Difficulty and Complexity of Language Features and Second Language Instruction

Since the mid-1990s applied linguistics and SLA research have given increasing attention to how instruction affects language features, such as forms, items, structures, patterns, and rules, and whether some features are more effectively instructed than others. These issues are of relevance to various stakeholders. For SLA researchers, knowing how the nature of the input stimulus interacts with the human cognitive-processing and learning mechanisms is important for constructing a comprehensive theory of language acquisition. Keywords: grammar; language features; language teaching; second language acquisition

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