Second language acquisition and lifelong learning
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Bibliographic Information
Second language acquisition and lifelong learning
（Second language acquisition research : theoretical and methodological issues / Susan M. Gass, Jacquelyn Schac[h]ter, series editors）
Routledge, 2023
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
* This state-of-the-art text reviews, evaluates, and reflects on L2 development across the lifespan as a complex variable that is both socio-cultural as well as maturational in nature - with a chronological chapter lineup from infant bilinguals to L2 learners in adolescence, adulthood, and older age. * Offers in-depth discussion of highly pertinent yet underresearched topics, like L2 learners in older individuals, as well as an innovative chapter on L2 learning in the context of cross-cultural/binational/plurilingual romantic relationships, in both cases with diverse circumstances, motivations, and outcomes. * The first book taking on this area in its fullness and in a way accessible to students and non-specialist - with a concerted, authored text. Previous works are focused on one age cohort, edited volumes rather than unified authored books, and the most closely competing books were published over a decade (and sometimes over three decades) ago.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction: Seasons of life in SLA
Chapter 2 Infant and childhood bilingualism
2.1 Impact of early exposure to two languages on brain development, functioning and structure
2.1.1 The many shades of child bilingualism: Early and late bilinguals and beyond
2.1.2 Age of onset of exposure to a second language linked to ultimate attainment only - but there is more
2.1.3 Age of onset of exposure to a second language linked to influences on the brain
2.2 Chronological age and maturation
2.2.1 Chronological age, maturation and the brain
2.2.2 Child language development and variability
2.3 Learning environment as a complex socio-cultural variable: Setting the stage for early L2 learning
2.4 From environment to input: Early experiences with language(s) and focus on input dependency (quantity and quality)
2.5 Child-internal factors
2.6 Idiosyncratic learner trajectories - from early on?
2.7 Methodological envoi
Chapter 3 Dual language development in school-age children and adolescents
3.1 Dual language development in schools
3.1.1 Brain development as a basic challenge in adolescence
3.1.2 Dual language learners (DLLs) in schools
3.1.3 Some notes on the bilingual advantage
3.2 The 'earlier is better conundrum' in school settings
3.2.2 Intensity trumps quantity in foreign language instruction
3.3 Methodological envoi
Chapter 4 Language learning in young adulthood and midlife
4.1 Young adults
4.1.1 Plurilingual couples
4.1.2 Opportunities for bi-/plurilingual love
4.1.3 Planning and policy
4.1.4 Love and language use: three cases
4.1.5 Methodological envoi
4.2 L2 acquisition in midlife
4.2.1 Heritage languages
4.2.2 Adult classroom learners in their home country or region
4.2.3 Adult migrant foreign language acquirers
4.2.4 Methodological envoi
Chapter 5 Complex and dynamic realities of second language (L2) learning later in life
5.1 Additional language learning in the third age
5.1.1 Inter-individual variation across the lifespan
5.1.2 Intra-individual variation across the lifespan
5.1.3 Intra-individual variation as a source of information
5.1.4 Methodological envoi
5.2 Cognitive decline or too much mileage? The causal story behind ageing and cognitive changes - and its implications for SLA
5.3 Benefits of L2 learning in older adulthood
5.3.1 Cognitive benefits of lifelong bilingualism
5.3.2 Cognitive consequences of foreign language learning in old age
5.3.3 Methodological envoi
5.4 Implications for the third age FL classroom
5.5 ICT usage among adult L2 learners
5.6 Suggestions for future research on third-age additional language learning
5.6.1 Reframing lifelong learning through personal narratives
5.6.2 Narratives: understanding who we are, how to live, and what to do
5.6.3 The narrative of decline as a dominant master narrative of ageing in Western societies
5.6.4 The value of staying young
5.6.5 Example of a dialogical narrative analysis with third age additional language learners
Chapter 6 Re-examining threshold hypotheses: Continuity vs. cut-off points throughout the lifespan
6.1 The (multiple) critical period(s) hypothesis as a biologically regulated threshold
6.1.1 The notion of "critical period"
6.1.2 Neurolinguists following in the footsteps of Penfield and Lenneberg
6.1.3 Definitive onset, offset and terminus?
6.1.4 Nativelikeness and the critical period
6.1.5 Nativelikeness and the role of language aptitude
6.1.6 Critical age or critical opportunity?
6.1.7 Envoi
6.2 Thresholds for cognitive and brain reserve capacities
6.3 Retirement as a potentially significant life event altering the process of cognitive ageing and language acquisition, use and attrition
6.3.1 Effects of occupation on cognitive functioning
6.3.2 Experiences and perceptions of continuity in the transition from work to retirement
6.3.3 Language acquisition, use and attrition across retirement age
6.3.4 Methodological envoi
Chapter 7 Conclusions and future directions of research on lifelong L2 learning
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