Undergraduate - UnitATS3682 - Second language acquisition and attrition

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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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

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

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Linguistics
Offered	Not offered in 2015
Coordinator(s)	Dr Howard Manns

Synopsis

The unit explores social factors in second language acquisition, the nature of first, second and bilingual acquisition, early and late language learning, the nature of interlanguage, cognitive, interactionist and sociocultural models of language and general learning, language attrition, individual differences in language learning, and the role of formal instruction in the language classroom.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the unit students will be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the major applied linguistic theories that have influenced the field of second language acquisition;
Understand the role of the individual learner differences in second language learning;
Evaluate the role of internal and external factors in language learning;
Analyse a learner's language;
Apply all these understandings to the practice of enabling learners to learn and acquire a second language in both formal and informal contexts;
Relate the research literature to their own and others' second language acquisition experience.

In addition a more in-depth critical appreciation of the theoretical underpinnings of second language acquisition and the research literature at third year level.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 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 Howard Manns

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

Linguistics

Prerequisites

A cornerstone unit in Linguistics

Prohibitions

ATS2682, ATS2101, ATS3101, GRN2130 or GRN3130, ATS2041, ATS3041, ITA2550, ITA3550, MGR3550 or SPN3550