Reddit reviews How Languages are Learned 4e (Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers)

Benny Lewis is a skilled marketer and a clever language learner, but he's not a linguist. There are thousands of people who study second language acquisition in a disciplined way as a scientific field, and I'd trust their insights more than the anecdotal evidence of a single (admittedly talented) individual.

For a beginner's guide to the field, try How Languages Are Learned.

That is a fantastic question. And I'm afraid I can't answer it very well.

If I have to pick just one it would be a book --> How languages are learned by Lightbown and Spada. It's not TESOL specifically, but it is a wonderful (and wonderfully written) introduction into applied linguistics and TESOL, with both theoretical and sociolinguistic perspectives.

In terms of single articles, John Swales' "English as tyrannosaurus rex" article is a great presentation of some of the issues involved with the global spread of English and its (neo)colonial impacts. [note: Brutt-Griffler from Suny Buffalo wrote a great counter to this later on, but that's another story...]

Pennycook's "Introduction: Critical approaches to TESOL" is a great introduction of critical theory to the field.

Norton's 1995 "Social Identity, Investment, and Language Learning" arguably introduced poststructuralism into TESOL - a field almost completely driven by cognitive based SLA perspectives up to that point.

Jim Cummins' BICS vs CALP distinction has made a profound difference in how EAL programs and mainstream classes in the west are dealing with students' development of 'multiliteracies' --> Cummins, J. (2003). BICS and CALP: Origins and rationale for the distinction. In C. B. Paulston & G. R. Tucker (Eds.), Sociolinguistics: The essential readings (pp. 322-328). London: Blackwell.

Man - there are tons of others. I don't know where to begin (or stop!). Fantastic question though - thanks. I need to consider this more.

Here is the desktop version of your link

Studies have shown that, in a foreign language context, adolescents learn the fastest during the first year. Adults are second fastest, beating out young children for at least the first year up to the first 5 years of study. After 5 years, the students who started as adolescents had still made the most progress in learning. Also, after 5 years, learners who started as children had surpassed those who started as adults. The reason adults and adolescents learn faster in the beginning is because of their higher meta-linguistic awareness compared to children. Also, they're more aware of their own learning styles, and how to learn in the most efficient way for themselves.

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