English 333 : Second Language Acquisition

Syllabus for Fall 2009

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00 - 9:15 a.m., 4208 Helen C White Hall

Instructor	Assignments
Texts	Assessment and Grading
Aims of the Course	Course Outline

Professor Richard F Young 7163 Helen C White Hall Office hours: Wednesdays, 12:00 - 2:00 p.m., or by appointment E-mail: rfyoung at wisc dot edu Home Page: www.wisc.edu/english/rfyoung Phone: 263-2679

Class E-mail List. You may send e-mail messages to me and to all students registered for this course through the class e-mail list.  Send your messages to english333-1-f09 at lists dot wisc dot edu.  In order for you to receive messages from the e-mail list, your e-mail address must be in the Registrar's database.  You can update your preferred email address by accessing My UW-Madison, "Student Records" tab, "Preferred Address" module.

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Required Texts

	Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (2008). Second language acquisition: An introductory course. (3rd edition). New York: Routledge.  "The textbook" is available in the College Library Reserve Book Collection, 1st Fl. West, Room 1191.  Call Number: P118.2 S424 2008.
	Gass, S., Sorace, A., & Selinker, L. (1999). Second language learning: Data analysis. (2nd edition). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.  "The workbook" is available in the College Library Reserve Book Collection, 1st Fl. West, Room 1191.  Call Number: P118.2 G374 1999. Audio recordings for use with the workbook are available here.

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Aims of the Course

This course is a general introduction to scientific research into how people learn a second language. Although the course is designed to be accessible to students from a wide variety of backgrounds, some knowledge of the linguistic structure of English will be assumed.

Second language acquisition, or SLA, is a theoretical and experimental field of study which, like first language acquisition studies, looks at the phenomenon of language development -- in this case the acquisition of a second language.  The term "second" includes "foreign" and "third", "fourth" (etc.). Since the early nineteen seventies, SLA researchers have been attempting to describe and explain the behavior and developing systems of children and adults learning a new language.

The dominant aim behind this research is to extend our understanding of the complex processes and mechanisms that drive language acquisition.

By virtue of the fact that language itself is complex, SLA has become a broadly-based field and it now involves:

	Studying the complex pragmatic interactions between learners, and between learners and native speakers
	Examining how non-native language ability develops, stabilizes, and undergoes attrition (forgetting, loss)
	Carrying out an analysis and interpretation of all aspects of learner language with the help of current linguistic theory
	Developing theories that are specific to the field of SLA that aim to account for the many facets of non-native language and behavior
	Testing hypotheses to explain second language knowledge and behavior

The goal of SLA is to understand how learners learn and it is not the same as research into language teaching. However, applied linguists whose particular interest is in facilitating the language learning process should find ways of interpreting relevant SLA research in ways that will benefit the language teacher.  SLA, in this light, should become an essential point of reference for those involved in educational activities as well as researchers looking at how to facilitate the learning process.

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Assignments

Attendance and Readings. All students are expected to attend class regularly and to complete weekly readings assigned from the textbook.

Exams. Your knowledge and interpretation of the readings and lectures will be assessed by two take-home examinations.  The mid-term exam will be available on Thursday, October 15 and is due on Tuesday, October 20.  The midterm will focus on chapters 1 - 6 of the textbook.  The final exam will be available on Thursday, December 10 and is due before Wednesday, December 23 at 4:45 p.m.  Exams that are handed in or emailed late will receive a failing grade.  The final will focus on chapters 7 - 13 of the textbook.  Questions on both exams will be taken from the "Points for Discussion" sections at the end of each chapter in the textbook.  After you receive your grade for the midterm, you have one week in which you may choose to rewrite your answer to one question that you have attempted. I will read your new answer and re-grade your midterm accordingly.  No rewrites are possible for the final exam.

SLA Problem Sets. All students are expected to attempt assigned problem sets involving the analysis and interpretation of second language data from the workbook and textbook.  Some problem sets involve analysis of audio data, which is available for download. The problem set relating to topics covered in Tuesday's and Thursday's lectures is due on the following Tuesday.  Each activity must be done in groups of between 3 and 5 students. Each member of the group will receive the same grade. Hard copies of your responses are due on the day specified in the Course Outline. If you miss class on a day when an assignment is due, you may send your responses as an email attachment to me.  Late assignments will not be accepted.

Presentations of SLA Problem Sets. On 11 Tuesdays, one group of 3 - 5 students will be responsible for making a presentation to the class of their answers to that week's SLA Problem Set. Presentations must last no longer than 30 minutes and will be graded for effective communication. They will be scored on a Presentation Evaluation Form available here.

Authorship. Many of your assignments for this course involve integrating information from published sources into your own writing. This means that you need to be careful not to plagiarize: "to steal or pass off (the ideas and words of another) as one's own" or to "present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source" (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition, p. 888). For advice on what sources you should document and how to document them, consult Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources published by the Writing Center, from which the preceding statement is taken.

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Assessment and Grading

Letter grades will be awarded for the SLA problem sets and for the presentations of SLA research. Percent scores will be awarded for the exams. The meanings and equivalencies of the grades follow.

The final grade for the course will take into account grades awarded on all assignments in the following proportions.

Incompletes. The grade of "Incomplete" will only be used for a student who has carried the course with a passing grade until near the end of the semester and then, because of illness or other unusual and substantial cause beyond his/her control, is unable to take the final exam.

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Course Outline

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This page was last updated on October 13, 2009 .