This is a partial list of important topics related to second language acquisition. Second language acquisition is the study of how people learn languages of which they are not native speakers.
A
*Absolute universal *Accessibility Hierarchy *Acculturation Model *Acquisition *Adaptive control of thought *Additional language *Additive bilingualism *Affective state *Analytical strategy *Anomie *Anxiety *Applied linguistics: **Applied corpus linguistics *Aptitude-treatment interaction *Attention-Processing Model *Avoidance
B *Backsliding (see also language attrition) *Balanced bilingualism *Basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) *Behaviorism *Ellen Bialystok *Bilingualism
C *Capability *Careful style *Caretaker talk *Casual style *Change from above *Channel capacity *Classroom process and classroom process research *Closed question *Code-switching *Cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) *Cognitive strategies *Cognitive style *Communicative competence *Communicative strategy *Comparative method study *Competence *Competition Model *Comprehensible input *Comprehensible output hypothesis, see Output Hypothesis *Concatenative research *Consciousness raising * *Contrastive analysis *Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis *Conversation analysis *Correction *Creative construction *Creole *Critical Period Hypothesis *Cross-linguistic influence
D *Debilitative anxiety *Declarative L2 knowledge (see also declarative knowledge) *Descriptive adequacy *Developmental feature *Developmental pattern *Developmental sequence *Discourse **Discourse analysis **Discourse completion questionnaire **Discourse management **Discourse repair *Display question
E *Educational setting *Elaborative simplification *Rod Ellis *English language learning and teaching *Error **Error analysis **Error evaluation **Error gravity **Error treatment *Ethnography *Explanatory adequacy *Explicit L2 knowledge, see also explicit knowledge *Externalized approach or E-approach *Extroversion
F *Facilitating anxiety *Facilitation *Feedback *Field dependence *Field independence *Foreigner talk *Foreign language acquisition *Formal instruction *Form-function analysis *Formulaic speech *Fossilization *Fragile features *Free variation *Frequency analysis *Frequency hypothesis *Functionalist model
G *Gestalt strategy *Global error *Good language learner *Gradual diffusion model *Grammatical competence *Grammaticality judgments *Grammaticalization *Grammar
H *Hierarchical research *Horizontal variation *Hypercorrection *Hypocorrection *Hypothesis-testing
I *Identity Hypothesis *Ignorance Hypothesis *Implicational scaling *Implicit L2 knowledge, see also implicit knowledge *Impression management *Incorporation strategy *Indicator *Individual learner differences *Induced error *Inner-directed learner *Input Hypothesis *Instructed language acquisition *Instrumental motivation *Intake *Integrative motivation *Interaction **Interaction analysis **Interactional act **Interactional modification **Interactionist learning theory *Interdependency principle *Interface position *Interference *Inter-group theory *Interlanguage **Interlanguage talk **Interlanguage pragmatics *Internalized approach *Interphonology *Inter-speaker variation *Intralingual error *Intra-speaker variation
K *Kinesics *Stephen Krashen
L *Language acquisition (focusing on first language learning) **Language Acquisition Device *Language anxiety *Language attrition *Language education *Language ego *Language learning aptitude *Language transfer *Learner-instruction matching *Learner strategy *Learning **Learning strategy **Learning style *Lingua franca *Linguistic competence *Linguistic context *Linguistic universals *Local errors *Logical problem of language acquisition *Michael H. Long
M *Machiavellian motivation *Markedness **Markedness Differential Hypothesis *Marker *Mentalist theories of language learning *Message abandonment *Metacognitive strategy *Metalingual knowledge *Micro-Momentary Expression test *Mistake *Modality reduction *Monitoring *Monitor Theory *Monolingualism *Morpheme studies *Motivation *Multidimensional Model *Multilingualism
N *Paul Nation *Natural setting *Naturalistic language acquisition *Negative evidence *Negative transfer, see interference *Negotiation of meaning *Negotiation Hypothesis *Non-interface position *Noticing *Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy
P *Parallel Distributed Processing *Parameter **Parameter-setting Model *Pattern **Pattern of development *Performance *Pied piping *Planned discourse *Positive transfer *Poverty of the stimulus *Pramalinguistics **Pragmalinguistic failure *Pragmatics **Pragmatic competence *Preposition stranding *Principle *Private speech *Proactive inhibition *Procedural knowledge *Production strategy *Proficiency *Projection capacity *Prototypicality *Proxemics *Pseudo-question *Psycholinguistic context *Psychological distance *Psychotypology
R *Recreation continuum *Reference group *Referential question *Resilient feature *Restrictive simplification *Restructuring **Restructuring continuum *Reticence *Routine
S *John H. Schumann *Second language **Second language acquisition *Selective attention hypothesis *Semantic simplification *Semilingualism *Sequence of development *Silent period *Situational context *Situation-specific anxiety *Skill-building Hypothesis *Social-affective strategy *Social distance *Social-educational Model of L2 Learning *Sociolinguistic variables *Sociopragmatics **Sociopragmatic failure *Speech Accommodation Theory *Speech act *Speech planning *State anxiety *Earl Stevick *Strategic competence *Structural simplification *Style shifting *Stylistic continuum *Submersion *Subtractive bilingualism *Substratum transfer *Merrill Swain *Systematic forgetting *Systematicity
T *Target language *Target-like use analysis *Task-induced variation *Teachability hypothesis *Teacher talk *Think-aloud tasks *Tolerance of ambiguity *Trait anxiety *Transfer errors *Transitional constructions *Tutor talk *Typological universals
U *U-shaped behavior *Universal grammar *Unplanned discourse *Usage *Use
V *Variability Hypothesis *Variable Competence Model *Variable form *Variants *Variational feature *Vernacular style *Vertical construction *Vertical variation *Dr. *Lev Vygotsky
W *Wave Theory *Westerners learning Chinese *Wild grammar