Principles and Practice

Apuntes

Chapter I Introduction: The Relationship of Theory to Practice The purpose of this book is to take a new look at an old question: the relationship between second language teaching practice and what is known about the process of second language acquisition. The usual way to do this is to discuss some research results first, outline a possible theory, and then list some implications. I will, to some extent, follow this plan. A significant portion of this book is, in fact, devoted to summarizing the current state of second language acquisition theory as I see it. Following this, I will draw some general conclusions about application to methods and materials, and eventually describe what characteristics effective materials should have. Before going through this exercise, however, it is important to state in advance that "theory" and "theoretical research" should not be the only input into deciding on methodology and materials. While my emphasis here is on theory and its implications, it is dangerous to rely only on theory. There are at least three different ways of arriving at answers in methodology and materials, and we must consider all of them. I will d...