Teachers and tutors often ask why don’t learners learn the morphosyntax (grammar) we teach them? 

There is another equally important aspect of the larger topic of second language acquisition: How do learners learn morphosyntax we don’t teach them?

This module considers both questions to help participants reach a deeper understanding of how learners acquire word order (=syntax) and the little words and endings (=morphology) which have grammatical functions. 

During the module’s penultimate week, participants will also have the chance to reflect on how learners’ linguistic achievement is assessed or tested and to hear about new ways to do so.

The majority of the module involves taking a close look at the interplay between adult learners’ minds, the input they get during instruction and outside of class, doing so in the context of seminal and recent, cutting-edge research.

The module ends with an opportunity for participants to share their own learners’ acquisition of an aspect of morphosyntax.