Research on Second Language Learning: Some Implications for Teaching

Nina Spada

University of Toronto

In this presentation I will review some of the research on how second languages are learned in classroom settings and discuss the implications for ‘best practices’ in second language teaching. This will include a consideration of what we have learned about the effects of exclusively form- and meaning-based instructional approaches on second language learning. It will also include a review of recent research that has investigated whether it might be best to focus on language forms separately from or integrated with communicative practice, and if there may be different benefits for learning that come with each type of instruction. Another issue I will consider is what we have learned from research on corrective feedback and whether some types may be more effective than others for learning in different instructional contexts.  Other topics to be referred to in my presentation include the type of knowledge and ability that results from learning a second language in a classroom compared with the ‘naturalistic’ setting and how different distributions of instructional time can make a difference when learning a second language in the classroom environment. All of these issues will be considered in relationship to the teaching and learning of Chinese as a second/foreign language.

Biodata

Dr. Nina Spada is Professor in the Second Language Education program at the University of Toronto where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in second language learning and teaching.  Her research examines relationships between instructional practices and learning outcomes. She is particularly interested in the effects of form-focused instruction on second language learning. Dr. Spada’s research investigates such questions as whether there are better times to draw learners’ attention to language form in communicative classrooms and whether different types of instruction lead to different types of second language knowledge and ability. She is co-author of the award-winning textbook How Languages are Learned published by Oxford University Press. Dr. Spada is Past President of the American Association for Applied Linguistics.