Part One General Theories 1
1．What is applied linguistics 1
1）A brief history 1
2）Definition and scope 3
3）The role of applied linguistics 5
4）Theoretical bases 6
5）The nature of applied linguistics 7
6）Applied linguistics and the language teacher 8
2．Language,learning and teaching 10
1）What is language 10
2）What is learning 12
3）What is teaching 15
4）What is the relationship between learning and teaching 16
3．Human learning 19
1）The nature of human learning 19
2）Philosophical bases of learning theories 21
3）Major learning theories 23
4．First language acquisition 35
1）First language acquisition,(a complex task for the child) 35
2）Some questions which theories of L1 acquisi-tion must answer 37
3）Major L1 acquisition theories 42
5．Second language learning 53
1）Some basic distinctions concerning L2 learning 53
2）The nature of second language learning 55
3）Differences between child and adult L2 learners 58
4）Major L2 learning theories 61
Part Two Individual Variations 72
6．Cognitive-variables of language learning 72
1）Types of learning 72
2）Strategies of learning 80
3）Styles of learning 85
7．Affeetive variables of language learning 91
1）Attitudes 91
2）Motivation 93
3）Personality 96
4）The humanist approaches to personality 101
8．Sociocultural variables of language learning 106
1）What is culture 106
2）Language,thought and culture 108
3）Attitudes towards other cultures 115
4）Acculturation:learning a second culture 117
Part Three Major Techniques and Methods 122
9．Contrastive analysis:comparing＆contrasting two languages 122
1）What is contrastive analysis 122
2）Theoretical bases and basic assumptions 123
3）Three versions of the contrastive ánalysis hy-pothesis 124
4）Procedures of contrastive analysis 128
5）Applications 135
10．Error analysis:the study of learners'interlan-guage 140
1）What is error analysis 140
2）Basic assumptions 142
3）Procedures 143
4）Implications and applications 149
5）Some problems and issues 151
11．Language Testing 155
1）What is a test 155
2）Requirements of a good test 157
3）Types of language test 162
4）Interpreting test results 167
12．Language teaching research 173
1）What is research 173
2）Types of language teaching research 175
3）Research procedures and methods 182
4）Guidelines for the classroom teacher 188
Bibliography 193
Index 205