Chapter 10. Instructing Stages of Processability Theory in L2 Spanish

This study addresses two key issues in language acquisition research and teaching: the developmental patterns that learners go through when acquiring a language, and how we can tailor instruction in the classroom to these patterns. These issues are taken up in this study by matching the theoretical stages of language acquisition from the framework of Processability Theory [PT] to targeted instruction to beginning classroom learners of Spanish on subsequent PT stages. Overall, the results offer further cross-linguistic support for the PT hierarchy itself, while suggesting that instruction can be effective when targeting stages past the next developmental stage.

• Affiliations: 1: University of Maryland