Second Language Research

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Current options in graduate-level introductory SLA textbooks

Lourdes Ortega
Second Language Research 2001; 17; 71
DOI: 10.1177/026765830101700103

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Second Language Research 17,1 (2001); pp. 71–89

Review article

Current options in graduate-level

introductory SLA textbooks
Lourdes Ortega Georgia State University

Gass, S. and Selinker, L. 2001: Second language acquisition: an

introductory course. 2nd edition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum. 504 pp. $39.95 paper. ISBN 0 8058 3528 8.

Larsen-Freeman, D. and Long, M.H. 1991: An introduction to

second language acquisition research. London: Longman. 398 pp.
$35.65 paper. ISBN 0 582 55377 6.

Lightbown, P. and Spada, N. 1999: How languages are learned.

Revised edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
192 pp. $16.95 paper. ISBN 0 19 437000 3.

Mitchell, R. and Myles, F. 1998: Second language learning theories.

London: Arnold. 228 pp. £13.99 paper. ISBN 0 340 66312 X.

I Introduction
The field of second language acquisition (SLA) has been expanding
in scope, and its disciplinary status evolving, since its inception in
the late 1960s, some 30 years ago (Huebner, 1998; Larsen-Freeman,
2000). It is now customary to see SLA in the required core of
courses in most graduate programs that offer degrees in applied
linguistics, TESOL, and foreign language education. In formal
linguistics, education and psychology programs, it is perhaps more
common to find SLA among the elective courses, while in
psycholinguistics and cognitive science programs SLA is
occasionally listed but has typically not yet attained a stable status
among the course offerings. The presence of SLA in curricula
hosted in such a variety of departments increases the demands that
Address for correspondence: Dept. of Applied Linguistics and ESL, Georgia State University,
Atlanta, Georgia 30307, USA; email esllxo@langate.gsu.edu.

© Arnold 2001 0267-6583(01)SR180OA

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72 Review article

markets place on the quality and variety of graduate-level SLA

textbooks.
An introduction to the field of SLA should contain an informative
disciplinary treatment (that is, including theoretical and empirical
work) of the problem of how humans learn languages other than
their first, and why they do so with differential ultimate success, and
most often short of the target. In addressing these two overriding
questions, the content of any SLA textbook should probably cover
a number of topics, which I would like to view here in three groupings:
1) universal characteristics of the second language (L2) learner
and the L2 learning process that determine the nature and route
of acquisition (e.g., nativism and modularity vs. empiricism
and non-autonomy; variability/systematicity; cross-linguistic
influences; developmental stages and sequences; cognitive
contributions);
2) individual characteristics related to differential rate of
acquisition and ultimate success in an L2 (e.g., language
aptitude; motivation; learning strategies); and
3) social characteristics that influence L2 learning (e.g., power
asymmetries, cultural schemata, social identity, class and
gender).
We could call these three areas the universal, the individual and the
social in L2 acquisition. In addition, however, an introduction to any
field of inquiry will also have to outline, at some point, the main
theories within the field. In SLA, until recently the two mainstream
epistemological approaches have been generative and (cognitive and
social) interactionist, although two recent newcomers will no doubt
generate large amounts of research and theorizing in the future:
emergentism and sociocultural theory. Of course, I hasten to say,
many different models and specific theories exist within each
approach, but the epistemological similarities are large enough to
warrant a simplified four-way distinction (see, for example, the
opposition between generative SLA and emergentist SLA
characterized by N. Ellis, 1998; and the tension between mainstream
interactionist SLA and sociocultural SLA approaches appraised by
Larsen-Freeman, 2000).
In light of these general provisions for content which would
account for most basic SLA topics and theories, any introductory
textbook may be evaluated according to both coverage (i.e.,
completeness and accuracy of content; currency of topics;
representativeness of predominant themes; and balanced treatment
of a variety of theories and empirical work in the field) and
pedagogical value (i.e., relevance of the content to the intended

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 Review article 73

audience and readability via features such as graphic information,

glossary, review questions, etc.). While it is relatively easy to inspect
some of the features that add up to the pedagogical value of a book,
most content judgements and the question of potential relevance to
student consumers are difficult and subjective. In this review, I
nevertheless attempt an examination of several introductory SLA
books which may serve as common choices for textbooks in graduate
SLA courses, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses for
particular student audiences. (I should, however, caution the reader
that deliberately excluded from this review are encyclopaedic
treatments (e.g., R. Ellis, 1994) or very advanced treatments (e.g.,
Ritchie and Bhatia, 1996) of SLA, on the grounds that, although
these are excellent reference books, they are probably not good
textbook choices, as they greatly surpass the amount of information
that can be covered within a semester in an introductory SLA course.
Similarly, the introductions to the field by Towell and Hawkins (1994)
and by Sharwood Smith (1994) are not reviewed here because of the
personal and thus relatively idiosyncratic views of the field that they
entertain, which probably deserve separate treatment. Finally,
introductions to specific approaches within SLA, such as generative
SLA (e.g., White, 1989), linguistic theories in SLA (e.g., Braidi, 1999)
or interaction in SLA (e.g., R. Ellis, 1999) are also excluded.)

II The classics: Gass and Selinker, 2001 and Larsen-Freeman

and Long, 1991
When Gass and Selinker published the first edition of their SLA
textbook in 1994, they stated that they wanted to ‘help set the
record straight’ (p. xiii) and ‘to “normalize” the field’, providing ‘a
summary of what is known today in the field of second language
acquisition’ (p. xv). Given that the 1994 edition is more
representative of the SLA field of the 1980s than the 1990s, it is
fortunate that this authoritative textbook of SLA is now available
in a revised version. Gass and Selinker (2001) have made an
obvious effort to make their revision thorough. For instance, the
reference section has now more than doubled, with about 680
references. Of those, 42% represent work from the 1990s, with 166
references dated 1995 or later. This is a clear improvement over the
original edition, which contained only four references dated 1993
or ‘in press’.
The revised edition capitalizes and expands on the strengths of
the first edition. As in the first edition, Gass and Selinker (2001)

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74 Review article

offer focused treatments of certain areas of learner language that

are typically missing from other introductory SLA textbooks, such
as pragmatic competence (Section 9.4) and the lexicon (Chapter
13). The original useful coverage of cross-linguistic influence, with
detailed and meaningful explanations for transfer-related
interlanguage (IL) phenomena (such as avoidance, differential
learning rates and overproduction; see Chapter 5), has been
strengthened with a new section devoted to what the authors refer
to as ‘interlanguage transfer’, or the influence of previously learned
L2s on subsequent learning of another foreign language. Gass and
Selinker’s excellent presentation of the main arguments for a role
of the environment in SLA can still be found in the revised edition
(Chapters 10 and 14), and the discussion now has been updated to
include recent developments within interactionist SLA with a
cognitive orientation regarding specific contributions of output in
SLA (particularly via the facilitation of noticing, hypothesis testing,
and various types of negative feedback; see Section 10.4). These
recent developments are also reflected in a new section (Section
10.5), which discusses attention and memory in connection with
updated arguments for the roles of input and interaction in L2
learning. In sum, the three areas of IL analysis, cross-linguistic
influence and environmental contributions, which constituted the
highlights of the first edition, have been further improved and
successfully updated. In addition, certain weaknesses of the first
edition have been addressed by Gass and Selinker (2001).
Particularly fortunate is the reconceptualization of the authors’
coverage of generative SLA. Universal Grammar (UG) is allotted
now its own separate chapter (Chapter 7) and the ‘access to UG
problem’, which was portrayed as a dichotomous debate by Gass
and Selinker in the original edition (1994: 124–34), is presented as
a qualified empirical and theoretical discussion about exactly what
aspects of UG are available to the L2 learner (see Hoekstra and
Schwartz, 1994; White, 1996; Flynn et al., 1998). Welcome additions
in this chapter are also a presentation of transfer from a UG
perspective (Section 7.2), a discussion of minimalism and functional
categories (Section 7.3) and a sobering reflection on falsification
and linguistic theory in SLA (Section 7.1.4).
In other areas, however, Gass and Selinker (2001) were not able
to escape the limitations inherent in revising a text instead of
writing a wholly new text of its own time. For instance, the authors’
commendable attempts at improving the coverage and currency of
the book by adding two new chapters – one on child L1 and L2
acquisition (Chapter 4) and another on instructed SLA (Chapter
11) – are not fully successful: The authors rely excessively on Foster-

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 Review article 75

Cohen (1999) for the topic of child language acquisition, and they
present a highly selective and fragmented perspective in their
overview of the subfield of instructed SLA. Chapter 8 is also weak
in coherence, because the authors review a mixed bag of theoretical
models of SLA (competition model, monitor model, information
processing models) and end with a brief new section on
connectionism, failing to make explicit the link between the
epistemological foundations of any of these theories and the
findings presented throughout the book. There is a danger that the
novice reader will mistakenly assume that only some types of SLA
research are theory-laden while others are not.
Overall, an important feature of the book, and one that
distinguishes it from other SLA textbooks, is the strong L2 analysis
component which is cultivated throughout all chapters. This results
in a balanced coverage of what is acquired (and how) across various
levels of language and is accompanied by abundant illustrations
with L2 data. An additional advantage is the existence of a
supplemental text, Gass et al. (1999a), accompanied by a teacher’s
manual (Gass et al., 1999b) and two cassettes with recordings of IL
data and various types of research stimuli. This workbook is
organized into IL analysis ‘problems’ covering a selection of areas
(lexicon, phonology, communication strategies, etc.). The problems
can be featured as class activities or as home assignments, and I
have found that they enhance the main textbook greatly. Further,
Gass et al. (1999a) can also be used independently of any textbook.
Indeed, this supplemental workbook (together with the essential
teacher’s manual) would provide an excellent guide for the SLA
teacher to devise analytical exercises in conjunction with a selection
of SLA readings from refereed journals. As an illustration of an
analytical exercise, Problem 3.3, which is based on White (1991),
presents a synopsis of the methodology and results of this study,
together with useful graphic displays that can be used to introduce
novice students to the skills of reading and interpreting SLA data
displayed in tables and figures. Problem 1.1, which is based on
original unpublished data, introduces students to the methodology
of grammaticality judgements, with the special feature that stimuli
(which are oral and timed) are available on the book’s cassettes, so
that students can collect new data and embark on a short
assignment on numerical data analysis of the kind frequently
employed in SLA. The 1999 second edition of Gass et al. also offers
some analytical exercises on L2 Italian drawing on recent work by
one of the authors (Problems 3.6 and 3.7, based on Sorace, 1993
and 1995), on L2 French (Problem 3.5, based on Coppieters, 1987)
and on L2 Chinese (Problem 3.8, based on Yuan, 1993). All other

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76 Review article

exercises are on English as the target language, with most problems

centring on grammaticality judgement data or on interaction data.
Additional extended discourse data in English, Spanish, and
Chinese can be found on the two cassettes, with corresponding
transcriptions in the teacher’s manual.
Naturally, what is a strength may also have some drawbacks for
certain readers. Thus, the analytical flavour of Gass and Selinker
(2001) may make it less readable for graduate students without a
background in linguistics or without a certain degree of motivation
to ‘get their hands dirty’ with IL data (e.g., students in education
or psychology). In addition, readers who are attracted to SLA
because of professional interest in languages other than English
(i.e., students in foreign language programs, which represent a large
portion of the university contexts in which SLA is taught nowadays)
will probably find the book clearly biased towards English.
All things considered, Gass and Selinker (2001) offer an updated,
authoritative introduction to SLA, and they do so by calling on
linguistic and analytical skills of the reader and via a dialogic style
in the service of a detailed chronological presentation of SLA. The
book’s strengths lie on the side of interactionist SLA, particularly
in relation to initial work within SLA on IL analysis and
environmental variables in L2 acquisition for which both authors
gained their international reputations. For all these reasons, as a
textbook, Gass and Selinker (2001) will work well with graduate-
level students in linguistics and applied linguistics programs,
particularly when they are expected to carry out some SLA
research themselves during their academic career.
In many ways the book written by Larsen-Freeman and Long
(1991) is not only as much of a classic as was Gass and Selinker’s
first edition, but it is also the most comparable to it in coverage,
tenor and effect. The text is also intended as an authoritative
presentation of main substantive findings in SLA. As with Gass and
Selinker (2001), the particular emphases of the book reflect the
seminal contributions to the field of SLA by the two authors.
Therefore, if Gass and Selinker’s (2001) main emphasis was on
apprenticing the graduate student into the role of the L2 analyst,
Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) focus simultaneously on
substantive empirical findings, research methodology and theory
construction, building through these three emphases a sound
foundation for apprenticeship into SLA as a social science.
One could say that Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) offer an
encyclopaedic treatment of SLA. For instance, the bibliography
contains approximately 900 references, all of which are meticulously
used throughout the text to support discussions and claims.

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 Review article 77

However, the book does not overwhelm the uninitiated graduate

student reader. In part this is due to the careful thematic
organization, the selective sets of comprehension questions and
application problems at the end of each chapter, and the useful
suggestions for further readings, also thematically organized. In
addition, the many charts and tables in the book are not only
illustrations taken from primary sources – as is the case with all
other SLA texts reviewed here – but they often summarize areas
of empirical inquiry, they help impose order on the wealth of
information presented, and they expand on points raised in the
main text. Thus, this textbook – perhaps unexpectedly given its
extensive coverage and theoretical orientation – turns out to have
a high pedagogical value for a graduate student audience from a
range of disciplinary affiliations.
Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) have merged a good coverage
of the subject matter with a sustained attention to making the
content relevant for a potential audience of applied linguists,
language teachers and educators of any L2. For instance, in a section
devoted to age (in Chapter 6, entitled ‘Explanations for differential
success among second language learners’), the authors preface a
highly technical discussion of the empirical evidence on the critical
period hypothesis by offering a vivid list of questions that attest to
the relevance of the issue to the ‘applied domain’: ‘Should foreign
languages be introduced in the elementary school, for example, or
is it as good or better to wait until secondary school? And what is
the optimal timing of successful bilingual or immersion education
programmes?’ etc. (p. 154). In fact, one of the main strengths of
Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) as a textbook is that it conveys
well the authors’ conviction that theoretical and applied concerns
are closer to each other than many SLA specialists would let novice
readers know.
Despite these solid strengths, the book has also some weaknesses,
mainly related to currency and balance of the coverage. Chapter 5,
which deals with the role of the linguistic environment, is largely
outdated (for a recent overview, see Long, 1996). The discussion is
organized around two questions: whether input and interaction are
necessary, sufficient or facilitative conditions for L2 acquisition; and
whether interactional adjustments aid comprehension. Ten years
later, these two questions can be summarized in a few paragraphs,
and new issues have emerged as more worthy of attention, such as:
• the link between improved comprehension and acquisition, e.g.,
Loschky, 1994;
• the nature of intake and factors enabling it, such as, for instance,

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78 Review article

noticing, see Schmidt, in press;

• the role of instance-based learning from the input, e.g., Williams,
1999;
• the availability and relative effectiveness of various kinds of
explicit and implicit negative feedback, e.g., Lyster, 1998;
Mackey, 1999;
• the role of comprehension and production in L2 acquisition,
e.g., DeKeyser & Sokalski, 1996; and
• the psycholinguistic and metalinguistic operations that output
may promote, e.g., Swain, 1995; Skehan, 1998; Doughty, in press.
Chapter 7, which evaluates ‘some representative SLA theories’
(p. xiv), does not include information processing theories (see
McLaughlin and Heredia, 1996), a strange omission of a rather
representative type of SLA theory from the late 1980s that is still
very much alive today. A special feature of the book is that
instructed SLA is covered in its own right (Chapter 8).
Unfortunately, the focus is on differences and similarities between
instructed and naturalistic acquisition of morphosyntax, a concern
typical of the 1980s, but one that has since then opened the way to
new topics reflected in the intense empirical work of the last ten
years in the subfield of instructed SLA (see Spada, 1997; Doughty
& Williams, 1998; R. Ellis, 1998; Norris and Ortega, 2000).
All in all, however, Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) greatly
exceeds all expectations for a reasonable introduction to the field
of SLA in the beginning 1990s. The book constitutes an exceptional
piece not only in its thoroughness and insight, but also in the
dynamism and engaging thrust of its writing style. Perhaps because
of those qualities, it seems to have aged well, and it can still be
assigned as the main textbook in a wide range of graduate SLA
course types without hesitation, if supplemented with other
materials in order to cover SLA research produced since the book
was published.

III SLA for language teachers: Lightbown and Spada, 1999

Lightbown and Spada’s textbook is directed to an audience of pre-
service and in-service L2 teachers. According to the authors, the
book should ‘help teachers evaluate claims made by textbook
writers and proponents of various language teaching methods’ (p.
xiii). This revised edition represents a clear improvement over the
1993 edition. It has been updated to present a more coherent
summary of theoretical approaches to first language (L1) and L2
acquisition (Chapters 1 and 2) and there is a new chapter on

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 Review article 79

classroom interaction (Chapter 5) which facilitates the conceptual

link between IL findings and studies of L2 instruction. In addition,
the discussion of instructed SLA research includes now key
classroom studies of the late 1990s (Chapter 6). Indeed, while the
first edition was a textbook to be used in undergraduate courses,
the revised edition can be considered a viable option for graduate-
level courses as well, although there are some caveats that I raise
in this review.
Obviously, Lightbown and Spada made a concerted effort to
present the information contained in the book as an implicit or
explicit response to questions that language teachers often have: is
‘the younger the better’ really the case in L2 acquisition? (pp.
64–65); should teachers worry about L2 errors? (Chapter 4); what
works in the L2 classroom? (Chapter 6). Lightbown and Spada
begin with a questionnaire comprised of 12 statements that reflect
common (misguided) beliefs about how second/foreign languages
are learned, held not only by the general public, but also
(unfortunately) by many language teachers. The 12 L2 learning
myths serve as a guide for the reader to make sense of the
information presented across all of the chapters, and they are finally
dispelled in the last chapter of the book (Chapter 7). I have found
the questionnaire and the final dispelling chapter very useful as a
self-standing class activity. Lightbown and Spada’s concern for L2
teachers is also reflected in repeated comparisons of instructed L2
acquisition with both L1 acquisition and naturalistic L2 acquisition.
SLA research is presented in a fashion that caters to the novice
reader, highlighting key studies through a summary and explicitly
addressing implications of the findings for language teaching.
To the detriment of the text, this means that the selection of
content is highly biased towards the interface between SLA and
language teaching. Minimal attention is devoted to theoretical
issues investigated within generative SLA (pp. 15–22 and 36–37),
since presumably the nature of language representation and the
nativism/empiricism debate are not a direct concern of teachers.
Paragraph-length treatments on connectionism (p. 22 and 42) and
on sociocultural theory (p. 44) have been added in this edition, but
these additions are perfunctory to the point that the interested
reader cannot find any scholarly references to these two SLA
approaches in the text. The problem of selection bias is also to be
found with regard to instructed SLA, as research that goes beyond
classroom concerns is not addressed in the book (for example, L2
instruction research in the laboratory; see Hulstijn, 1997). While I
may agree with the authors’ judgement on the issue of what areas
of SLA are most relevant for teachers, this selectivity nevertheless

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80 Review article

results in the book presenting a very skewed view of the field, and
one that is probably inappropriate for an introductory textbook
which is to be used in courses that are about SLA and not about
teaching.
In spite of these limitations, the book makes for a useful text,
provided the audience is pre-service and in-service language
teachers and the text is not used as the main textbook. Students for
whom a background in SLA is subordinated to the goal of
developing theoretical knowledge that can guide L2 teaching will
undoubtedly benefit from reading this book at the beginning of an
SLA course. Because it is so brief (the main text comprises 170
pages), it can be read and treated in class within a few weeks, as a
springboard for embarking on more technical SLA literature (e.g.,
other textbooks, or a selection of articles) for the rest of the
semester.

IV The theories approach in SLA textbooks: Mitchell and

Myles, 1998
Mitchell and Myles (1998) offer a good introduction to various
epistemological approaches to and models of L2 learning in SLA,
strung together by a general focus on several ‘recurrent concepts
and issues’ (p. 21) that are revisited throughout the chapters. One
of those recurrent issues is the necessity for a good theory in SLA
to attend simultaneously to route, rate and context (or the universal
vs. the individual vs. the social) in L2 learning. Indeed, one main
goal of the book (and one of its strengths) is to introduce the
uninitiated reader to an expanded horizon for the field of SLA: the
reader is guided through traditional SLA theories with a specific
focus on the linguistic and psychological aspects of L2 acquisition,
and beyond into broader social theories of L2 learning. Thus, the
authors remark in the introduction:

We have made a special effort to include in this volume discussion of some

theoretical positions which view the language learning process as essentially
social, and which also view the learner as essentially a social being, whose
identity is continually reconstructed through the processes of engagement with
the L2 and its speech community (p. xi).

These theoretical positions are ethnography of communication,

language socialization and sociocultural theory, all three of which
are given a fair place.
While the authors’ inclusive plan is admirable (and certainly a
challenge for any author of an introductory text on SLA!), the

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 Review article 81

treatment falls somewhat short of the goal. For instance, the

conceptual cohesiveness of Chapter 8 is not convincing. This
chapter, entitled ‘Sociolinguistic perspectives’ is the final thematic
chapter. It comprises four theoretical areas: (1) a thorough
discussion of ethnography of L2 communication; a cumbersome
presentation of (2) variationist sociolinguistics and (3) Schumann’s
(1978) acculturation theory; and (4) a balanced discussion of
language socialization approaches to L1 and L2 acquisition.
Although these four approaches may share a general sociolinguistic
orientation, it is difficult to see how they can be evaluated together
as ‘the sociolinguistic tradition in SLA’ (p. 189). For one, this
sequencing of theories is historically incoherent, since work on
variationist SLA and acculturation theory is typical of the 1970s
and 1980s, whereas SLA work informed by ethnography of
communication and language socialization did not begin to be
published until the mid-1990s (e.g., see Duff, 1995; Losey, 1995;
Pierce, 1995; Willett, 1995, all reviewed by Mitchell and Myles).
What is more, the epistemological affiliations of these four
approaches to SLA are at odds. Specifically, one of the
distinguishing features of sociolinguistic theories vs. social theories
of L2 acquisition is that the former represent a type of linguistic
theory in the end, whereas the latter may exist without reference
to particular linguistic theories. Indeed, social theories of L2
acquisition do not aim at explaining the acquisition of a grammar
per se, but rather the interplay between language use and language
learning within the broader social context. A treatment of current
social views of L2 acquisition would have been more coherent if
more traditional sociolinguistic approaches to SLA (i.e., IL
variation and acculturation theory) had been presented as a
continuation of the historical overview in Chapter 2, leaving for the
final chapter of the book a more cogent set of social theories of L2
acquisition, including ethnography of communication, language
socialization and sociocultural theories.
Chapter 4, on cognitive approaches to SLA, exhibits a similar
lack of conceptual cohesiveness. This chapter is somewhat of a
mixed bag of not only theoretical models but also topical issues. It
deals sequentially with the following:
• Andersen’s (1990) operating principles;
• Pienemann’s (1989) processability theory as formulated in the
ZISA project;
• connectionism (see N. Ellis, 1998); and
• McLaughlin’s (1987, Chapter 6) and Anderson’s (1983) models
of skill-based language acquisition.

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82 Review article

The chapter concludes with extended discussions of learning

strategies, fluency development and communication strategies. This
coverage lacks coherence in several ways. First, the focus in the
second half on topical areas per se does not seem justified, as all
other chapters in the book are organized strictly according to
theoretical approach. Secondly, connectionism becomes buried
among the other cognitive theories, even though it differs greatly
in epistemological underpinnings and chronology from both
processing constraint theories and information processing theories.
Mitchell and Myles (1998) explicitly state that they intend for
their book to be a successor to McLaughlin’s (1987) ‘successful and
authoritative volume’ (p. ix). After re-reading McLaughlin (1987),
I found his selection of the key L2 theories of the 1980s subjective
(as he himself acknowledges in the preface; p. viii) but highly
effective, if one considers how accurately McLaughlin evaluated the
contributions of those theories (see, in particular, his evaluation of
the Monitor Model and of acculturation and pidginization theory).
Mitchell and Myles’ (1998) evaluative edge seems less consistent
and thorough by comparison. For instance, the grand evaluations of
cognitive approaches (Chapter 4) and sociolinguistic approaches
(Chapter 8) attempted by the authors make little sense, given the
heterogeneity of the models and theories subsumed under each
category. A case of seriously erroneous evaluation is the authors’
radical dismissal of UG theory as ‘only indirectly relevant to second
language acquisition research’ (p. 69). Few would agree with this
statement. Formalist (and within them UG) approaches are about
the initial state and the end state of acquisition (see Gregg, 1996).
They have advanced thinking in the field of SLA about the nature
and origin of symbolic and autonomous language representations.
Further, generative SLA has made essential contributions to the
matter of cross-linguistic influence and to issues related to
differential ultimate attainment (e.g., Birdsong, 1992, 1999). Because
of these theoretical and empirical contributions, UG approaches to
SLA are indeed directly relevant to SLA research.
Despite a lack of cohesiveness and rigour in theory evaluation,
SLA theories are presented by Mitchell and Myles (1998) in a clear
and engaging style. Thus, for instance, while the evaluation of UG-
based approaches to SLA at the end of Chapter 3 is off base, the
authors nevertheless do a good job in their presentation of
generative SLA in the main body of the chapter. Fundamental
concepts and tenets in UG theory are explained in an accessible
style which the uninitiated reader will no doubt appreciate, and the
authors include recent developments (i.e., minimalism and
functional categories) that cannot be found in introductory SLA

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 Review article 83

texts published before the mid-1990s. Another strength is the

excellent chapter on functionalist approaches to IL analysis
(Chapter 5), which leads the reader from underpinnings in linguistic
theory (e.g., Givón’s (1985) functional model of language
acquisition and change) to seminal studies (e.g., Huebner, 1983;
Sato, 1990) and ends with a detailed account of the European
Science Foundation Project (e.g., Klein and Perdue, 1992; see
Carroll, 1999). Finally, the chapter on input and interaction
(Chapter 6) is well conceived, with an interesting (if selective)
analysis of work attempting to link interaction with comprehension
and, more crucially, with acquisition. A noticeable absence is,
however, that of Swain’s (1985, 1995) pushed output hypothesis. In
the second half of the chapter the authors once again slip from a
focus on theories and epistemological approaches to a subsidiary
focus on topical areas that detracts from the main goals of the book.
A great advantage of this text over others is that it reviews both
connectionism and sociocultural theory, two newcomers in the field
of SLA which are no doubt bound to figure very prominently in
the future. Unfortunately, only three pages are devoted to
connectionist theories, clearly insufficient if one considers how
much influence functionalist-emergentist approaches have had on
recent interdisciplinary debates within the fields of acquisition,
psychology and linguistics (e.g., Elman et al., 1996; MacWhinney,
1998; Tomasello, 1998) and in SLA (e.g., N. Ellis, 1996). (Issues
regarding the status of non-symbolic, exemplar-based learning in L2
acquisition have gained increasing prominence in SLA since the
publication by N. Ellis (1996) on phonological memory in SLA.
Since then, interest in SLA connectionist theories is reflected, for
example, in plenary talks on the topic featuring in the main applied
linguistics conferences, such as AAAL and SLRF.) The treatment
of sociocultural theories in the book is more extensive (one full
chapter; pp. 144–62) and it includes a useful theoretical
introduction, with a detailed outline of the main elements
developed by Vygotsky (1962) but also newer insights of activity
theory by Leontiev (1981).
One final feature is worth mentioning: Mitchell and Myles very
wisely decided to furnish each theoretical approach to SLA with a
review of and conceptual link to concomitant theories in L1 child
acquisition and, whenever appropriate, to relevant theories from the
general fields of psychology or education (e.g., behaviourism;
Vygotskian theory). This enriches the text by fostering in the
uninitiated reader a wider and deeper kind of understanding of the
fundamental themes in each SLA approach presented in the book.
Since many introductory SLA courses are likely to attempt to cover

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84 Review article

both L1 and L2 acquisition to some extent, it is advantageous for

a book to emphasize L2 acquisition theories by situating them
historically and conceptually with regard to L1 acquisition theories.
In this matter, Mitchell and Myles (1998) have succeeded in
maintaining an interdisciplinary feel without sacrificing focus.
Overall, Mitchell and Myles (1998) live up to their purpose of
introducing novice readers to the diversity of theories of L2
learning from the perspective of the late 1990s and, in their selective
yet inclusive style, they succeed in doing so in an inviting, engaging
way. However, satisfactory and authoritative evaluations of theories
are not found in the book. While this is a flaw in a book that aspires
to be the successor of McLaughlin (1987), it may not be an
unforgivable sin in an introductory SLA book.

V Conclusion
All four books reviewed here are good textbooks for introductory
SLA courses, each with particular strengths for specific audiences.
Gass and Selinker (2001) will appeal to and be most effective with
graduate students in linguistics and applied linguistics programs
with a focus on L2 English and language analysis, and it will equip
them with the skills and analytical sophistication needed to face IL
analysis on their own. Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) will greatly
motivate graduate students in a variety of programs to look at SLA
theory and data with the eye of an apprentice social scientist, and
it will in addition develop in them an awareness of the implications
of SLA research for a number of real world issues with high stakes
(see Tucker, 2000). Both textbooks, however, are by now antiquated
in some respects and will need to be supplemented with additional
materials to account properly for SLA research and theorizing in
the 1990s. Lightbown and Spada (1999) will be a successful textbook
for use with students who aspire to become language teachers. Even
though it is not a textbook on which to rely for an entire course,
students will distil from it a wealth of relevant knowledge to
incorporate into their L2 teaching. Finally, Mitchell and Myles
(1998) is a flexible book that, by content and style, could satisfy and
engage graduate audiences in various disciplines. Being recent in
publication, it has also added to the repertoire of introductory
textbooks a fresh interdisciplinary flavour and a broadened
theoretical scope of SLA that includes not only the universal and
the individual, but also the social in L2 acquisition. Students can
benefit from the use of Mitchell and Myles (1998) as the main
textbook for a course, interspersed with readings that add a more
empirical focus on fundamental SLA topical areas.

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 Review article 85

Do I wish to conclude, then, that the field of SLA is rightly

reflected in its graduate textbooks, whether the ones reviewed here
or the other handful that are available? SLA has expanded its
scope, methods and theoretical epistemologies so greatly in the last
few years that the new generation of SLA graduate textbooks will
probably need to look less like authoritative introductions by single
influential scholars and more like a collection of chapters written
by specialists in each area. Some pedagogical aspects typical of
graduate-level introductory textbooks will need to be enhanced in
the future, particularly pedagogical apparati (review questions,
glossary, application exercises and, why not, a teacher’s manual)
that will allow students to assimilate the wealth of information that
the field of SLA generates. The SLA graduate textbooks of the
future will have superseded the historically given focus of the field
on the acquisition; of L2 morphosyntax and, as is the norm in most
introductory texts to L1 acquisition (e.g., Berko Gleason, 2000),
they will include chapters describing main L2 developmental
findings in phonology, morphosyntax, lexical semantics and
pragmatics. Hopefully, they will also include accessible, focused
treatments on instructed SLA; child L2 acquisition; bilingual
acquisition second dialect acquisition; (simultaneous or sequential)
acquisition of more than two languages; the psycholinguistics of L2
acquisition; and language attrition. These topics, which are missing
from currently available introductory SLA texts, are nevertheless
some of the areas that are of most interest for graduate students in
a range of disciplines. They attest to the complexities of L2
acquisition in our modern societies and schools, and they surely are,
together with the topics and theories highlighted in most
introductions, at the heart of the field of SLA.

Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Margaret Thomas and an anonymous reviewer for
their useful feedback on this paper.

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