Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, Fifth Edition, by H. Douglas Brown, is the classic second language acquisition text used by teacher education programs worldwide. Principles introduces key concepts through definitions of terms, thought-provoking questions, charts, and spiraling. New "Classroom Connections" encourage students to consider the implications of research for classroom pedagogy. An up-to-date bibliography and new glossary provide quick access to important works and key terminology in the field. The fifth edition takes a comprehensive look at foundations of language teaching through discussions of the latest research in the field, including: *Vygotsky's and Bakhtin's theories *Thorndike's law of effect *error treatment, noticing, recasts *intercultural communication *language policy and politics *corpus linguistics *"hot topics" in SLA *connectionism and emergentism *flow theory, willingness to communicate *strategies-based instruction *contrastive rhetoric *attribution theory, self-efficacy *output hypothesis Also by H.Douglas Brown: Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices Strategies for Success: A Practical Guide to Learning English

Customer Rating:
Summary: The New 5th Edition
Comment: Given the heavy-duty subject matter, Brown's "Principles of Language Learning and Teaching" is probably about as good as it gets. It's definitely not a book of general interest, but rather a compendium of the various theories that have influenced and shaped the teaching of second languages in the 20th century. It's slow going, but after a one semester course during which I plowed through and digested the material, I've gained a general understanding of the theory behind the practice. Babyboomers like me who had an unhappy second language experience in school will smile while reading Brown's explanations of the theories of the 50's, 60's and 70's, and why so many of us became discouraged. As a teacher of ESL now, I can only say things have improved a lot. In this new edition, Brown has included a section in the last chapter on current hot topics in the field. But again, this is for professionals or students, not general readers.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: scholarly and thorough
Comment: H Douglas Brown, no stranger to the TESOL community, offers scholarly information about issues in teaching English as Second Language. Scholarly language interspersed with plain English from a real person.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A great theoretical review.
Comment: I bought this book to help me review theories of language acquisition. It is well-written and an easier read than the textbook I bought for my TESL methodology course. I recommend this book to anyone reviewing for a TESL comprehensive exam. It is not the book for you if you are looking for practical teaching tips.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: if its complex and difficult then why write a book
Comment: this is the best, i search for learning languages and i get only three books. if learning languages is a difficult task then why am i wasting my time reading reviews. no duh, if i have to learning the basics but where's the magic that 'hoshi' can understand the structure of languages she's never heard of before. ensign hoshi from star trek: enterprise.
i guess she's a genius and learning multiple languages quickly is not for the ordinary person. no way i'm paying $56 bucks for something i already know.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: boring and verbose
Comment: This book makes me wonder what other books are written on this subject that my professor could have chosen. It is a dreary and obfuscating treatise on what should be an interesting subject.

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