Rod Ellis provides readers with a comprehensive review of this important area of applied linguistics. He does not take up a particular stance, but examines different theories of second language acquisition and the critical reactions to them.
1. Key issues in Second Language Acquistion
2. The role of the first language
3. Interlanguage and the 'natural' route of development
4. Variability in interlanguage
5. Individual learner differences and Second Language Acquistion
6. Input, interaction, and Second Language Acquistion
7. Learner strategies
8. The Universal Hypothesis and Second Language Acquistion
9. The role of formal instruction in Second Language Acquistion
10. Theories of Second Language Acquistion