Fossilization in Adult Second Language Acquisition

Abstract

Most non-native speakers would agree that it is sometimes frustrating to communicate in another language. Many have embarrassing stories about how they have been misunderstood or have not been able to convey their intended messages at all. In the field of second language acquisition (SLA), there is little doubt that native-like mastery of a second language (L2) by adult non-native speakers is hard to attain (Bley-Vroman, 1989; Schachter, 1988). Failure in some aspects of the language is to be expected, and this is the reason why the nature of this failure has to be investigated thoroughly. Fossilization in Adult Second Language Acquisition takes a long step towards shedding light onto the nature of failure. This book offers a systematic analysis of fossilization, a phenomenon which occurs despite continuous exposure to the target language input, sufficient motivation to improve, and ample opportunity to practice.