BTAN 1140 MA Second Language Acquisition
Taught by Kissné dr. Gulyás Judit
Time: Thursday, 14.00-15.40
Venue: Main building, Room 109
Office hours: Thursday, 13-14, (Room 120)
E-mail address: gulyas.judit@arts.unideb.hu
Course description
The course focuses on how languages other than the mother tongue are acquired/learned, and
intends to familiarize potential teachers with the most recent issues of the field that deals with
this question, Second Language Acquisition (SLA for short). Bearing in mind the fact that
potential course participants come from different BA programmes, the course is designed in
such a way that it caters for the needs of those novice in the area of SLA, and also for the
needs of students who have already had some insight into the main concerns of language
acquisition research. The overall aim is to equip future teachers with knowledge that enables
them to become real professionals who are aware of the factors influencing second language
acquisition, and are thus capable of identifying, analysing and possibly remedying the
language learning problems of their will-be students in an effective way.
Assessment is based on
 participation and coursework;
 presentation
 mid- and end-term tests.
Course outline
WEEKS
WEEK 1
Topics
Introduction. What it means to know a language. A
general framework for the study of LA.
Readings
WEEK 2
Comparison of first and second language acquisition.
Cross-linguistic influence (contrastive analysis and error
analysis).
Input and interaction, cognitive accounts: the
interlanguage hypothesis, Krashen’s theory of second
language acquisition.
Odlin in Doughty and Long (Chapter 15,
pp. 436-486.), Bley-Vroman in Gass and
Schachter (Chapter 2, pp.41-68)
Selinker (1972) in Kontra and Thomas
(pp.144-154), Krashen (1988) Ch. 2
MacWhinney in Robinson Chapter 3, pp.
69-90.)
Hulstijn in Doughty and Long (Chapter
12, pp. 313-348.)
De Keyser in Doughty and Long
(Chapter 11, pp. 349-381.) De Keyser in
Robinson (Chapter 5, pp. 125-151.),
Ellis 2002
Schmidt and N. Ellis in Robinson
(Chapters 1 and 3, pp. 3-67.)
WEEK 3
WEEK 4
Cognition and instruction: explicit and implicit learning,
incidental and intentional learning, automaticity
WEEK 5
Cognition and SLA: the role of attention and memory
WEEK 6
WEEK 7
Mid-term test
Variation, stabilization, fossilization in interlanguage
development
Romaine and Long in Doughty and
Long (Chapters 14 and 16, pp. 409-435,
pp. 487-535. 11, pp. 349-381.)
WEEK 8
Maturational constraints in SLA – the age issue
WEEK 9
Individual differences 1
WEEK 10
Individual differences 2
WEEK 11
Language processing
WEEK 12
End term test
Hyltenstam et al. in Doughty and Long
(Chapter 17, pp. 539-588.)
Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991)
Chapter 6. pp.153-220.
Dornyei and Skehan in Doughty and
Long (Chapter 18, pp. 589-630.)
Kiss-Gulyas (2007) in Sheorey, R. and
Kiss-Gulyas, J. (eds.) pp.155-174.
Bibliography
DOUGHTY, C. J. and LONG, M. H. 2003. The handbook of second language acquisition.
Oxford: Blackwell. ( Selected chapters)
ELLIS, R. 2002. Does Form-focused Instruction Affect the Acquisition of Implicit
Knowledge? A Review of Research. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 24, 223-236.
ELLIS, R. 1994.The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: OUP. ( Selected
chapters)
HAWKINS, R. & TOWELL, R. 1994. Approaches to Second Language Acquisition.
Multilingual Matters. ( Selected chapters)
JAMES, C. 1980.Contrastive Analysis. Longman.
KONTRA, M. & THOMAS, H. Readings in Applied Linguistics. (Egyetemi jegyzet)
(Selected chapters)
KRASHEN, S. 1988. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. New
York: Prentice Hall. (Selected chapters)
KISS-GULYAS, J. 2007. The Effect of L1 Parsing and Processing Preferences on L2
Acquisition: the Case of L1 Hungarian learners of L2 English. In Sheorey, R. and KissGulyas, J. (eds.) Studies on Applied and Theoretical Linguistics. pp.155.174.
LARSEN-FREEMAN, D. & LONG, M. H. 1991. An Introduction to Second Language
Acquisition Research. Longman. (Selected chapters)
LIGHTBOWN, P. & SPADA, N. 1993. How languages are learned. Oxford: OUP
LIGHTBOWN, P. 2000. Classroom SLA Research and Second Language Teaching. In:
Applied Linguistics, Vol. 21, No.2. pp.431-462.
McLAUGHLIN, B. 1987. Theories of Second Language Learning. Edward Arnold.
ROBINSON, P. 2001. Cognition and Second language Instruction. Cambridge: CUP.
SELINKER, L. 1972. Interlanguage. In: Kontra & Thomas (eds.) Readings in AL