Nonfiction

How Languages Are Learned

How Languages Are Learned

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-08-01 09:55:09
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Patsy M. Lightbown
  • ISBN：0194541266
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Reviews

Jingle ，

A great resource for English Language Learner subject。

Barry Welsh ，

4 stars。 An informative summary

Magdalena Golden ，

I read this after having read Brown's Principles of Language Learning and Teaching so I was naturally comparing the two。 What I liked about both was that other than the historical and first language acquisition background， the two books differed considerably in their choice of material so they made for good complementary reading。 Also， both books include activities but most of Lightbrown and Spada's come with a commentary which makes them more suitable for self-studying。 I read this after having read Brown's Principles of Language Learning and Teaching so I was naturally comparing the two。 What I liked about both was that other than the historical and first language acquisition background， the two books differed considerably in their choice of material so they made for good complementary reading。 Also， both books include activities but most of Lightbrown and Spada's come with a commentary which makes them more suitable for self-studying。 。。。more

James ，

I have the fourth edition in my hands。 I've read and taught from the 2nd and 3rd as well。 The information provided in this quite compact coverage of two vast fields， FLA and SLA， is very valuable to all who are or who are becoming language teachers。The size of the bibliography testifies to the authors' synthesis of many subfields of language acquisition。 And of course， they are researchers themselves。An intriguing aspect of their writing style is their short sentences – many more compound senten I have the fourth edition in my hands。 I've read and taught from the 2nd and 3rd as well。 The information provided in this quite compact coverage of two vast fields， FLA and SLA， is very valuable to all who are or who are becoming language teachers。The size of the bibliography testifies to the authors' synthesis of many subfields of language acquisition。 And of course， they are researchers themselves。An intriguing aspect of their writing style is their short sentences – many more compound sentences than complex。 Coherence depends on lexis。 And cohere， it certainly does。 。。。more

James Perkins ，

This is a short， 14-year-old university textbook presenting language education research and implications for teaching practice by two Canadian experts in the field。 Since I have a CELTA （Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults） from the University of Cambridge， I taught English as a second language for several years， and I’ve tried to learn a few languages myself， I thought it would be an interesting and informative read。 The authors briefly review a range of studies from the language This is a short， 14-year-old university textbook presenting language education research and implications for teaching practice by two Canadian experts in the field。 Since I have a CELTA （Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults） from the University of Cambridge， I taught English as a second language for several years， and I’ve tried to learn a few languages myself， I thought it would be an interesting and informative read。 The authors briefly review a range of studies from the language teaching research literature up to the mid-2000s and reflect on how the evidence should influence how languages are taught。 Unfortunately， its short length prevents it from being comprehensive， and I didn’t really learn much that was new to me， but the book does verify my own training and experience。 The best part is the last chapter， in which they take popular ideas about language learning， such as “languages are learned mostly through imitation” or “grammatical rules should be presented one at a time” and confirm or debunk them based on conclusions they draw in the earlier sections。 Although a few cartoons inserted in the text help to illustrate some points， the authors would do well to inject their writing with the same sense of humour， as their style is rather dry and academic。 Nevertheless， the content is good， and I recommend this book to people working in the field， especially if there is a revised and updated edition coming out soon。 Others are likely to get bored。 。。。more

Leah ，

Lots of good information in this book。 A little dull at times， but very knowledgeable on the subject。

Jake Hoyt ，

Had to read this for class。 The book doesn't come to many conclusions aside from everyone learns differently。 The authors point out some noticeable differences between cultures。 Some of the terms used such as "unreadies" are poorly named。 Had to read this for class。 The book doesn't come to many conclusions aside from everyone learns differently。 The authors point out some noticeable differences between cultures。 Some of the terms used such as "unreadies" are poorly named。 。。。more

Niniane ，

Clear， concise。 It covered how babies & toddlers learn to speak， and the differences between kids and adults learning their second （vs first） language。 It analyzed 6 methods of teaching a second language， using research studies to show effectiveness。 It used examples between a teacher and student。 It was easy to read， and informative。In some cases， it explained that students felt they'd learned more with one technique， but studies show that they did not。 Clear， concise。 It covered how babies & toddlers learn to speak， and the differences between kids and adults learning their second （vs first） language。 It analyzed 6 methods of teaching a second language， using research studies to show effectiveness。 It used examples between a teacher and student。 It was easy to read， and informative。In some cases， it explained that students felt they'd learned more with one technique， but studies show that they did not。 。。。more

Stephanie ，

As far as textbooks go， this one was really solid！ I loved how the writing style was clear and easy to follow， not too dense。 I loved the focus of the book's content， from first-language acquisition， to second language acquisition， individual differences in learning， SLA theories-interesting and relevant material！ Finally， I enjoyed that the authors cited a lot of older and contemporary studies， including many of which took place in my province！ It was interesting to read research about the effe As far as textbooks go， this one was really solid！ I loved how the writing style was clear and easy to follow， not too dense。 I loved the focus of the book's content， from first-language acquisition， to second language acquisition， individual differences in learning， SLA theories-interesting and relevant material！ Finally， I enjoyed that the authors cited a lot of older and contemporary studies， including many of which took place in my province！ It was interesting to read research about the effects of Quebec's French immersion program。 Overall， this was a great choice of textbook for my Language Acquisition course！ 。。。more

Diana Valdivia-Rodriguez ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This book describes about language learning in terms of theory， modelding， and development。

Carolina Campoy ，

I read this book to complement Rod Ellis's SLA introduction book for my SLA class。 My review is a bit divided into two perspectives， me as a teacher and me as a researcher。 While the book is easy to read and it is short it lacks criticality。 As a teacher I appreciate a quick explanation of SLA phenomenon （it saves me time）。 However having read this while reading Ellis's made me realize this book lacks a wider scope that reflects all the possibilities that SLA has to offer。 It seems to present a I read this book to complement Rod Ellis's SLA introduction book for my SLA class。 My review is a bit divided into two perspectives， me as a teacher and me as a researcher。 While the book is easy to read and it is short it lacks criticality。 As a teacher I appreciate a quick explanation of SLA phenomenon （it saves me time）。 However having read this while reading Ellis's made me realize this book lacks a wider scope that reflects all the possibilities that SLA has to offer。 It seems to present a very simplistic view of years and years of theories and research。 This is a good intro but it isn’t by any means an extensive overview of SLA。 。。。more

Alexandra Kolesnikova ，

A great book for language teachers。 It is informative， well-written， and practical。

Alejandra ，

a helpful guide to learning theories with examples， it is very easy to follow。

Dominic Neesam ，

A must-read for DELTA reviews the major language teaching approaches， correction techniques， 1 & 2LA comparison， scaffolding and more

Taybah ，

Very informative

Ponytaorponyboy ，

Overall an interesting book。 It has way too many studies for me to enjoy reading properly but I enjoy that the very last chapter is essentially a summary of every misconception without the studies to back it up。 It made for a much easier read than the rest of the chapters。 It also does NOT help that the professor teaching this subject 1） does not know jacksh*t about what she's teaching。 Apart from the one chapter that she's extremely passionate about and NEEDS to overshare about 2） sucks Still。 Overall an interesting book。 It has way too many studies for me to enjoy reading properly but I enjoy that the very last chapter is essentially a summary of every misconception without the studies to back it up。 It made for a much easier read than the rest of the chapters。 It also does NOT help that the professor teaching this subject 1） does not know jacksh*t about what she's teaching。 Apart from the one chapter that she's extremely passionate about and NEEDS to overshare about 2） sucks Still。 What an interesting subject which we could have learned so much more from 。。。more

Jose Amezcua ，

It’s a great book to get a general idea about how languages are learned。 This well-written book is very useful for language teachers。

Rasha ，

Lightbown and Spada do a well-done job in outlining many different ELL characteristics and learning styles。 They manage to smoothly bridge between first language acquisition and second language acquisition。This book serves as a nice contrast to "Literacies" by Cope and Kalantzis。 Lightbown and Spada do a well-done job in outlining many different ELL characteristics and learning styles。 They manage to smoothly bridge between first language acquisition and second language acquisition。This book serves as a nice contrast to "Literacies" by Cope and Kalantzis。 。。。more

Pam Dise-Moran ，

Another book for my Masters of Ed for ESL。 I liked the clear & succinct explanations in our other text by Ellis better。 This book was thorough & pretty clear as well - an excellent reference & source for additional references as well as a guide to terminology， but the case studies were sometimes a bit dense to wade through。

LunaSanguine ，

This was way easier to read than a lot of books for university and I gained a lot of interesting knowledge from it。

Bruna Rafaela ，

My first book about this topic， but it really helped me grasp a bit about the introduction to its main points。 The writting felt really didatic and well structured， and I shall be returning to it for future references。

Daniel Morgan ，

This is an excellent analysis of research on how people learn languages。 I appreciate that the author included literally dozens of case studies， provided explicit conclusions for every section， and even created activities for the reader to reflect on their current knowledge。 I would strongly recommend this book for anyone who is a language student or teacher （even if you are not in a class， this would still be useful）。

James ，

Fourth Edition: excellent， must-read resource to get a benchmark understanding of SLA processes。The survey on teacher beliefs is one that I revisit every few years。

David Fox ，

Grad School Class。 Not the worst。。。 but not worth the time。

MrsMJ ，

Great book！ Easy read considering the topic is new （and therefore challenging） to many people。 I found it very insightful about the way people acquire their first and second （3rd， 4th， etc。） languages。

Sandy Millin ，

Accessible and easy-to-read， with plenty of examples to help you understand the concepts。

Edy ，

Read while I was in graduate school。 As my dissertation focused on bilingual education， language acquisition was important for me to understand。

Princess ，

This was required reading for a summer ESL endorsement course I'm taking。 I found it informative and interesting。 I had perceptions challenged and motivations explained。 The research was explained in a thorough and thoughtful way。 This was required reading for a summer ESL endorsement course I'm taking。 I found it informative and interesting。 I had perceptions challenged and motivations explained。 The research was explained in a thorough and thoughtful way。 。。。more

Elyse ，

This is a wonderful introductory text to language acquisition。 Concepts are explained in a clear way， and interesting examples and studies are referenced。

bartosz ，

Looking for better methods for learning languages I decided to dive into How Languages are Learned by Patsy M。 Lightbown & Nina Spada。The book is dedicated to teachers， and as such， offers superfluous information for a person simply interested in learning。 Nevertheless， the book is simply packed with information that is also relevant to a student。The text is divided into 7 chapters and follows a very natural pattern: introducing first language acquisition in the first chapter; the problem of sec Looking for better methods for learning languages I decided to dive into How Languages are Learned by Patsy M。 Lightbown & Nina Spada。The book is dedicated to teachers， and as such， offers superfluous information for a person simply interested in learning。 Nevertheless， the book is simply packed with information that is also relevant to a student。The text is divided into 7 chapters and follows a very natural pattern: introducing first language acquisition in the first chapter; the problem of second language （L2） acquisition in the second; individual differences in L2 acquisition; the main psychological and cognitive theories second languages acquisition; how classroom-based studies are performed; and various studies about L2 teaching methodologies。 The book concludes with a chapter summarizing the various popular （mis-）conceptions related to language learning。The authors cite studies for each of their claims， and each chapter ends with suggestions for further reading。 I really appreciate the amount of work that must have been put when writing the book， yet despite the scientific rigor the book doesn't have a scholar as its target。 Concepts are introduced gradually and there's no problem in following the matter of the book， even if one doesn't have a background in linguistics or theory of education。One of the theories covered in the book is that language learners develop an intralangue as they progress， their working hypothesis on how a language works。 Sometimes， learners may produce more errors then before simply because they unify some rules and generalize previous cases that were learned in whole （chunking） e。g "He went" may change to "He goed" as a student learns that the past form of verb is formed by adding the +ed suffix， instead of pronouncing "He went" as a formula。The authors propose three stages of language skill - declarative knowledge， procedural knowledge and automatic knowledge。 Declarative knowledge are the rules about the language a student might posses but doesn't know how to execute in contrast to procedural knowledge。 Automatic knowledge is procedural knowledge that is refined to a point that it stops being a conscious effort。Students use different means of acquiring language。 Some exceptional cases can exhibit even near native-level performance no matter the learning methodology but for most cases near native-level performance is only achievable if learning had begun before the age of 15。 Diverse teaching methods combining both structure based （grammar rules） and communication based （comprehension and producing speech and writing） methods can also facilitate learning， wheres concentrating only one aspect of the language （comprehensions， speaking etc。） gives mixed results。Most adult students never achieve near-native pronunciation， although there are exceptions， and according to studies stress and rhythm are more important for understanding than pronunciation itself。Passive sources of language such as books， television or radio seem to not be sufficient for learning a language， even for native speakers。 Though， reading for pleasure seems to be the best way of increasing one's vocabulary。 Procuring books adequate for a student might be a difficult task - for a text to be comprehensible at least 90-95% of the words need to be known。 And according to studies， a new word needs to be seen at least 16 times to be remembered， although activates that require them to attend carefully to new words and use them in production tasks might speed up the process of learning。I would recommend How Languages are Learned to anyone interested in the topic of language acquisition。 The text is very approachable （though targeted to teachers）， and even though some of the information given in the book might not be instantaneously applicable， the amount of useful knowledge is just incredible！ 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=How Languages Are Learned

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=How Languages Are Learned&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,How Languages Are Learned&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0