NEWS – Dr. Rowena Kasprowicz (Associate Professor of Second Language Education, University of Reading) has recently published a book chapter, titled ‘Metalinguistic awareness in early foreign language learning’

Dr. Rowena Kasprowicz (Associate Professor of Second Language Education, University of Reading) has recently published a book chapter with co-authors Dr. Karen Roehr-Brackin (University of Essex) and Dr. Gee Macrory (Manchester Metropolitan University). The chapter titled ‘Metalinguistic awareness in early foreign language learning’ is published in a book titled ‘How special are early birds? Foreign language teaching and learning’.

The book is a celebration of the academic achievements and scholarship of Professor Florence Myles and the chapters included reflect the influence of Professor Myle’s work in many different areas of second language acquisition research. The chapter focuses on a key question in language learning and teaching regarding the place of form-focused grammar instruction and the related debate about the role of young learners’ knowledge about language (metalinguistic knowledge). In contexts such as England, children starting to learn a foreign language at the age of 7 already have extensive knowledge of their first language, including in relation to their understanding and use of core grammatical terminology. The findings presented within the chapter highlight the value of harnessing young learners’ existing metalinguistic knowledge when introducing and teaching new structures in a foreign language.

The book is edited by Dr. Kevin McManus and Professor Monika Schmid, and is published by Language Science Press as part of the EuroSLA Studies Series. To learn more about this book and Dr. Kasprowicz’s chapters, click here.

 

You can find more about her research interests here. She tweets at @R_E_Kasprowicz.