ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a short introduction to Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and its relevance for language teachers and language educators. The chapter surveys existing practices and discusses the underlying motivations that explain the diversity of approaches advocated by SLA researchers. The aim is of this chapter is twofold: to expose the complexity of L2 learning research as a multifaceted phenomenon that transcends local practices, and to encourage language teachers and language educators to survey and embrace such complexity as part of a much-needed transdisciplinary approach.
The chapter introduces the concept of fluid SLA when describing the different epistemological traditions that are found in SLA and that explain the rich coexistence of research methods, theories and constructs in one single field. In the chapter, it is argued that language teachers need to come to terms with this complexity as, for different reasons, it would be simplistic to maintain a top-down model that relies on the transmission of knowledge from researchers down to language educators and L2 teachers.
The chapter surveys some of the main contributions to our understanding of language learning as well as recent turns that have challenged the dominant cognitive paradigm in SLA. After exploring the links with L2 pedagogy, the chapter discusses the implications of Usage-based accounts for language learning and teaching.
