Abstract

The book focuses on one aspect of foreign language acquisition that has not received much attention, that of the effect of bilingualism in the oral production of the English language learners. Two research areas have tackled this issue separately. On the one hand, third language acquisition researchers have analysed bilingualism effects in the acquisition of a third language. On the other hand, studies in interlanguage pragmatics have taken into account variables affecting the use of request acts by second language learners of English. The two research areas are connected in this volume, as it deals with bilingualism effects in the pragmatic production and awareness of third language learners of English.

The first part of the book includes a theoretical description of research conducted in the areas of third language acquisition and interlanguage pragmatics, and the second part presents a detailed description of the empirical study carried out in a multilingual speech community.

The study is an important contribution to the emerging body of scholarship on TLA. It stimulates researchers who want to learn more about multilingualism to conduct further inquiry.

This book is a welcome addition to the research fields of language acquisition and interlanguage pragmatics. It makes an important contribution to the growing knowledge base on learning how to make requests in a third language, and on the role of bilingualism in third language acquisition.

This book provides an excellent insight into the plurilingual societies that characterize present-day Europe. This volume has something for everyone: pragmatists, scholars in bilingual education, scholars interested in research methods, and acquisitionists with an interest in the interaction between explicit instruction and individual variables. We hope that this young scholar continues her line of work, which holds so much promise.

It is an important and timely book at the intersection of interlanguage pragmatics and TLA.

Maria Pilar Safont Jordà is currently a researcher and teaching assistant at the Department of English Studies at the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló (Spain). She has carried out various studies on the development of pragmatic competence by third language learners of English. Her research interests include interlanguage pragmatics and third language acquisition.

"This volume makes a valuable contribution for both experts and beginners in the fields of interlanguage pragmatics and third language acquisition"

Third Language Learners is an important and timely book at the intersection of interlanguage pragmatics and third language acquisition. The book focuses on two crucial facets of the acquisition of English as a third language by mono- and bilingual learners: pragmatic competence and pragmatic awareness. It presents original research, which not only enriches our knowledge of the benefits of pragmatic instruction, but is also eminently useful for language educators around the world.