Understanding Second Language Acquisition (2nd ed)

by Rod Ellis

  vertical variability This refers to the differences in learner language evident from one time to another. It reflects the development that is taking place in the learner’s interlanguage. It has been proposed that vertical variability mirrors the horizontal variability evident at a particular stage of development.

  weak-interface position This acknowledges a disassociation between explicit and implicit knowledge but suggests that explicit knowledge plays a role in the processes involved in implicit learning—for example, by priming attention to linguistic exemplars in the input. Thus explicit knowledge contributes indirectly to the development of implicit knowledge.

  working memory Working memory is where the key processes of perception, attention, and rehearsal take place. It is believed to play a central role in L2 acquisition and provides a link with long-term memory. There are different models of working memory but the model that figures most strongly in SLA research is the limited capacity model.

  Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) This refers to ‘the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers’ (Vygotsky 1978: 86). It is a term used in sociocultural SLA. Learning occurs when a zone of proximal development is constructed for the learner through mediation of one kind of another.

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