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ModLangJ83 67 273

O n e theoretical commitment made in the discussion is potentially misleading. Concepts are non-explanatory, creating a rather "black box" interpretation of language acquisition. Practitioners should find this book extremely useful, enlightening, and enjoyable.

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40 views1 page

ModLangJ83 67 273

O n e theoretical commitment made in the discussion is potentially misleading. Concepts are non-explanatory, creating a rather "black box" interpretation of language acquisition. Practitioners should find this book extremely useful, enlightening, and enjoyable.

Uploaded by

Qirman
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Reviews: M LJ , 67 (Autumn 1983)

interested readers will pursue specific issues that are sketched out in this survey. O n e theoretical commitment made in the discussion is potentially misleading in that it is presented as more factual than hypothetical. T h e authors suggest that "three internal factorsn are responsible for second-language acquisition-"the filter," "the organizer," and "the monitor." These factors are then hypostatized as psychological constructs and endowed with certain processing capabilities. The problem is that these concepts are non-explanatory, creating a rather "black box" interpretation of language acquisition. As organizing principles, however, they are very useful. It is helpful, for example, to consider issues such as motivation and personality together under some notion of "filter," and errors and corrections under some notion of "monitor." To some extent, the authors do this in the chapter discussing these "internal processes"; it might have been interesting to extend this organization to the entire book, relating all the issues to this framework. T h e only concern is that the nonspecialist reader might overinterpret the psychological reality of these concepts as they are presented. A word of caution to the reader would suffice. T h e book appears to address two types of audiences: practicing teachers and student researchers. T h e needs of the former seem to be better satisfied than those of the latter. For students, the book provides an excellent introduction to the field and background reference, particularly in the context of other courses or other fields of study. Specialists in second-language acquisition will find the text too thin and the references too sparse. Practitioners, on the other hand, should find this book extremely useful, enlightening, and enjoyable. The more technical sections and methodological discussions should enhance their understanding and appreciation of research. The authors have successfully untangled some of the complexity and mystery of second-language acquisition without destroying the integrity of the whole and at the same time led the reader to critically question some of our commonsense mythology about this process.

DULAY, H E I D I , M A R I N A B U R T & STEPHEN KRASHEN. Language T w o . New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1982. Pp. xv, 315. Paper.

It is difficult to write a textbook in a n area about which most people, including practitioners, believe they already know a great deal. It is especially difficult when the popular mythology tends to be more fallacious than accurate. It is against this background that Dulay, Burt, and Krashen have attempted to conduct a n objective walk through the exceedingly complex terrain of second-language acquisition. T h e result is an admirably coherent and relatively unbiased account of major issues in the field. T h e book, written in clear and careful language, defines technical terms where necessary, and makes few assumptions about the reader's prior knowledge. The topics covered follow a loosely organized survey of major influences on second-language acquisition, paying attention to both internal processing and external environmental factors. There is some unevenness- the interpretation of errors, for example, is particularly interesting and thoughtful, while the interpretation of the effects of attitude and motivation is somewhat cursory. I n sum, the chapters provide a taxonomy of relevant factors that need to be addressed in order to understand aspects of second-language acquisition. Presumably,

ELLEN BIALYSTOK

York University

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