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Previous student research

Click here for a separate listing of previous student research topics and research paper references.

Goals of the course

By the end of the seminar, students should have a clear understanding of the cognitive and psychological processes by which second languages are acquired and used by second language learners. Students should also be capable of utilizing various practical techniques to teach a second language, and also understand basic research methods to examine the effectiveness of those teaching techniques.

Summary

This seminar will introduce students to second language acquisition and second language teaching and research methods. We will begin by first examining how first language is learned by children, touching upon the main theories of language acquisition. Next, we will discuss some conditions of second language learning, which will include concepts such as interlanguage and first language interference as well as second language analysis methods such as error analysis and contrastive analysis. We then will move on to an examination of various second language teaching techniques and approaches, including content-based learning, communicative learning, and the role of corrective feedback and peer scaffolding.

A special focus of the seminar will be an investigation of the influence of individual differences on second language acquisition. Students will have the opportunity to examine non-linguistic aspects of language learning such as motivation, anxiety, personality, group dynamics, learning styles, strategy usage, learning beliefs, and language learning aptitude. Students will also learn basic quantitative educational statistics, such as the use of descriptive statistics and how to compare two or three groups, as well as basic qualitative methods of research, such as interview and case study coding analysis. 

Please check the information available on the main College of Letters, Department of Communication website regarding requirements and assessment of this course.