Speaking and Instructed Foreign Language Acquisition

This volume offers comprehensive analysis of speaking skills as one of the most important issues in instructed foreign language acquisition. The nature and development of speaking are not only discussed here from theoretical and practical perspectives but are also well-illustrated with examples of empirical studies in the area.

* Professor Danuta Gabryś-Barker, University of Silesia, Poland *

This book explores the complexity of acquisition of speaking ability as an instructed foreign language skill. Developing speaking ability in a foreign language involves acquisition of many subsystems which are then used in various social situations with a simultaneous focus on comprehension and production. At the same time, instructed acquisition suffers from limited access to the target language and natural speaking conditions which have to be compensated for by pedagogical procedures. The majority of those issues are the topics of the empirical studies presented in the book. In this way, this volume is probably the most exhaustive study on the subject.

* Professor Emeritus Janusz Arabski, Department of English, University of Silesia *

The development of oral skills, particularly in a FL, is complicated by a number of social and cognitive factors. The edited volume "Speaking and instructed foreign language acquisition" is an excellent testimony to this and is thus an invaluable contribution to our understanding of current ideas and topics on the acquisition of oral skills in FL settings. Unlike many other volumes on FL acquisition, the present volume presents theoretical discussions drawing on cognitive and sociocultural perspectives. Given recent efforts to adopt a more holistic approach to the study of language acquisition, readers will enjoy the thorough examination of factors at play.

* Caroline Payant, Department of English, University of Idaho on The LINGUIST List 23.38