Fossilization in adult second language acquisition

Zhaohong Han

"This book addresses a fundamental question in second language acquisition research, which is: why are learners, adults in particular, unable to develop the level of competence they aspire to in spite of continuous and sustained exposure to the target language, adequate motivation to learn, and sufficient opportunity for practice? A long and widely held explanation is that fossilization (Selinker, 1972) has occurred somewhere in the course of learning. But what exactly is fossilization? How does it relate to the above question? By means of a macroscopic and microscopic analysis, the author deconstructs the rhetorical construct and evaluates its empirical basis, and in so doing, provides a window into the nature and the etiology of the lack of success observed across the second language learning community as well as within individual learners. The key issues discussed herein include:...

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