二语习得研究现状综述及未来发展方向_英文_

2012年4月中国应用语言学（季刊）Apr.2012第35卷第2期ChineseJournalofAppliedLinguistics(Quarterly)Vol.35No.2135CurrentTrendsinSLARresearchandDirectionsforFutureDevelopmentMichaelH.LONGUniversityofMaryland,USAAbstractSLAisabroadinterdisciplinaryfield.Itstheoriesandresearchfindingshavepotentialrelevanceforanumberofsignificantsocialissues.Theyincludefirstlanguageacquisition,theoreticallinguistics,neurolinguistics,languageacquisitioninabnormalpopulations,languageteaching,andlanguageineducation.Workinthefieldismotivatedbytheneedtosolvepracticalproblemsinthoseareas,butalsobysheerintellectualcuriosity.Secondlanguagelearning,theobjectofstudy,isaninternal,individual,inpart,innatelyspecified,cognitiveprocess.SLA’snaturalhome,itfollows,lieswithincognitivescience.There,itcanmakesubstantialcontributionsoverandaboveunderstandinghowsecond,includingforeign,languagesarelearned,whyadultsoftenfailwhenchildrenaresosuccessful,theroleofmetalinguisticknowledgeandofexplicitandimplicitlearning,theroleofthelinguisticenvironment,andmore.Thefactthatnotonlynaturalexperiments,butalsorealones,arepossible(andlegal)withadultsmeansthatSLAresearchcanthrowlightonsuchmattersasthedissociationoflanguageandcognition,maturationalconstraintsonlearning,relationshipsamongaffectiveandcognitivevariables,andotherfactorstypicallyconfoundedinsimultaneouslanguageandcognitivedevelopmentinchildren.ThepotentialSLAcontributioniswellillustratedbyworkontheso-calledCriticalPeriodHypothesis.SLAisalsoayoungscience,mostworkhavingbeenconductedsincethe1980s.Thefieldshowsitsyouthinanumberofways,disagreementsastotheproperscopeofinquiryand,notunrelated,anintemperaterushtotheorybeingjusttwoofthem.TheAmericanphilosopherofscienceLarryLaudan’sconceptof“researchtradition”offersawayofseeingthewoodfromthetreeswithrespecttomultipletheoriesinanyfield,andhis“problem-solving”notionisausefulyardstickwhenitcomestothecomparativeevaluationoftheoriesofSLA.Substantivefutureprogress,andarguably,theprospectsoffutureresearchinthefieldasawhole,willrequiregreaterclarityandmaturityintheseareas.Keywords:secondlanguageacquisition136CurrentTrendsinSLAResearchandDirectionsforFutureDevelopmentHistoryandscopeofSLASecondlanguagelearninghasfascinatedobserversforalongtime.Valuablediarystudiesofchildbilingualismwerepublishedasearlyasthefirstyearsofthetwentiethcentury(forahistoricallisting,seeHatch,1978:3-9).Asshownbythecoverageintextbooks,however,SLAasamodernfieldofstudyisgenerallyacceptedasdatingfromthelate1960’s,meaningthatthedisciplineasweknowittodayisstillrelativelyyoungbythestandardsevenofthesocialsciences.Modernsecondlanguageacquisition(SLA)researchencompassesnon-nativelanguagedevelopment(butalsosimultaneouschildhoodbilingualism)bychildrenoradultslearningnaturalisticallyand/orwiththeaidofformalinstruction,asindividualsoringroups,inforeign,secondlanguage,orlinguafrancasettings.“Second”includesthird,fourth,etc.,“language”includesdialect,and“acquisition”includesattritionandloss.SLAisabroadchurch,inotherwords;somethinktoobroad,othersnotbroadenough.Yetwhilethefieldhasexpandedrapidlyanddiversifiedduringthepast40years,theprincipalmotivationsforstudyingSLAhaveremainedconstant,andinmyopinion,willcontinuetodoso.Inadditiontosheerintellectualcuriosity,atleastsixbroadacademicandprofessionalareascanbeidentified,manyofwhoseparticipantshaveaninterestinSLA,andsomeofwhosework,equally,isofinteresttoSLAresearchers.Allsixareasfallwithinthepurviewofcognitivescience,althoughnotallworkinthemcanbeconsideredtrulyscientific.Itisworthremindingourselvesofwhatthoseareasare.Foronething,mostresearchersareusuallypreoccupiedwithjustoneortwoofthem,andcanforgetwhatdrivesotherwork.FirstlanguageacquisitionSomeproblemsinfirstlanguageacquisition(L1A)aredifficultorevenimpossibletoresolveusingfirstlanguagedataalone.Thefactthatnotonlynaturalexperimentsbutalsorealonesarepossible(andlegal)withconsentingadultsmeansthatSLAresearchcanthrowlightonsuchmattersasrelationshipsbetweenlanguagedevelopmentandcognitivedevelopment,andamongaffectiveandcognitivevariables.Theseandotherfactorsaretypicallyconfoundedinsimultaneouslanguageandcognitivedevelopmentinchildren,but(withsomeexceptions)aredistinctinadultL2acquirers.TestingrivalclaimsaboutputativesensitiveperiodsforlanguagedevelopmentisanotherquestiontowhichanswerscanbeprovidedbyresearchonadultSLA.(Wewillreturntoworkonmaturationalconstraintsandtheso-calledCriticalPeriodHypothesis.)TheoreticallinguisticsLikemuchL1Aresearch,aconsiderablenumberofSLAstudiesaremotivatedby,andinsomecaseschieflyofinterestto,theoreticallinguists.Thus,claimsbyKeenanandComrie(1976,andelsewhere)abouttypologicalmarkednessandrelativeclauseformationacrosslanguageshaveinspiredacontinuinglineofworkonthedevelopmentofrelativeclausesinanL2(Doughty,1991;Eckmanetal.,1988;Gass,1982;andHamilton,1994,amongothers).StudiestestingvariousaspectsoftheoriesofUniversalGrammarinSLA(e.g.,137MichaelH.LONGSchwartz&Gubala-Ryzak,1992;White,1991,2003)aresonumerousastohavespawnedtheirownjournal,SecondLanguageResearch,andtheirownannualconference,GASLA(GenerativeApproachestoSecond