PAST EVENT - Evening Seminar on Explicit-Implicit Knowledge in Second Language Acquisition 

The Centre for Multilingual & Multicultural Research
Birkbeck, University of London

Time:              7:30 to 9:00 pm, Monday 27 June 2011  
Venue:            Room 417, main Birkbeck building in Malet Street
Admission:      Entry is free and offered on a first come, first seated basis.

As part of this seminar there will be two presentations.  The first presentation will be given by Peter Skehan, Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Auckland and Honorary Research Fellow within the Department of Applied Linguistics & Communication. He is interested in second language acquisition, especially task based performance and instruction, language testing, and foreign language aptitude. The second presentation will be given by Dr Rosemary Erlam who is a Senior Lecturer within the University of Auckland. She is interested in form-focused instruction, teacher education, and instructed second/foreign language learning in the New Zealand school system.

Professor Peter Skehan :
Foreign Language Aptitude Revisited Again?

Abstract 
‘Classical’ foreign language aptitude assumed the existence of a specific ability for language learning which was analysable into distinct components, e.g. phonemic coding ability, memory, language analytic ability. This viewpoint, useful for predictions of success and some suggestions for instructional methods adaptation, languished when perceived as detached from communicative language teaching. More recently however there has been a resurgence in interest in aptitude, and this presentation will review these latest developments.

Dr Rosemary Erlam :
Elicited imitation as a measure of L2 implicit language knowledge 

Abstract
The validity of elicited imitation (EI) as a measure of implicit language knowledge or of interlanguage rests on the premise that it requires test takers to process language stimuli and reconstruct it using their own grammar before reproducing it (Erlam 2006). This presentation describes some recent innovations in EI tests that enhance the likelihood that test takers focus on meaning.

If you have any queries please contact our Administrator, Kevin Michael Smith.