Input Matters in SLA (Second Language Acquisition, 35)

This volume bridges the knowledge gap between second language acquisition researchers and second language pedagogy professionals in its focus on a topic of mutual interest: input. The reader-friendly contributions from seasoned researchers including Stephen Krashen, Bill VanPatten and new voices offer a wide range of existing and new perspectives on the matter of input. A rare feature of the book is that it includes extensive coverage by experts including James Flege and Alene Moyer of the acquisition of the sound system of a second language, where input seems to matter most. Those who are just making their acquaintance with second language acquisition research or updating their knowledge will find the editors’ introductory chapter on past and current issues in the field particularly useful.

Thorsten Piske is Professor of Foreign Language Learning and Teaching at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany.

Martha Young-Scholten, PhD University of Washington, Seattle, is professor of second language acquisition at Newcastle University. Since the 1980s, she has conducted research on the generative-linguistics-based L2 acquisition of morphosyntax and phonology, focusing on adults  acquiring their L2 naturalistically. For the last decade she has been investigating the reading development of migrant adults with limited home language literacy. She has been involved in Grundtvig and Erasmus+ projects: 2013-2015, the Digital Literacy Instructor, as partner, and 2010-2018, as coordinator of EU-Speak. She co-directs with a creative writing colleague the Simply Cracking Good Stories project on L2 pleasure reading for adult beginners.