Foreign Language Input ― Initial Processing

Rast (English and linguistics, The American U. of Paris) presents findings from a study exploring the language input that second language (L2) learners receive and what they do with it. Focusing on the absolute beginning of L2 acquisition, from the moment of first exposure to the target language (TL) through the eight hours that follow, the study analyzes data from university-level French native speakers attending a specially designed Polish course who had absolutely no prior knowledge of the TL. The study offers language acquisition researchers and language teachers insights into certain aspects of the initial stages of L2 acquisition which have received little prior attention, such as what knowledge is brought to the L2 acquisition process and how that knowledge is used by a learner to process new linguistic information, and the role of input and intake at this early stage. Distributed in the U.S. by UTP Distribution. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Rebekah Rast teaches English and Linguistics at The American University of Paris. She has published in the field of second and third language acquisition and conducts research in collaboration with the interdisciplinary CNRS research team Language, Cognition et Developpement (UMR 7023), based at the Universite Paris VIII. Her research interests include second and additional language acquisition, as well as the interface between language acquisition and teaching.