Focusing on key areas of Second Language Acquisition, this book explores multilingualism, the impact of teaching, and the cognitive processes involved in managing multiple languages. It also examines patterns of language development and decline, providing valuable insights into how individuals learn and use languages throughout their lives.
How has applied linguistics been defined and how has the field developed over the last 30 years? Who were the leaders that pushed the agenda? What were the main themes in research? Why did formal linguistic theories lose so much ground and the interest in more socially oriented approaches grow? What has been the impact on language teaching? Adopting a theme-based approach, this book answers these questions, and more, to build up a history of the field from 1980, based on interviews with 40 leading international figures, as well as questionnaires from a further 50 key applied linguists.