The Book Report of How Languages are Learned

张哲 张海洋

摘要：How Languages are Learned is a famous monograph about second language acquisition written by two Canada women writers Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada. The book possess practicality and operability. It is also the book that established the reputation of Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada.

關键词：How Languages are Learned;Second language acquisition;Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada

How Languages are Learned systematically introduces the new theoretical results of second language acquisition and provides rich classroom teaching examples from the front line of teaching. This book introduces the theory of mother tongue acquisition， the second foreign learning mechanism， the factors affecting the second foreign learning， the language analysis of learners， and how to observe and analyze the classroom teaching of foreign languages. This series is always closely related to practice， which practice comes from the corresponding theory and is closely combined with the theory.

The study of second language acquisition began in the late 1960s and early 1970s， and were marked by the "The Significance of Learners' Errors" and two papers entitled "Interlanguage." Since then， the study of second language acquisition has sprung up. Especially in the linguistic and language teaching circles of Europe and the United States. Since the 1980s， with the development of second language acquisition research in China， the master's degree and doctoral degree with the second language acquisition as the research direction have also been established. One of the original textbooks used by major graduates in professional schools is How Languages are Learned by Patsy M. Lightbown and Nina Spada.

Through the in-depth study of the research content of this work， it is found that it mainly discusses from the following aspects： first language acquisition， second language acquisition， individual differences， interlanguage， classroom teaching， etc. Its main feature is that the author brings together the rich practical experience of his second-language classroom research. The description of the interlanguage in the book mainly uses a large number of examples to explain to the reader.

Judging from the main research methods embodied in this work， the main research methods used are： case studies， questionnaires and quantitative research. The author provides a rich case of the second language teaching classroom， and presents the research materials in the teaching practice to the readers， which reflects the characteristics of the empirical research - using facts to speak and rigorously demonstrate the important theoretical viewpoints of second language acquisition.

By analyzing the second language acquisition theory in this work， it can be seen that it mainly explains second language learning from the perspectives of cognitive science and information theory， such as Information processing， Connectionism and Interactionism. Cognitive science represents the latest trends in second language acquisition research， reflecting the state and characteristics of second language acquisition research at the time.

From the reader's point of view， it is of great value and practical significance for the retraining of teachers with teaching experience. Teachers can understand these theories in more depth by combining the problems in their own teaching. At the same time， teachers can also find a scientific explanation for their problems in teaching.

Of course， if you talk about the inadequacies， it is a pity to avoid the learner's learning strategy as a professional book for teachers. At the same time， the book only analyzes the individual differences affecting second language acquisition， and does not analyze the sociocultural factors that influence the acquisition of second language， such as： cultural adaptation， attitude towards the second language culture， social psychological distance， social politics and ways of thinking.

However， this book has important enlightenment and reference for the research and development of second language acquisition in the future. The second language acquisition research in China has not been introduced from abroad for a long time， in the field of research， research methods， and theoretical results. There is a big gap with European and American countries. In order to meet the arrival of the new revolution in second language acquisition research， it is necessary to mobilize and guide scholars and teachers at all levels in the field to establish a scientific and rational research group. Chinese should make creative use of foreign theoretical results. And Chinese learners could carry out second language acquisition studies with Chinese characteristics.

References

Patsy M. Lightbown & Nina Spada. How Languages are Learned [M]. Shanghai： Oxford University Press， 2006.

作者簡介：

张哲（1995年），女，汉族，山东省淄博市人，教育硕士，单位：鲁东大学外国语学院学科教学（英语）专业，研究方向：学科教学（英语）  张海洋（1995年），男，汉族，山东省商河县人，教育硕士，单位：鲁东大学历史文化学院学科教学（历史）专业，研究方向：学科教学（历史）