Theories of Language Acquisition – Key References (APA Style)

Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal behavior. Appleton-Century-Crofts.

(Behaviorist theory)

Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax. MIT Press.

(Nativist / Universal Grammar)

Chomsky, N. (1986). Knowledge of language: Its nature, origin, and use. Praeger.

Piaget, J. (1959). The language and thought of the child. Routledge.

(Cognitive development)

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.

(Sociocultural theory)

Bruner, J. S. (1983). Child’s talk: Learning to use language. Oxford University Press.

(Interactionist approach)

Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Pergamon.

(Input Hypothesis)

Long, M. H. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. C. Ritchie & T. K. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 413–468). Academic Press.

(Interaction Hypothesis)

Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible output. In S. Gass & C. Madden (Eds.), Input in second language acquisition (pp. 235–253). Newbury House.

(Output Hypothesis)

Ellis, R. (2008). The study of second language acquisition (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2013). How languages are learned (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Tomasello, M. (2003). Constructing a language: A usage-based theory of language acquisition. Harvard University Press.

Rumelhart, D. E., & McClelland, J. L. (1986). Parallel distributed processing: Explorations in the microstructure of cognition. MIT Press.

(Connectionism)

Gass, S. M., & Mackey, A. (2015). Input, interaction, and output in second language acquisition. Routledge.

Ortega, L. (2013). Understanding second language acquisition. Routledge.