This book defines and reviews five central problems in the study of second language acquisition (SLA): (subconscious) transfer, staged development, cross-learner systematicity, incompleteness, and variability. The central thesis of the text is that linguistic knowledge is an autonomous component of SLA, distinct from the socially determined use of…

This document is part of a series of guides for teachers in which the Division of Bilingual Education of the New York City Board of Education presents a learner-centered model in which the learner sees himself or herself in the story. Learners are able to relive their own experiences or those of their parents or grandparents as they left their own…