Dr. C. Sanz

412 ICC

Office hours

Phone #: 7-7213 

sanzc@georgetown.edu

www.georgetown.edu/faculty/sanzc 

Description: 

This graduate course is designed with the purpose of providing a general overview of the field and introducing applied linguistics students to key issues in adult language acquisition theory and research, such as the nature of interlanguage, external and internal factors affecting adult SLA, explicit vs. implicit input, learning and knowledge, and input and interaction. Different theories will be presented and discussed in the introductory lecture, but the course takes a processing approach to adult SLA.  

The goal of this course is to take students with some basic knowledge of language acquisition (first or second) and/or teaching methodology to a level that allows them to feel comfortable in advanced seminars in SLA, which require them to carry out independent research.  In order to achieve this goal, we will discuss a number of readings, including the textbook mentioned below as well as a number of articles and manuscripts in circulation. 

Research Apprenticeship: An important part of the course is hands-on experience. In groups, students carry out a replication study.  In that way, they go through the mechanics involved in completing a data based study (design, data collection, analysis, write up) without the pressure of generating a new study from scratch. In previous occasions this course has generated one student publication and several paper presentations at international conferences. Students are free to choose any topic of their interested and are encouraged to work in groups.

Course format: 

It is a combination of lecture and discussion, which means that students’ active participation is not only expected but required.

Requirements: 

Classroom presentation of one article.  Instructions and evaluation criteria for the presentations will be provided.

Completion of assigned exercises from textbook.

Completion of a replication study.  Guidelines for the completion of the project as well as evaluation criteria are provided below. Data gathering and materials development are completed in pairs/as a group, write up is individual and so is its evaluation.  Proposals are presented in class with feedback from classmates, final papers are presented in an open forum the last day of class. No late work is accepted.

Readings: 

Sanz, C. (2005). Mind and Context in Adult SLA. Theory, Methods, and Practice. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Available on Blackboard. Can be read on-line or printed. It is copyright protected, so its distribution in part or a whole is not allowed. Students are required to read one chapter per week as background to the lecture and other required readings.

Articles, book chapters and manuscripts in circulation. Approximately 2-3 per week. 

Evaluation:

Participation-Homwk 25%

Oral presentation(s) 25%

Term paper 25%