L2 Acquisition and Learning

Recommended Prerequisites

Level C1 in Portuguese is a prerequisite for all courses in the program.

Teaching Methods

Drawing on students' personal experiences as native speakers and as non-native speakers of languages as a starting point, theoretically sustained definitions of basic concepts result from reading assignments and class discussions. The concept of interlanguage is addressed using a hands-on approach with data selected from reliable and accessible P L2 production corpora.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completing  the course, the student is expected to:

1. General skills:

- be able to define, with guided supervision, adequate research goals;

- be capable of selecting, with autonomy, credible and relevant information in the light of the research goals defined;

- plan and write an essay/report on the research carried out, and to present it orally.

2. Specific skills:

- master the core concepts covered in the syllabus;

- apply explicit criteria in identifying  subtypes of non-monolingual speakers of Portuguese;

- acknowledge the differences between language acquisition and language learning considering underling cognitive processes;

- identify specific properties of L2 development and the critical language structures for non-native learners of Portuguese

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. Basic concepts: native language, (NL), non-native language (NNL) - foreign language (FL) and second language (SL); L1/A e L2/B; non native variety of a colonial language, creole, heritage language.

2. Bilingualism(s): towards a typology of PL2 learners;

3. Acquisition and learning of L1/NL and L2/NNL.

4. Interlanguage(s):

4.1. L1 transfer and L1 non-dependent mechanisms;

4.2. the role of different types of input.

Head Lecturer(s)

Cristina dos Santos Pereira Martins

Assessment Methods

Assessement
Other: 20.0%
Synthesis work: 30.0%
Research work: 50.0%

Bibliography

Doughty, C. J. & Long, M. H. (Eds.) (2003). The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Malden: Blackwell.

Gass, S. & Selinker, L. (2008). Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course. NY: Routledge.

Leiria; I. (2006). Léxico, aquisição e ensino do Português europeu língua não materna. Lisboa: FCG/FCT.

Martins, C. (ed.).  (n.d.) Corpus de Produções Escritas de Aprendentes de PL2 (PEAPL2/CELGA). Retrieved from http://www.uc.pt/fluc/rcpl2/

Martins, C. & Pereira, I. (2011) Metodologias de ensino de PL2 à medida dos aprendentes. In C. Flores (Ed.), Múltiplos Olhares Sobre o Bilinguismo (pp. 45-65). Braga: Húmus.

Selinker, L. (1972) Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 10(3), 209-231.