Theory Construction in Second Language Acquisition (Language Learning & Language Teaching, 8)

311 Pages·2004·2.47 MB·English

by  Geoff Jordan

<DOCINFOAUTHOR""TITLE"TheoryConstructioninSecondLanguageAcquisition"SUBJECT"LanguageLearningandLanguageTeaching,Volume8"KEYWORDS""SIZEHEIGHT"220"WIDTH"150"VOFFSET"4">
TheoryConstructioninSecondLanguageAcquisition
LanguageLearningandLanguageTeaching
TheLL&LTmonographseriespublishesmonographsaswellaseditedvolumes
on applied and methodological issues in the field of language pedagogy. The
focusoftheseriesisonsubjectssuchasclassroomdiscourseandinteraction;
languagediversityineducationalsettings;bilingualeducation;languagetesting
andlanguageassessment;teachingmethodsandteachingperformance;learning
trajectories in second language acquisition; and written language learning in
educationalsettings.
Serieseditors
BirgitHarley
OntarioInstituteforStudiesinEducation,UniversityofToronto
JanH.Hulstijn
DepartmentofSecondLanguageAcquisition,UniversityofAmsterdam
Volume8
TheoryConstructioninSecondLanguageAcquisition
byGeoffJordan
Theory Construction in
Second Language Acquisition
Geoff Jordan
JohnBenjaminsPublishingCompany
Amsterdam(cid:1)/(cid:1)Philadelphia
TM Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirements
8
ofAmericanNationalStandardforInformationSciences–Permanence
ofPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials,ansiz39.48-1984.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Jordan,Geoff
Theoryconstructioninsecondlanguageacquisition / GeoffJordan.
p. cm.(LanguageLearningandLanguageTeaching,issn1569–9471
;v.8)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindexes.
1.Secondlanguageacquisition--Philosophy
P118.2 J67 2004
418-dc21 2003070868
isbn902721705X(Eur.)/1588114813(US)(Hb;alk.paper)
isbn9027217068(Eur.)/1588114821(US)(Pb;alk.paper)
©2004–JohnBenjaminsB.V.
Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyform,byprint,photoprint,microfilm,or
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ToJudy

<TARGET"toc"DOCINFOAUTHOR""TITLE"Tableofcontents"SUBJECT"LanguageLearningandLanguageTeaching,Volume8"KEYWORDS""SIZEHEIGHT"220"WIDTH"150"VOFFSET"4">
Table of contents
Acknowledgements xiii
Abstract xv
TheGuidelines(Abridged) xvii
Part1
Somefundamentalissuesconcerningtheconstructionandassessment
oftheoriesofSLA 1
Chapter1
KeytermsandcurrentproblemsinSLA 5
1.1 SLATheory:Keyterms(cid:2)5
1.1.1 Phenomena(cid:2)5
1.1.2 Language(cid:2)5
1.1.2.1 Chomsky’sLinguisticCompetence(cid:2)6
1.1.2.2 Halliday:“Languageassocialsemiotic”(cid:2)6
1.1.2.3 Bachman’sCommunicativeLanguageAbility
Framework(cid:2)7
1.1.3 Acquisition(cid:2)10
1.1.4 Explanation(cid:2)11
1.2 ProblemsconfrontingcurrenttheoriesofSLA(cid:2)12
1.2.1 Proliferation(cid:2)12
1.2.2 Objectives(cid:2)14
1.2.3 ThedomainofSLA(cid:2)15
1.2.4 Contradictions(cid:2)16
1.3 Conclusion(cid:2)17
viii Tableofcontents
Chapter2
Researchmethodology:Rationalismanditscritics 19
2.1 Introduction(cid:2)19
2.2 RationalistsandEmpiricists(cid:2)19
2.3 Positivists(cid:2)27
2.4 Popper(cid:2)29
2.5 ProblemswiththeFalsifiabilityCriterion(cid:2)33
2.6 Kuhn(cid:2)37
2.7 Feyerabend(cid:2)40
2.8 Lakatos(cid:2)41
2.9 Laudan(cid:2)43
2.10 Conclusion(cid:2)46
Chapter3
Recentrelativists 51
3.1 Introduction(cid:2)51
3.2 Thesociologyofscience(cid:2)51
3.3 Postmodernism(cid:2)54
3.3.1 Derrida(cid:2)57
3.3.2 Foucault(cid:2)61
3.3.3 Conclusion(cid:2)63
3.4 Constructivism(cid:2)64
Chapter4
Indefenceofrationalism 69
4.1 Introduction(cid:2)69
4.2 Againstrelativism(cid:2)69
4.2.1 Thereisnoone“scientificmethod”(cid:2)69
4.2.2 Underdetermination(cid:2)71
4.2.3 KuhnandFeyerabend(cid:2)72
4.2.4 Postmodernistsandconstructivists(cid:2)77
4.3 Therationalistcase(cid:2)81
4.3.1 Criticalrationalism(cid:2)82
4.3.2 Observingarealworld(cid:2)83
4.3.3 Thepracticeofscience(cid:2)84
Tableofcontents ix
Chapter5
TheconstructionandassessmentoftheoriesofSLA 87
5.1 ScienceandSLA(cid:2)87
5.2 Phenomenaanddata(cid:2)90
5.3 Explanation(cid:2)91
5.4 Theoryassessment(cid:2)95
5.5 FourviewsonconstructingandassessingtheoriesofSLA(cid:2)97
5.5.1 Therelativistapproach(cid:2)97
5.5.1.1 Discussion(cid:2)99
5.5.2 Strictlyscience(cid:2)101
5.5.2.1 Discussion(cid:2)107
5.5.3 Theorytypesandtheoryassessment(cid:2)110
5.5.4 GeneralrationalrequirementsforatheoryofSLA(cid:2)112
5.6 Guidelinesforacriticalrationalistapproachtowardstheory
constructioninSLA(cid:2)114
5.6.1 Preamble(cid:2)114
5.6.2 Theguidelines(cid:2)115
5.7 Conclusion(cid:2)118
Part2
Acriticalrationalistreviewofsomehypotheses,models
andtheoriesofSLA 121
Chapter6
Chomsky 123
6.1 Introduction(cid:2)123
6.2 Chomsky’sGenerativeGrammar(cid:2)123
6.3 Chomsky’stheoryofUG:Principlesandparameters(cid:2)128
6.4 TheMinimalistProgram(cid:2)133
6.5 Internalism(cid:2)137
6.6 UGremainstherelevanttheory(cid:2)138
6.7 Chomsky’scritics(cid:2)139
6.7.1 JeanPiaget(cid:2)140
6.7.2 GeoffreySampson(cid:2)141
6.7.3 ElizabethBates(cid:2)147
6.8 Conclusion(cid:2)149