The shifting paradigms in second language research

Abstract

This paper first looks at the psychological oriented tradition in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and in spite of the valuable contributions made, the number of shortcomings in the explanation of how people learn a language. There has been a shift in paradigm in terms of research into SLA in the last few decades, in that a more socially oriented explanation of language learning is seen as equally important for a complete account of how language acquisition and development takes place. Research into SLA from this perspective would involve looking at how contexts of learning differ, the cultural and social characteristics of learners in varying contexts, the needs for and attitudes towards the language being learnt in those contexts.