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FOSSILIZATION IN ADULT SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2005

Irit Kupferberg
Irit Kupferberg
Affiliation:
Levinsky College of Education
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Extract

FOSSILIZATION IN ADULT SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. ZhaoHong Han. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2004. Pp. vii + 201. $29.95 paper.

Researchers often use metaphors to define abstract or complex phenomena in terms of more familiar concepts (Honeck & Temple, 1992). Fossilization (Selinker, 1972) is a trope coined to conceptualize a widely known but poorly understood characteristic of the majority of adult second language (L2) learners: failure to achieve targetlike competence despite continuous exposure to the target language, adequate motivation to learn, and sufficient opportunity for practice. Challenged by researchers who question the utility of the concept (see the overview in Long, 2003), Han's comprehensive and coherent eight-chapter book provides theoretical and empirical justification for the use of fossilization as an organizing trope (Kupferberg & Green, 1998) that encapsulates the meaning of adult SLA processes.

Type
BOOK REVIEWS
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , December 2005 , pp. 627 - 629
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

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References

REFERENCES

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