Prolegomena to Second Language Learning

Abstract

The aim here is to discuss the ‘second language’ in second language acquisition (SLA) research. The phrase ‘second language learning’ involves three parameters of variation: the nature of language, the nature of a second language and the nature of learning. Prolegomena are the preliminary matters to be considered before the main work, as in Hjelmslev (1943, 1961) Prolegomena to a Theory of Linguistics. This chapter argues that discussions of learning depend on what is learnt — language — and what makes a language ‘second’. Virtually no book on SLA today defines these two terms more extensively than the odd footnote on second versus foreign language learning. Yet they are the rationale for the existence of second language acquisition as a distinct area of enquiry. As VanPatten and Williams (2007: 7) say, ‘Any theory about second language acquisition needs to be clear what it means by language’.