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This book demystifies language learning theories and offers clear explanations, interactive exercises, and summary tables to help students connect theory with practice. It explores key frameworks such as Behaviorism, Innatism, and Constructivism, as well as modern perspectives like Chaos-Complexity Theory. Through an engaging structure, each chapter unpacks fundamental theories, debates, and real-world applications and highlights critical topics like learner diversity, automaticity, and sociocultural influences. The book also examines the impact of language learning theories on teaching strategies, classroom materials, and curriculum design. Practical examples, in-class activities, and digital resources including YouTube references enhance understanding and encourage active learning. Designed for undergraduate, graduate, and even postgraduate students, this essential guide balances academic rigour with accessibility, making it a valuable resource for those studying second language acquisition, applied linguistics, and language teaching. Whether new to the field or a specialist, readers will gain the tools to critically engage with research and classroom methodologies.
List of contents
Preface.- Introduction.- Chapter 1: Behaviourism in language learning .- Chapter Two: Innatism in Language Learning.- Chapter Three: Constructivism and Language Learning.- Chapter Four: Input Hypothesis in Language Learning.- Chapter Five: Output Hypothesis in Language Learning.- Chapter Six: The Noticing Hypothesis in Second Language Learning.- Chapter Seven: Automaticity in Language Learning.- Chapter Eight: Learners' Diversity in Language Learning.- Chapter Nine: Connectionism and Language Learning.- Chapter Ten: Sociocultural Theories to Language Learning.- Chapter Eleven: Emergentism and language learning.- Chapter Twelve: Chaos-Complexity Theory and language learning.- Concluding Remarks.
About the author
Amin Shahini is an educator, researcher, and author specializing in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). With a PhD in TEFL and extensive teaching experience across universities and colleges in Canada and Iran, he has contributed to language learning research and published on educational methodologies and digital learning tools.
Summary
This book demystifies language learning theories and offers clear explanations, interactive exercises, and summary tables to help students connect theory with practice. It explores key frameworks such as Behaviorism, Innatism, and Constructivism, as well as modern perspectives like Chaos-Complexity Theory. Through an engaging structure, each chapter unpacks fundamental theories, debates, and real-world applications and highlights critical topics like learner diversity, automaticity, and sociocultural influences. The book also examines the impact of language learning theories on teaching strategies, classroom materials, and curriculum design. Practical examples, in-class activities, and digital resources—including YouTube references—enhance understanding and encourage active learning. Designed for undergraduate, graduate, and even postgraduate students, this essential guide balances academic rigour with accessibility, making it a valuable resource for those studying second language acquisition, applied linguistics, and language teaching. Whether new to the field or a specialist, readers will gain the tools to critically engage with research and classroom methodologies.
