Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition

This cutting-edge volume describes the implications of Cognitive Linguistics for the study of second language acquisition (SLA). The first two sections identify theoretical and empirical strands of Cognitive Linguistics, presenting them as a coherent whole. The third section discusses the relevance of Cognitive Linguistics to SLA and defines a research agenda linking these fields with implications for language instruction. Its comprehensive range and tutorial-style chapters make this handbook a valuable resource for students and researchers alike.

Peter Robinson is a Professor of Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition in the Department of English at Aoyama Gakuin University. His research interests are in second language acquisition; applied psycholinguistics; cognitive psychology; cognitive linguistics; consciousness and awareness during SLA; attention and memory during SLA; second language task complexity; intelligence, aptitude and SLA; experimental research methods; SL syllabus design. He has published extensively in International Review of Applied Linguistics, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Language Learning, and Applied Linguistics. He is on the editorial boards of Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, International Review of Applied Linguistics, TESOL Quarterly, and Studies in Second Language Acquisiton. Nick Ellis is Professor of Psychology at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His research interests address a range of issues in applied psycholinguistics. He has published broadly in the areas of first and second language acquisition; implicit and explicit learning; dyslexia; vocabulary acquisition; the role of working memory; and computational modeling. He was the editor of Language Learning from 1998-2002. Consideration of usage-based and connectionist models of language and their insights for second language learning have been important themes in his research for the past several years. His most recent work focuses on frequency effects and their possible implications for second language acquisition.

An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, and Language Instruction. Section 1: Cognitive Linguistics and Cognition. Aspects of Attention in Language. Prototypes in Cognitive Linguistics. Cognitive Grammar As a Basis for Language Instruction. Word Grammar, Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Learning and Teaching. Spatial Language Learning and the Functional Geometric Framework. Language Without Grammar. Children's First Language Acquistion from a Usage-based Perspective. Construction Learning and SLA. Usage-based Grammar and SLA. Section 2: Cognitive Linguistics, SLA and L2 Instruction. Learning to Talk About Motion in a Foreign Language. Gestures and SLA. Conceptual Transfer and Meaning Extensions. A Unified Model. Usage-based and Form-focussed SLA: The Associative Learning of Constructions, Learned-attention and the Limited L2 Endstate. Corpus-based Methods in Analyses of SLA Data. Teaching Construal: Cognitive Pedagogical Grammar. Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Instruction. Conclusions: Cognitive Linguistics, SLA and L2 Instruction - Issues for Research.