Why Look at SLA Research?
Manfred Pienemann (1995) poses the question, “Why is it important for language teachers to know about language acquisition?” (p. 3). He points out that the study of SLA takes the perspective of focusing on the learner rather than the learning environment. Looking at the learner and the language acquisition processes provides information on what learners normally do or do not do and what can and cannot be taught. Based on normal patterns of acquisition, teachers should be able to evaluate where their students are in the acquisition process. The study of SLA will also enable teachers to examine a syllabus to determine if the content is geared towards the learner’s level of ability. Pienamann states: “It is important to know what is learnable at what point in time” (1995, p. 4). This is, of course, easier said than done. Lightbown (1998) notes that the heterogeneity of levels in classes is a well-known reality and developmentally targeted teaching would be very difficult to organize. Elli
