A random survey may yield the possible answers：these books are too difficult in light of both concept and language．Students are daunted even when they start reading the first page．It is true that most of these books are written for researchers；Ithus they are mainly intended for careful perusal，but unsuitable for classroom instruction．This course book

《第二语言习得概论》 written by my colleague，Mr．Zhang Hongwu，fills the gap inthe“mass market”。

This book is intended for both undergraduates and graduate students majoring in English language and literature．There are three main reasons for me to write this course book。

One is that I feel necessary to give a brief introduction to the studies in second language acquisition(SLA)for English majors，especially those who are going to be，and have the potential to be English teachers after graduation。

Second，while teaching this subject，I have found it hard to cope in one semester with all those wonderful achievements in the field of second language acquisition,Moreover．I thinIc it unnecessary to do this．especially for undergraduate students，because it is impossible for them to master everything within such a short period of time。  

 The third reason is related to the difficulty of the subject Many books ale imported directly from English。speaking countries，and most of them are strongly theoretical and are written for researchers in the field of second language acquisitior。

This book can be used as a textdook or rererrence book。However，the main points in the field can be covered two periods a week，for eighteen to twenty weeks in a semester all together。

Preface

Chapter One Understanding Second Language Acquisition

 1．1 What is second language acquisition?

 1．2 What are the objectives of SLA research? 

 1．3 Basic terminology in SLA

1．3．1 Native and target language

1．3．2 Second and foreign language

1．3 3 Bilingualism and multilingualism

1．3．4 SLA and foreign language learning

1．3 5 Input and output

1．3．6 Competence and performancet

1．3．7 Usage and use

1．3．8 Comprehension and production

1．3．9 Naturalistic and instructed second language acquisition

 1．4 The external and internal factors in SLA．

1．4．1 External factors

1．4．2 Internal factors

 Assignment

Chapter Two The Study of interlanguage

 2．1 What is interlanguage?

 2．2 Characteristics of interlanguage

 2．3 Major findings in IL studies

2．3．1 Systematic changes in grammar

2．3．2 Acquisition order and sequence of acquisition

2．3．3 L1 influenee

 2．4 Interlanguage pragmatics

2．4．1 Second language speech act

2．4．2 Production of speech acts：difiefences between L2 learners and L1 speakers

2．4．3 Speech act research paradigm

Assignment

Chapter Three Linguistic Aspects of SLA

 3．1 The nature of human language 

3．1．1 Common characteristics of language

3．1．2 Different aspects of language

 3．2 Early approaches to SLA

3．2．1 Contrastive analysis hypothesis(CAH)

3．2．2 Erroranalysis(EA) 

3．2．3 Monitor Model

 3．3 Universal grammar(UG)

3．3．1 Definition

3．3．2 Principles and parameters 

3．3．3 UG and SLA 

 3．4 Typological universals：Accessibility hierarchy(AH)

 3．5 Functional approaches

3．5．1 Systemic linguistics

3．5．2 Functional typology

Assignment

Chapter Four Psychological Aspects of SLA

 4．1 Language and the brain

 4．2 Behavioristsway of learning

 4．3 Cognitive perspective of learning 

4．3．1 Information processing(IP) 

4．3．2 Connectionists／emergentistsmodels

4．3．3 Competition model(CM) 

4．3．4 BialystokS theory of L2 learning

4．3．5 GassS integrative model of SLA

 4．4 Individual differences“

4．4．1 Aptitude

4．4．2 Age

4．4．3 Motivation 

4．4．4 Cognitive style

4．4．5 Pemonality

4．4．6 Learning strategies

Assignment

Chapter Five Sociocultural Aspects of SLA

 5．1 Micmsocial factors

5．1．1 Input and interaction

5．1．2 Input modification

5．1．3 Interaetional modifications

5．1．4 Feedback

5．1．5 Interaction hypothesis

5．1．6 Socio．cuhuraI theory

 5．2 Macrosocial factors

5．2．1 Accommodation theory 

5．2．2 Accuhuration model 

5．2．3 Social identity and investment in L2 learning

 Assignment

Chapter Six Instruction and Second Language Acquisition

 6．1 Language teaching．

 6．2 Form．focused instruction

6．2．1 FoCUS orl form and focus 0n forms

6．2．2 Form—focused instruction

6．2．3 Teachability hypothesis

6．2．4 Input—based instruction and output—based instruction

6．2．5 Consciousness—raising 

6．2．6 Processing instruction(PI)

 6．3 Uniqueness of classroom instruction

 6．4 Explicit and implicit instruction

 6．5 Tips on teaching of grammar

Assignment 

Chapter Seven Second Language Acquisition Research：Data Collection and Analysis

 7．1 Data collection

7．1．1 Data categorization

7．1．2 Linguistic production data elicitation

7．1．3 Non—linguistic information elicitation

 7．2 Data analysis and interpretation

Assignment

References

An EnglishChinese Glossary