This commentary discusses the issue of small samples in instructed second language acquisition research. We discuss the current state of affairs, and consider the disadvantages of small samples. We also explore other considerations regarding sample size, such as research ethics and ecological validity. We present a range of recommendations for…

Professor of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Robert DeKeyser is from the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Maryland. His research builds bridges between the theory of second language acquisition with major concerns in cognitive aspects such as implicit and explicit learning mechanism, age differences, and…

This article responds to Jordan and Gray's critique of the global coursebook and the call to have open, critical discussions about coursebook use in light of SLA research (Jordan and Gray 2019). I?make a case for why the assumptions made about what constitutes a global coursebook are too narrow. I?also dismiss the idea of one type of global…

James P. Lantolf is George and Jane Greer Professor Emeritus of Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics and former director of the Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Applied Linguistics in the same academic unit at Xi'an Jiaotong…

This commentary offers a brief reflection on the state of CALL in 1997, when "Language Learning & Technology" was launched with my paper entitled "CALL in the year 2000: Still in search of research paradigms?" The point of my 1997 paper was to suggest the potential value of research on second language learning for the study…

Classrooms the world over are full of people who, for different reasons, are learning additional languages and/or are studying through languages that are not their first. Gaining insight into such contexts is complicated for researchers and practitioners alike by the myriad of contextual variables that come with different implementations and make…

Paul Stapleton's assessment of the current state of language teaching research (LTR) raises important issues. However, his proposal that social science research approaches in ELT have failed, and that that they should be replaced by approaches from the biological sciences, is unlikely to connect with the knowledge-building needs of ELT…

This essay on three recent books by outstanding scholars--"La raison scolaire" by Bernard Lahire, "Histoire de l'enseignement du francais du XVII[superscript e] au XX[superscript e] siecle" by Andre Chervel, and "L'ecole et la lecture obligatoire" by Anne-Marie Chartier--offers the opportunity to acquaint readers with…

Correction and repair as components of an instructional practice that facilitates learning have figured prominently in research on classroom-based second and foreign language learning. Recent studies incorporating a conversation analytic (CA) perspective on second language acquisition (SLA) have also focused on repair and correction. From a CA…

Scholarship on dialect diversity in classrooms has yielded two seemingly incompatible lines of research. Although numerous pedagogical approaches have been shown to provide productive alternatives to traditional responses to stigmatized dialects, research on public perceptions and teachers' attitudes suggests that negative beliefs about…

Suggests that fostering dependence on techniques along, without developing awareness of how techniques relate to theoretical principles, militates against healthy development in the English language teaching profession. Argues that teachers who see research as part of their role are likely to view their work more positively than teachers who are…

Outlines the theoretical assumptions and pedagogical implications of error analysis and attempts to show the relevance of error analysis to language teaching practice. (CFM)

Addresses a developing myth in language teaching based on Long's (1988) focus on form, which assumes form-focused instruction is best provided during communicative activity and justified only by difficulties in communication. Argues advocacy of focus on form as the most effective teaching strategy is only theoretically motivated and lacks…

The author replies to a critique a paper he wrote on defining applied linguistics as a field of inquiry and the extent to which corpus analysis can properly inform its practices. (Author/VWL)

The relation between reading and writing is important because tacit and possibly unwarranted assumptions underlie the theories and pedagogies which govern these processes. These assumptions are challenged by the claims that: (1) reading and writing are related in neurolinguistically specifiable ways; (2) they do not seem to be simple inverses of…