Input, Interaction, and the Second Language Learner

Rating:
Summary: An SLA Graduate Student Perspective
Review: This review is written from the perspective of a doctoral student in the field of Second Language Acquisition (Education). In this book, Susan Gass analyzes research in the field of SLA with the intent of showing how linguistic input and conversational interaction are important in the development of second language knowledge. In the first chapter Gass describes her framework for second language acquisition. The five stages of this framework include: apperceived input (input related to past experiences), comprehended input (the continuum ranging from semantics to detailed structural analyses), intake (the process of assimilating linguistic material), integration (adding to one's second language grammar) and output (hypothesis testing). In this book Gass reviews the research (the evidence), the nature and function of input, various theories (UG, Monitor Model, Output), the role of interaction, and some of the mediating factors that affect acquisition (sex, native language, interest, source, etc). In her final chapter she gives pedagogical implications and applications. This book is a good resource for those interested in a review of SLA research on these topics; however, I would not recommend this book to newcomers to SLA because of it's excessive linguistic jargon. Because pedagogical implications are not the focus of this book, I would also not recommend it to teachers looking for ways to improve input and interactions within their classrooms.