The Ecology and Semiotics of Language Learning: A Sociocultural Perspective

by Leo Van Lier

In this book I try to give a coherent and consistent overview of what an ecological approach to language learning might look like. This is not a fully fledged grand theory that aims to provide an explanation of everything, but an attempt to provide a rationale for taking an ecological world view and applying it to language education, which I regard as one of the most important of all human activities. Goethe once said that everything has been thought of before, but that the difficulty is to think of it again. The same certainly is true of the present effort. If it has any innovative ideas to offer, these lie in a novel combination of thoughts and ideas that have been around for a long, long time. The reader will encounter influences that range from Spinoza to Bakhtin and from Vygotsky to Halliday. The scope of the work is intentionally broad, covering all major themes that are part of the language learning process and the language teaching profession. These themes include language, perception and action, self, learning, critical pedagogy and research. At the same time I have attempted to look at both the macro and the micro sides of the ecological coin, and address issues from both a theoretical and a practical perspective. This, then, aims to be a book that can be read by practitioners and theoreticians alike, and the main idea is that it should be readable and challenging at the same time.

Genres: Linguistics

259 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1899

Reviews

[Jarda Kubalik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, I wrote that I was finished but I no way finished with this book. It is too rich and complex to be finished with after just one reading. It summarizes and expands many voices in language teaching and learning I try to listen. It is my first encounter with ecological perspective and I can see there are loads to read... Another highlight is that pretty much shoots down Chomsky and partly Krashen - both being 'the untouchables' for previous generations. Chomsky himself said that his theories are not to be used as the base for pedagogy (sadly overlooked sentence). Krashen is the opposite in a way. It is only for teaching - no theory if you really look closely. But teachers love him.
Well, great inspiration for more research.