Running head: ADULT LEARNING 1

Adult Learning: A Book Review

Tyler Maruschak

Northern Illinois University

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Adult Learning: A Book Review

Learning a second language can be a very difficult process, especially as an adult. John

Archibald's Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Theory provides an interesting

perspective on how people learn second languages. The book provides a theoretical approach to

learning a second language and even provides an analysis of the differences of learning the

language as an adult as opposed to a child. With the variety of different ways people learn, this

book offers a different lens of approaching adult learning.

The book starts off by distinguishing the differences in adult learning versus child

learning in reference to second language acquisition. "Adult second language learners rarely

achieve the same native competence that children do learning their first language"(Archibald,

2000, p. 4). The book started off with this quote that set the foundation for the rest of the book.

This quote accurately captures the differences in adult learning versus child learning. Children

are integrated into learning much easier and can therefore develop into learning a second

language very easily. When an adult begins to learn a second language, it is much harder for

them to learn because they have already assigned meaning to words within their first language.

Once Archibald details the differences in learning styles, the book immediately jumps

into how people assign meaning to different words. I say hello which is a simple greeting. Other

people say "hola" and some even say "ni hao." Second language learners have to learn to assign

a different word to phrases they already have assigned meaning to. Archibald begins to then

describe how people form syllable structure when learning a second language. Archibald argues

that this can be the most difficult part of learning a second language because the same symbols

could have different pronunciations or meanings and that can be very difficult to overcome

because you are essentially ignoring rules that have been established your whole life.
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Learning a second language is a gradual process and occurs in stages according to

Archibald (2000). As the book progresses, the reader gets to see the stages of second language

acquisition theory. The book is constructed in a way that puts theory to practice. As you read the

book, it feels like you are learning a second language. The book starts off gradually giving you

information to set the foundation of the reader's knowledge of language acquisition. As the book

develops, the reader develops as well. Archibald begins to build upon the reader's knowledge of

language acquisition to give a well-rounded understanding of this topic. When I realized this

connection, I was impressed with the amount of time it must have taken to organize the book in

such a creative way to support the very theories utilized in this book.

The book concludes with information on maintaining a second language. I have always

heard that if you don't use the second language often then you will lose it. Archibald confirms

this notion through his research. The book suggests that individuals have a certain cognitive

ability to learn and maintain languages and that "lexicon" varies for each person. This suggests

that some individuals have a natural ability to learn second languages and some do not have this

ability.

Overall, the book offers a very wide perspective of second language acquisition. I

thoroughly enjoyed reading the book to gain a better perspective of the difficulties in learning a

second language. This book inspires me to want to learn a second language. After reading

through the various theories of second language acquisition, I feel like I have a better

understanding of the process that ultimately will better serve myself in learning a second

language.

The purpose of this book was to educate the reader on second language acquisition and

theory as suggested in the book's title. Before reading the book, I had no real interest in learning
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a second language, but after reading the theories, I have an invested interest to start learning a

second language. The book not only educated the reader on the topic of second language

acquisition, but gave a theoretical perspective on what it is like to learn a second language.

Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Theory offers a unique perspective to

readers interested in adult learning. Many college students and other adults learn second

languages for a variety of reasons and the task is not usually easy. I enjoyed the perspective

Archibald offered through his research into this topic. As someone interested in adult learning,

Archibald gave me insight into relevant differences between adult learning and child learning.

The author distinguishes these differences by comparing people who speak a language as a first

language to that of a person who learned the same language as their second language. By

comparing these two groups of people, the reader begins to grasp the differences in learning

between the two groups. Ultimately the conclusion is that a person will never be able to speak

the language as fluently as a person who learned the language as their first language.

This provides an interesting view on adult learning as a whole. It makes the reader

wonder if it is generally easier to learn as a child than when one becomes an adult. From my

perspective, it gave me time to reflect on the things that we learn as children and how difficult

those things may be to learn as an adult. I compare it to my life where I grew up with food

allergies and I learned very young that I could not eat certain foods. I often get the question

"how do you not eat those foods?" For me, I grew up learning that I could not eat those foods

and because I knew nothing else, it never bothered me. But, If you take an adult who has been

eating those foods their entire life and then you begin to teach them that you can't eat those

foods, I imagine the process would be much more difficult because they grew up learning that it

was acceptable.
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This simple analogy into my own life can be applied to Archibald's principles of learning

a second language. The child who learned the language as a first language will always be better

at speaking the language because they knew nothing different. The adult who is learning the

second language will always have a more difficult time because they were taught an alternative

method first and therefore they have to recode their mind to adapt to the new language.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it offers a unique perspective into learning a

second language. While the process may not be easy, Archibald offers a perspective that

motivates readers to try it! I recommend the book for anyone interested in adult learning or

second language acquisition because of its depth of knowledge on the topics. Maybe one day I

will utilize some of the book's advice and begin to learn a second language myself.
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References

Archibald, John. (Eds.) (2000) Second language acquisition and linguistic theory. Malden,

Mass., Blackwell Publishers Inc.