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Language Learning Resources

Introducing Second Language Acquisition

Muriel Saville-Troike Written for students encountering the topic for the first time, this is a clear and practical introduction to Second Language Acquisition (SLA). It explains in nontechnical language how a second language is acquired; what the second language learner needs to know; and why some learners are more successful than others.  Introducing Second Language […]

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Language Learning Resources

Language Learning Orientation for Learners and Teachers

Dwight Gradin, Mission Training International (http://www.mti.org/) If you see language learning as an academic course of study, you will approach it that way. Some people have only one model, one way to engage any intense learning experience: “Hit the books; study like mad; cram at the last minute.” Hopefully, the following will give you a better way to […]

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Language Learning Resources

The Redemptive Dimension of Language Learning

Lyman Campbell, Version 1.0, July 2006 This introduction follows naturally from Thomson’s (2005) Introduction to the Sociocultural Dimension, in which the author developed a picture of the language learner as a growing participator involved in a process of unfolding as a person within the experience of host people. He argued against reifying language, that is, viewing a language as […]

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Language Learning Resources

Suggested Websites for Students

Below is a long list of a variety of resources available online. We hope they’re helpful! Pronunciation http://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/index.html#english The #1 phonetics website. Includes cellphone app and web based app. Here are a few sites with minimal pairs. The first three have sound files. http://www.shiporsheep.com/ http://www.manythings.org/pp/ https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/minimal-pairs.htm http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=134:mp2&catid=9:resources&Itemid=108 Listening http://www.esl-lab.com/ Lots of listening exercises with downloadable […]

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Language Learning Resources

Language Learning and Acquisition Resources

Greg Thomson. “An Introduction to the Socio-cultural Dimension of Language Learning” Lyman Campbell. “The Redemptive Dimension of Language Learning” Dwight Gradin, Mission Training International. “Language Learning Orientation for Learners and Teachers” Muriel Saville-Troike, “Introducing Second Language Acquisition” Written for students encountering the topic for the first time, this is a clear and practical introduction to […]

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Intercultural Compentencies Language Learning Resources

Introduction to the Socio-cultural Dimension of Language Learning

By Greg Thomson, Version .9, December 2006 LANGUAGE LEARNING IN THE FIRST DIMENSION For school-educated people around the world, understanding language learning from a socio-cultural viewpoint requires quite a change in thinking.[1] So get ready! In fact, I find the issues in this dimension of language learning much more difficult to grasp initially than those connected […]