ABSTRACT
There are two situations in which the learning of a second or foreign language typically takes place. The first is where the individual, usually but not inevitably a child, lives in an environment in which more than one language is used under conditions which lead to that individual becoming in some degree bilingual. The ensuing bilingualism is often referred to as natural since, given appropriate conditions, failure to learn the language would be the exception. It is also natural in the sense that the social and linguistic environment is not being manipulated in any way so as to promote the learning of one or both of the languages. In contrast, the other situation is one in which the learning is tutored, typically as part of the curriculum of an educational establishment. This is the typical foreign language learning of schools and colleges. While natural bilingualism is far more common world-wide than is apparent to those living in largely monolingual communities, it is tutored language learning which is the object of substantial educational planning and research and to which the greater human and economic resources are devoted. For this reason it is such language learning which primarily concerns us here, although we cannot ignore what is known about natural bilingualism, since people's views of how languages are learned ‘naturally’ have always influenced their views of the ways in which they should be taught.
