New article by Dr Thomas Hammond calls for bridging theoretical divides in language education research

What explains how we learn a second language? A new paper by Dr Thomas Hammond, published in Pedagogical Linguistics, shows the practical benefits of combining competing theories to understand how people learn additional languages. Dr Hammond suggests that instead of treating generative and usage-based theories of second language acquisition as rivals, they should be seen as complementary for improving language teaching. Generative approaches help identify what linguistic features are especially difficult for learners, while usage-based models explain how learners can gradually overcome these difficulties through analogy, schematisation and practice. The article draws on the teaching of English articles and French wh-questions as examples, demonstrating how generative theory highlights what should be taught and usage-based pedagogy suggests how to teach it. This paper reframes long-standing theoretical divides around a shared pedagogical goal, encouraging collaboration across traditions, and proposing a more unified “pedagogical linguistics” to close the gap between linguistic theory and classroom practice.

Dr Thomas Hammond is Lecturer in Language Education/TESOL in the Centre for Language and Education Research at the University of Leeds. He has a BA in English Language and Italian (Manchester) and an MA and PhD in Applied Linguistics (Sheffield). He has taught English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at high schools and private language schools in Italy and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in UK universities. This extensive teaching experience has informed his current research in second language acquisition and language description and their relationship with language pedagogy.