Key Topics in Second Language Acquisition serves as an orientation to second language acquisition research (SLA) for language teachers and researchers. It covers a number of topics within SLA research from learners’ characteristics and linguistic features to a conjuncture between SLA research and practice. Each topic begins with an engaging question or statement that allows the reader to reflect upon one’s own experience regarding specific SLA research. It then guides the reader through an exploration of key research issues within that particular field of SLA research and provides supplementary information to prompt the reader to become more research-minded. Each topic ends with concluding remarks, which open doors for further study or reflection.

This study investigated how frequency influenced acquisition of L2 English infinitive and gerund complements among L1 Thai learners. Participants were separated into low and high proficiency groups based on their CU-TEP scores. Each group consisted of 30 participants. Data were collected using the Word Selection Task (WST) and the Grammaticality Judgement Test (GJT). Initial findings revealed that L1 Thai learners acquired infinitive complements before gerund complements. This could probably be explained by the usage-based theory, specifically, the concept of type frequency. It was assumed that learners acquired infinitive complements first because they were considered a high type frequency construction, and gerund complements later because they were considered a low type frequency construction. It was assumed that the high type frequency construction was easier for L2 learners to acquire because they were exposed more often to this construction type. Further investigation revealed that the frequency of verbs occurring in the target complement constructions probably contributed to the learners’ low-level constructional schemas (i.e. the abstract representations of constructions which are lexically specific) and their language use.

บทความนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อทดสอบว่าผู้เรียนชาวไทยผลิตประโยคโครงสร้าง ba 2 โครงสร้างที่แสดงนัย “การทำให้เคลื่อนที่” แตกต่างกันหรือไม่ กลุ่มตัวอย่างแบ่งเป็น 2 กลุ่มคือผู้เรียนชาวไทยที่มีความสามารถทางภาษาจีนระดับต้นและผู้เรียนชาวไทยที่มีความสามารถทาง...ภาษาจีนระดับสูง ผลการทดลองพบว่า ผู้เรียนชาวไทยทั้งสองกลุ่มผลิตประโยคโครงสร้าง “ประธาน + ba + นามวลี + กริยา +บุพบทวลี／กริยาวลีบอกทิศทาง” ได้มากกว่าโครงสร้าง “ประธาน + ba + นามวลี + กริยา +ส่วนเสริมหลังกริยาบอกทิศทาง” อย่างมีนัยสำคัญทางสถิติ และผู้เรียน

A field of study that is at once vibrant and interdisciplinary such as second language acquisition (SLA) tends to rely on myriad theories, hypotheses, and frameworks. Essentials of SLA for L2 Teachers, a booklet containing a proper balance between theory and practice, has come at an opportune moment. For it presents arguments pertaining to the multifaceted nature of second language acquisition and also suggests practical instructional solutions. Specifically, the book discusses elements of a transdisciplinary framework characterizing SLA as situated in social and cultural milieu—a clear departure from the traditional, cognitive SLA.

การวิจัยด้านการรับภาษาที่สอง (Second Language Acquisition: SLA) พบว่าบริบทการไปเรียนต่างประเทศ (Study Abroad context: SA) สามารถพัฒนาทักษะทางภาษาทั้งสี่ด้านได้ ได้แก่ การอ่าน การเขียน การพูดและการฟัง อย่างไรก็ดี ประเด็นคําถามเกี่ยวกับการรับรู้เสียง... Post-Test Comparison) ประกอบด้วยแบบทดสอบห้าชุดที่มีหน่วยเสียง /ɡ/ ปรากฏหน้าสระต่างๆ ในโครงสร้างพยางค์ที่หลากหลายผลการทดลองไม่พบความแตกต่างกันอย่างมีนัยสําคัญทางสถิติระหว่างคะแนนของทั้งสองกลุ่ม ซึ่งอาจเป็นเพราะการรับรู้หน่วยเสียงในภาษาต่างประเทศเป็นทักษะ

According to Robinson’s cognition hypothesis, sequencing tasks in the Triadic Componential Framework (TCF) could drive learners to create better outputs as a result of the cognitive demand of tasks. However, there is a need to prove that task conditions in TCF demand different cognitive loads. The purpose of the current study was to investigate perceptions toward task difficulty of EFL learners performing tasks designed in the Triadic Componential Framework (TCF). The participants were 30 EFL students at Rajabhat Maha Sarakham University selected by purposive sampling. The instruments were a task sequence having a set of three tasks designed in the Triadic Componential Framework (TCF), a task difficulty assessment questionnaire, a report on time needed to complete the tasks, and a stimulated recall session. The results of the study indicated that the task sequence designed in the cognition hypothesis was proved to be in ascending order of cognitive demand by two assessments - the questionnaire and the stimulated recall. Meanwhile, learners seemed to spend the comparative amounts of time doing tasks in the sequence. It could be concluded that sequencing task conditions in TCF could lead to a task sequence that consists of tasks with different levels of cognitive demand as introduced by the principles of the cognition hypothesis.

This paper presents an argument for how second language acquisition (SLA) research should be carried out if a researcher is genuinely interested in learner grammar (i.e., knowledge of language), its acquisition and use. SLA research has expanded greatly over many years and currently spans many subfields, but researchers share one main goal: to describe and explain second language learners’ knowledge and behavior in a broad sense. After presenting important insights from Doughty and Long (2003), who discuss relations between SLA research and language teaching, we divide these subfields into three areas following Wakabayashi (2003) and contend that investigating learners’ linguistic systems is the core area of SLA research. We will illustrate the importance of linguistic theory-based research with data concerning 3rd person singular -s in English. It will be argued that SLA studies need a rigorous descriptive tool (i.e., a theoretical framework) to describe and explain the system underlying learners’ behavior in their use of second languages.

The research examined avoidance behavior; that is, the phenomenon where L2 learners avoid producing either a difficult L2 structure or a TL form which is non-existent in their L1 (Richards, Platt, & Platt, 2002). By semi-replicating Klienmann’s (1978) tests, the study aimed to determine whether L1 Thai learners would avoid producing the English participial reduced relative clause structure (PRRC). It was hypothesized that L1 Thai learners’ difficulty with the PRRCs which was caused by differences between their L1 and the L2 led them to underproduce the reduced adjectival clauses. The research participants, twenty Thai undergraduate students, were given a comprehension test to ensure their knowledge of the PRRC structure, followed by two indirect preference assessment tasks. Two tasks, i.e., a cloze test and a Thai-English translation test, were employed to investigate the participants’ preference between PRRCs and relative clauses (RCs). The results showed that the L1 Thai participants tended not to avoid the PRRC structure. It is assumed that three possible factors were involved: the L2 learners’ familiarity with the PRRC structure, simplicity of the reduced adjectival clause, and the nature of the tasks. The Factors of L2 Non-Avoidance Hypothesis (FNAH) was proposed to account for the subjects’ tendency of L2 non-avoidance. The essence of the FNAH is that, even though features in L1 and L2 are different or L2 features are non-existent in L1, it does not necessarily mean L2 avoidance will occur. Other factors have to be taken into consideration.