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BookReportTheStudyofSecondLanguageAcquisition(SecondEdition)ByRodEllisShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress,2014,1142pp,78yuanISBN978-7-5446-3388-8IntroductionProfessorRodEllisisthedeputyheadoftheDepartmentofAppliedLanguageStudiesandLinguisticsattheUniversityofAuckland,NewZealand.Heisaleadingtheoristoftask-basedlanguagelearning.Thisbookiswrittenfortwomainkindsofreaders.OneisstudentsofSLAresearch—thosebeginningtheirstudyofL2acquisitionandwhowishtoobtainanunderstandingoftheSLA.ThesecondkindofreaderistheSLAresearcher.Withtheproposingoftheconcept‘interlanguage,’SLAhasbecomeanindependentdisciplinaryandmanyofitsresearchachievementshavebeenappliedintotheteachingpracticewhichobtainedgreateffects.AsagraduatestudentmajoringinEnglish,learningfromthisbookwillbenefitusalot.MainchapterofthisbookThisbookisaltogether1142pageswhichmakeitimpossibleformetoreadandunderstanditinonesemester,soIchooseseveralchaptersthatI’minterestedin.Now,Iwillintroducethemaincontentsofthesechaptersinthefollowingparts:PartoneprovidesthebackgroundagainstwhichthestoryissketchedofhowSLAasafieldhasdevelopedtothepresentday.Beginningwithanintroduction,Ellisillustrate“whatisSLA”inchapteronebypresentinganumberofcasestudies.Hethenprovidesaframeworkwithinwhichheexploresthefield.Thisisthechapterthatnotonlysetsthetonebutalsolaysouttheblueprintforwhattheensuingchaptersfollow.PartthreeandpartfourareconcernedwithhowSLAisexplained.EllisfirstaddressestheexternalfactorstobeconsideredinChapter6and7.Chapter6examinestherelationshipofinputandinteractiontoSLA,wherethemethodsemployed(e.g.descriptivemethods,experimentalmethods,self-reportmethods,andintrospectivemethods)forinvestigatinginputandinteractionarereviewedandrelevantfindingsonL1andL2acquisitionarediscussed.WhenhemovesontoelaborateonthesocialaspectsofSLAinchapter7,Ellisputemphasisonmajorrecenttheoreticalexpositions,includingtheinter-groupmodels,languagesocializationandsoon.Inthispart,Imainlyfocusonthelearningofchapter9.Keyconceptsinsocioculturaltheorysuchasmediatedlearning,mediationthroughsocialinteraction,privatespeechandnewdevelopmentinSLAresearch,includingcorrectivefeedback,collaborativedialoguing,andmetatalk,whichareessentialtoactivitytheory,areallnewperspectivestotheconventionalSLAresearchersandarecoveredinthischapter.Partfivehasonlyonechapterandreaderswillenjoysomelight-heatedreadinginthelesstechnicalnatureofthecontentaswellasitscloserrelationshipstoclassroompractice.Individuallearnerdifferencessuchasintelligence,workingmemory,languageaptitude,learningstyle,personality,motivation,anxiety,learningstrategy,andtherelativelynewadditiontothefield,willingnesstocommunicate,alongwithlearningstrategies,areaddressedinchapter13.Despitetheunequalweightingsgiventothedifferentfactors,Ellishasbeenverysuccessfulinupdatingreaderonhowtheresearchcommunitytakesstockofresearchon“willingnesstocommunicate”bylookingatitssituatedanddynamicnature.TheabovearethechaptersIfocusedoninthissemester,otherpartsofthisbookmainlyconcernedwiththecognitiveandpsycholinguisticaspectswhicharebeyondmycurrentunderstandinglevel,soIhopeIcanfinishthereadingofthisbookinthenextsemester.TheevaluationofthisbookAstothegeneraldesignofthisbook,itisreader-friendlyinnpenmanshipandlucidityinexposition.Itsclearorganizationmakesitpossibleforthereaderstocatchthemainpointofeachchapter.Theuniquefeatureofthisbookisthatittakesstockofcurrentthinkinganditdoesn’tevaluatethestandorfallofanykindofpointofview.Theauthor’smacro-viewofSLArequiresfromreadersadeeperlevelofintellectualengagementandcriticalthinkingaboutwhatandhowtheSLAshouldbe,asEllisapproachesthesetheoriesbysubjectingallofthemtorelativelyunbiasedscrutiny.Inoneword,frequentlywrittenandsystematicallypresented,withmanytablessummarizingresearchfindingsinvariouschapters,peoplenomatterwhatlevelyouarecandefinitelylearnandbenefitalotfromthisbook.GainsandreflectionAfterreadingthisbook,Ireallylearnedalotfromit.First,Ihaveabetterunderstandingonthecurrentresearchstatusofsecondlanguageacquisitionabroadaswellastheup-to-dateresearchtrends.Second,Ilearnedalotofresearchmethodsfromitwhichisusefulformetoconductmyresearch.Finally,Imakeclearmyfutureresearchdirection.Atthesametime,Ican’thelpthinkingwhyChinadoesn’thaveanybookswhichenjoytheinternationalinfluence.TheresearchofSLAabroadstartedbackin1960s.Thewholedevelopmentexperiencedthefollowingstages:contrastiveanalysis,erroranalysis,interlanguage,morphemeacquisition,UGandSLA,linguistictypology,corpuslinguistics.However,theSLAresearchstartedratherlateinChina.Thoughgreatachievementshavebeenachieved,littleofthemhavebeenappliedtotheteachingpractice.Inaword,nowadays,theresearchtrendsfocusonstudyingSLAfromtheperspectiveofcognitionandusingtheresearchmethodofcorps.Astotheresearchmethod,高一虹onceconductedasurvey.TheresearchresultisthatinChinesejournals,theexperimentalresearchonlytakes22percentwhile57percentinEnglishjournalswhichshowsabiggap.InSLAresearch,themethodcanbeclassifiedintotwocategories:qualitativeresearchandquantitativeresearch.Theformerincludescasestudy,naturalisticobservation,introspect