Postgraduate - UnitAPG5348 - Second language acquisition

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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12 points, SCA Band 1, 0.250 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Linguistics
Offered	Clayton First semester 2015 (Day) Clayton Second semester 2015 (Online)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Melanie Burns (DE); Dr Robyn Spence-Brown (Day)

Synopsis

The course will address key concepts, theoretical models, accepted approaches and contested frameworks and theories in the rapidly changing field of second language acquisition. Topics covered include models and theories of second language acquisition, first and second language acquisition, error analysis and interlanguage, interlanguage pragmatics, input and interaction, learner strategies, learning styles, cognitive processes, second language identity, learners' rights and methods in SLA research.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

summarize key theoretical debates in relation to second language acquisition, and evaluate relevant empirical evidence;
compare the work of competing theorists, and recognise their role in the development of SLA theory;
reflect on their own language learning experience and classroom practice in the light of theoretical and empirical studies;
evaluate major methodological approaches to the study of second language acquisition;
conduct a major research project on an area of second language acquisition.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 288 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Robyn Spence-Brown

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Applied linguistics

Prerequisites

Two of the following units APG4698, APG4346, APG4020, APG4735, APG5046, APG5042, APG5047, APG5043.