A Book Review on Principles of Language Learning and Teaching

王曉菲

摘要：This article provides a critical review on one of Browns classic books—Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. It contains a brief introduction of the book， including the aim and the main content of each chapter， followed by a discussion of some advantages and limitations of the book.

關鍵詞：book review; advantages; limitations

1.Introduction

Principles of Language Learning and Teaching is one of Browns （2002） prominent books. As the title of the book suggests， the primary goal of the book is to provide some basic principles for language teaching instructors. Just as Cook （2000） believed that without an understanding of why people need to learn other languages and of how knowledge of other language is learned and stored， teachers will always be less effective than they could be. In order to present a comprehensive， cohesive and profound overview for readers， the book examines and organizes numerous research achievements， especially the achievements in second and foreign language area. There are totally eleven chapters in the book.

Chapter 1 mainly addresses some fundamental issues that form essential foundations of an integrated understanding of second language acquisition. These issues are language， language learning， language teaching， trends in linguistics and psychology， the relationship between applied linguistics and theoretical linguistics， and methods and theories in language teaching. Chapter 2 is designed to outline issues in first language learning as a foundation on which you can build an understanding of principles of second language learning， and chapter 3 makes a comparison between first language acquisition and second language acquisition， including first and second language acquisition in children， holding age constant; second language acquisition in children and adults， holding second language constant; first language acquisition in children and second language acquisition in adults. Chapter 4 looks at cognitive processes by examining the general nature of human learning， and it followed by chapter 5 which further deals with cognitive variations in learning a second language.

The previous two chapters， namely chapter 4 and chapter 5， deal with two facets of the cognitive domain of language learning， while chapter 6 and chapter 7 get involved in two facets of affective domain in second language acquisition. To be specific， chapter 6 introduces the intrinsic side of affectivity， and the concerning factors are self-esteem， inhibition， risk-taking， anxiety， empathy and extroversion. Then character types and measuring on affective factors are presented. On the contrary， chapter 7 discusses the extrinsic side of affectivity， which touches on the relationship between sociocultural aspects and second language acquisition. Chapter 8 explores second language acquisition from the perspective of linguistic systems itself—the units and structures of language， such as contrastive analysis hypothesis， markedness and universal grammar， and studies on interlanguage area. Chapter 9 introduces a number of important theoretical principles of language behavior appearing under the development of communicative language teaching movement. These major issues discussed are on defining communicative competence， pragmatics， language functions， discourse analysis， styles and registers， communicative language teaching， etc. The content of chapter 10 contains two parts in total， several essential concepts and three stages of language testing development. The last chapter critically examines a number of current models and theories of second language acquisition， which is composed of input hypothesis， attention-processing model， analysis model and variation model.

2.Advantages

One highlight of the book is its spiraling approach used for presenting material. A concept may be introduced in one chapter but not explained in details until a later chapter. Or a concept probably is defined in one chapter but its significance and implications on language teaching will be introduced at a later point. For example， learning theories are concluded in chapter 4 as a separate part， but the implications of learning theories are almost covered in each chapter. The affective domain of language study is referred in chapter 3， but a further explanation is given in chapter 6. The distinction between rote and meaningful learning is made in chapter 2 but a definition is not given until chapter 4. The advantage of the spiraling approach is that readers can understand materials presented step by step， rather than depressed by some difficult points at one time. Meanwhile， it can also help readers build a sense of making connections throughout chapters， for some issues are not only discussed in single chapter. Consequently， readers form their own personal understanding of second language acquisition.

Also unique in this book is that each chapter ends with three sections， “In the classroom”， “Suggested Readings” and “Topics and Questions”， each of which serves a certain purpose to the readers. In “In the classroom” section， the author gives some specific information on various pedagogical applications and implications of second language research. Some chapters focus on language teaching method that have been popular at one time or another; others offer some suggestions for future teaching. For example， chapter 5 put that teachers should help students practice learning styles and learning strategies so that they have greater possibility to be a successful learner. Then some suggestions are further provided. “Suggested Readings” is a supplement to the book which can enhance readers understanding of the material in the chapter by broadening their horizon， which consist of well-known scholars， articles and books related to each chapter. This part satisfies readers appetite for a further study. The role played by “Topics and Questions” is also of great importance. For one thing， it reviews key terms， points and issues presented in the chapter， indicating that readers should pay more attention to the core contents. For another， by answering these questions， readers thoughts are possibly provoked. For example， a reader find some questions about learning strategies are difficult， he may go to the library and know that Oxford （2013） outlines a specific conceptual foundation and practical application for language learning strategies. Also， this part provides readers possibility to communicate and cooperate with others. If they are confused or have difficulty in understanding and answering one question， they would seek others for help.

The third merit of the book is its clear and concise design， and good use of tables， figures and charts. It can be noticed that the title of each chapter are bold and centered， and the content of each chapter are also divided into several parts by different subtitles. Therefore， readers attention can be attracted by the clear design. More importantly， these subtitles function as a hint leading readers to explore issues along with the author. As for the use of tables and charts in this book， it can be said that the readability， conciseness and users friendliness of the book are enhanced. Various flow charts， tree diagram， maps， tables and figures can all be found throughout the book. Typically， the terms in these instruments are represented clearly and easy to understand， since humans are generally able to infer meaning from pictures quicker than from text. For example， when the author explains the components of language competence put forward by Bachman （1990）， he resorts to the tree diagram. With the help of the tree diagram， each component of language competence is introduced clearly. Also， it is obvious to observe the intrinsic relationship among these components. Without it， the author may need to write another page to illustrate the complex notion and relationship which could possibly confuse its readers.

3.Limitations

Apart from these merits， the book has some minor flaws. Firstly， although the author puts forward that there is a close relationship among language teaching， linguistics， psychology and pedagogy， few research findings on pedagogical area is introduced in this book. In addition， explanation on the social and cultural aspects is also relatively weak. Secondly， a large number of students actually are leaning a second language under the environment of their mother tongue， and the only way for them to acquire a second language is to study in the classroom. A little research has focused on this issue. Consequently， the book provides little explanation for this part.

4.Summary

In general， this book provides readers a picture of both the essential findings of second language acquisition and reliable knowledge that is now available to us. As readers consider the issues， chapter by chapter， they are led on a quest： a search for their own personal， integrated understanding of how people learn—a second language. No single theory can thoroughly explain the question. Therefore， several disciplinary perspectives are included in the book. The book can be used as a textbook for graduate students or advanced undergraduate students who are seeking training in language teaching. It can also be used for teachers who want to get an overview of theoretical basis in the field.

References

[1] Bachman， L. F. （1990）. Fundamental considerations in language testing. New York： Oxford

University Press.

[2] Brown， H. D. （2002）. Principles of language learning and teaching. Beijing： Foreign language Teaching and Research Press.

[3] Cook， V. （2000）. Linguistics and second language acquisition. Beijing： Foreign language Teaching and Research Press.

[4] Oxford， R. L. （2013）. Teaching and researching language learning strategies. New York， NY： Routledge.