Language Acquisition and Language Socialization: Ecological Perspectives

Description

This text brings together well-known scholars in two relatively distinct fields (language acquisition and language socialization) and from a variety of orientations within applied linguistics - psycho and sociolinguistics, anthropological linguistics, educational linguistics - to describe language development from a relational perspective. The notion of ecology offers a convenient metaphor for the complex variational processes that take place within individuals and between individuals and their social and cultural environment, as they attempt to learn the language of the other. The theme of ecology affords a fresh look into phenomena not encompassed by language acquisition or language socialization research alone. It puts into question traditional ways of looking at time, space, subjectivity, identity in the acquisition of another language and its use in a variety of social contexts. For language teachers and educators, this book attempts to eschew traditional dichotomies such as language acquisition vs. language use, and to capture the complex and holistic nature of language learning and teaching.

Claire Kramsch is Professor of German and Foreign Language Acquisition at the University of California, Berkeley.

"This volume heralds a significant leap in our understanding of issues in language development, and is crucial reading for all language teachers." -- Vai Ramanathan, Associate Professor in the Linguistics department at the University of California, Davis. 'For those of us working in the field of EAL, this book is highly relevant. Its ten chapters cover the breadth of the field and, as it suggested, represent what one might call interdisciplinary-in-interaction. In addition to an excellent introduction which sets out the theoretical framework for the chapters which follow, there are commentaries ending each of the four parts into which the book is divided. These commentaries offer fascinating insights into the writers' discussions during a colloquium which preceded the writing of the book...This is an excellent book. Readable, thought provoking and intellectually engaging.' Angela Creese, University of Birmingham, UK, National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum -- Angela Creese, University of Birmingham, UK, National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum, Autumn 07