Several informants mention the lack of linguistic sophistication in recent
AL research. Martin Bygate says:
Afinal trend is the absence of much (sometimes of any) sophisticated
linguistics in AL research. The time it has taken for people to start critiquing
and refining the measures used in the CAF (complexity/accuracy/fluency)
studies is an example of this. Similarly, the lack of any sustained critique
of the shallow linguistics used in the early acquisition order studies.His views are endorsed by Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig:“There is less linguis-
tics as the years go by. Applied linguists are less well trained. There are more
and more programs with none of the core linguistic areas.”
6.1.2 Theory construction and Second Language Acquisition (SLA)
Jordan’s book Theory Construction in Second Language Acquisition (2004)
reflects a need in thefield to develop theories of relevant aspects of AL. This
can be seen in the special issue of the journalApplied Linguisticson theory
construction in SSLA (1993). Michael Long (1993) estimates that there are
between 40 and 60 theories of SLA. Jim Lantolf, in his famous“Letting all
theflowers bloom”article inLanguage Learningfrom 1996, pleads for the
allowance of as many theories as needed, but in the interview he took a dif-
ferent position and argued that just as science tries to come up with one big
theory about the universe, AL should also aim at the construction of such
an encompassing theory. Many informants feel that there is no need for one
overarching theory, since thefield consists of many subfields with their own
theories.
For Alister Cumming what is important for thefield is“recognition of the
complex, variable, and multi-faceted dimensions of language learning and of
education rather than any preferred, singular teaching method or uniform
progression of SLA”. This is also mentioned by Lourdes Ortega, who argues
that“the big question we want to answer is: Why is the learning of an
additional language such a complex task?”But she also warns that“to date
we may have focused too much on asking why is it so difficult for adults to
learn a second language, why is L2 learning so different from anything else?”
In her opinion,“these framings of complexity are negative and dangerous,
because they can unwittingly perpetuate a deficiency view of multilingualism
and encourage disciplinary isolationism”.
6.1.3 The relativist/rationalist debate
The fundamental debate between relativists and rationalists is probably one
of thefiercest in the last decades. Jordan’s book and reactions to it (Thomas
2005; Gregg 2005) have sparked that debate and as Jim Lantolf remarked:
“I still have scars from that.”A complete treatment of this debate and its
Main trends I 61