routledge.
Ritchie, W. & T. Bhatia (eds.) (2009), The New Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2nd ed.
Teaching method
(a) Lectures;
(b) Practical classes: exercises and individual or group activities.
Evaluation method
(a) Three take-home exercise sets (20%).
(b) Project on a topic covered in the syllabus (40%).
(c) Written test covering the whole of the syllabus (40%).