Books/Edited Volumes

2021. Assessing Speaking in Context: Expanding the Construct and its Applications. Multilingual Matters. [ISBN: 978-1-788923-804]

This edited volume investigates the nature and possible applications of an expanded and reconceptualized theoretical construct of speaking as a dynamic socially-constructed endeavour. It addresses both theoretical perspectives and methodological procedures to define and circumscribe the assessment of contextualized speaking. The chapters focus on the complexity brought about by actual interactional competence in speaking tasks and discuss how testing and assessment models and practices can incorporate recent research findings on the inherently dynamic and situated nature of language use. The volume presents research on language assessment in a variety of languages other than English, including French, Chinese and Japanese. It also examines the role that embodied action (gaze, gesture, orientation to materials and texts in the environment) plays in assessment practices, an area that has heretofore remained under-explored.

To order a copy of this book, please visit Multilingual Matters.


2019. Teaching and Testing L2 Interactional Competence: Bridging theory and practice. Routledge. [ISBN: 978-1-138038-99-8]

This volume features the latest research findings on L2 interactional competence to demonstrate the potential for developing and implementing research-based pedagogy that targets interactional competence (IC) in early instruction in a variety of L2 learning and teaching contexts. Incorporating contributions from both leading and emerging researchers in the area, the book is organized into four sections to provide a systematic account of interactional competence, defined as a set of skills required to co-construct an effective interaction with a variety of interlocutors in a variety of settings, and advocates for IC to be part of a well-rounded curriculum of L2 instruction.

To order a copy of this book, please visit Routledge.


2019. Special Issue of the journal Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education. John Benjamins.

This special issue presents a critical analysis of various types of language use and language interaction instantiated in study abroad (SA) settings (e.g., homestays, language tutors, social media) and describes how these socially-contextualized experiences may lead to improvements in language competence. The articles selected for this special issue are good representatives of the recent shift in focus in the field of study abroad research from overall L2 gains to what students can do with the language outside of class, and how that experience impacts their L2 development.

To order a copy of this special issue, please visit John Benjamins e-platform.


2019. Conectándonos – Third Edition. Kendall Hunt. [ISBN-978-1-5249-9155-5]

Conectándonos-3e is a culture-based first year textbook that focuses on the analysis of language in its cultural context to achieve two main objectives: (a) develop students’ communicative proficiency of Spanish as a second language, and (b) develop students’ academic skills (critical thinking). Conectándonos (1) … presents a student-centered, guided inductive approach to language learning, based heavily on authentic data, language analysis and critical thinking, (2) … systematically introduces learners to significant and systematic regional variations that provide students with the chance to understand a wide variety of representative regional accents and uses of Spanish that students will encounter in the real world in which the many varieties of Spanish are used, (3) … incorporates cultural information of Spanish-speaking cultures throughout the sections of on language analysis of every chapter for a better integration of language and culture, (4) … provides an explicit analysis of cultural similarities and differences to understand the way culture is represented in language in general, and (5) … provides students with explicit descriptions of strategies needed to develop useful language skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, pronunciation and cultural analysis.

To order a copy of this book, please visit Kendall Hunt.


2018. Developing Discourse and Interactional Competence. Special issue of the Journal of Chinese as a Second Language Research (de Gruyter). H. Tao, R. Salaberry, M. Yeh & R. Burch (Editors).

This special issue contains a number of papers/teaching units that are dedicated to the review and analysis of some ways in which authentic language materials can be used for the teaching and learning of Mandarin Chinese from the beginning to advanced levels. We first describe the rationale for the expanded use of authentic language data in classroom instruction, and then we present four exploratory units to showcase some of the effective classroom teaching procedures that are useful to make learners aware of (and eventually use) important features of language interaction in Chinese.

To order a copy of this special issue, please visit de Gruyter.


2013. Research Design and Methodology in Studies on L2 Tense and Aspect. de Gruyter. [ISBN 978-1-934078-14-3]

Research Design and Methodology in Studies on Second Language Tense and Aspect provides an up-to-date review of past and current methodologies for the study of the L2 acquisition of tense and aspect. More specifically, the book addresses the following issues related to the design of studies for research in tense and aspect: (1) Theoretical frameworks (e.g., Are research questions investigated within one theoretical approach incompatible with other approaches?). (2). Elicitation procedures (Do different types of tasks elicit different types of tense-aspect data?).  (3). Coding of data (e.g. How are lexical categories defined and coded?)  (4). Data analysis (e.g., What statistical tests are more appropriate to analyze language data?). The volume provides new insights into the study of L2 tense-aspect by bringing together well renowned scholars with experience in the research design of research this area of the field. Read one (1) independent review of this book (automatic download) published by The Linguist List.

To order a copy of this book, please visit De Gruyter Mouton.


2009. Language Allegiances and Bilingualism in the US. Multilingual Matters. [ISBN: 9781847691774]

This book analyzes the concept of language allegiances, and, more broadly, language-based identities in a multilingual society such as the US.  The guiding theme of the chapters that comprise this volume is the identification of specific beliefs and attitudes towards language, and how these attitudes lead to particular actions in the spheres of language ideology, legal litigation, educational agendas, political strategies and  cultural identities. The authors share the idea that, whether it is based on reality or a perception of reality, there is a  privileged connection between language and identity. Read three (3) independent reviews of this book (automatic download) published by The Journal of Sociolinguistics, the Bilingual Research Journal, and Spanish in Context.
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Selected Comments:

“This book offers a well-made selection of illuminating perspectives on the relation between language and identity in the United States. The contributors – an all-star cast – study the conditions under which beliefs and attitudes towards language are produced and survey the roles they play and effects they have within the fields of culture, education, and politics. With this volume, the sociology of language takes a step forward in its long-standing effort to produce a coherent articulation of language and politics as an object of research.” —José del Valle, The Graduate Center – CUNY, USA.

“The chapters in the book are engaging, critical and current, in that they present the political and social discourses at the micro and macro level – something to imbue our thinking.” —Nydia Flores-Ferrán, The Journal of Sociolinguistics.

“Salaberry provides ample research to document many of the issues surrounding language and identity: In 16 pages, he presents arguments and references for as many issues—including those related to language, identity, culture, cultural identity, dialects, majority–minority language relationships, cultural homogeneity, and stereotypes.  … Educators of all levels … Legislators, lawmakers, linguists, and anthropologists will also find this text informative and revealing.” José García-Paine, Bilingual Research Journal.

To order a copy of this book, please visit Multilingual Matters.


2008. Marking Past Tense in Second Language Acquisition: A theoretical model. Bloomsbury Publishing.

This book presents an analysis of the difficulties faced by native speakers of English in the learning of Romance languages and in so doing proposes a comprehensive model of the acquisition of tense-aspect marking. While L1 speakers of English may quickly learn to identify and, to some extent, use the Spanish perfective and imperfective verb endings, the L2 representation of tense-aspect distinctions among both beginning and advanced learners requires a comprehensive multidimensional analysis. Through a detailed examination of new and existing empirical data, this monograph proposes a new model for examining tense aspect marking in second language acquisition, which reconciles competing, alternative hypotheses. This comprehensive account will be of interest to academics researching second language acquisition and applied linguistics. Read one (1) independent review of this book published by Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

Selected Comments:

“This ambitious volume systematically and thoroughly examines the theoretical and applied issues that the study of Spanish past tense raises. It does so by questioning and refining well-known (but not always well-understood) theoretical constructs upon which second language acquisition studies are based.” —Dalila Ayoun, University of Arizona, USA.

“…Salaberry’s theoretical analysis of tense-aspect acquisition in L2 Spanish is well presented, with logical and convincing argumentation built on empirical evidence from a number of previous studies. His incorporation of data from strands of research not typically considered to be complementary represents a step forward in the quest to understand how learners acquire tense and aspect.” —Rebecca Foote, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.


To order a copy of this book, please visit Bloomsbury Publishing.


2006. The Art of Teaching Spanish. Georgetown University Press.

This volume explores the extent to which the art of teaching L2 Spanish has been informed by the scientific (theoretical and empirical) research on SLA (and other relevant fields) referred to in the first volume. It also investigates the types of challenges faced by initiatives
to transfer findings from research to teaching and how to overcome practical problems associated with the implementation of new approaches to teaching.This collection of contributions from respected SLA researchers and applied linguists is primarily intended as a resource for foreign language practitioners and pedagogues wanting to benefit from the expertise of colleagues who have experience with the types of linguistic issues and applications treated by the authors, e.g., FLAC (foreign language across the curriculum programs), various pedagogical approaches, the effect of study abroad vs. classroom contexts on the learning process, testing issues, online learning, the incorporation of linguistic variation into the classroom, courses for heritage language learners, and the teaching of translation. Read two (2) independent reviews of this book (automatic download) published by  Spanish in Context and Revista de Filología Hispánica.

To order a copy of this book, please visit Georgetown University Press.


2005. Tense and Aspect in Romance Languages: Theoretical and applied perspectives. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

This volume presents a state-of-the-art descriptive and explanatory analysis of the second language development of Romance tense-aspect systems.It contains new experimental data from adult French, Catalan, Portuguese learners, and Italian children learners. Standing research questions are addressed and pedagogical implications for foreign language classrooms are proposed arguing that there are possible commonalities in the instructional sequences of tense-aspect development in Romance languages. The first chapter presents an overview of current theoretical approaches and a summary of empirical findings. The following four chapters introduce new empirical data from a variety of theoretical perspectives (e.g., the Aspect Hypothesis, the UG/Minimalist framework). Chapter 5 proposes practical pedagogical approaches for the foreign language classroom based on empirical findings. The last chapter summarizes and discusses these findings in order to start elaborating a more comprehensive model of the development of tense-aspect marking in the Romance languages. Read two (2) independent reviews of this book (automatic download) published by Studies in Second Language Acquisition and eLanguage.

To order a copy of this book, please visit John Benjamins.


2004. Impresiones. New Jersey: Pearson-Prentice Hall.

For courses in Elementary Spanish. Based on the most up-to-date research in second language acquisition, Impresiones features an active learning approach that leads students to discover their communicative needs before learning and applying the appropriate communicative responses. Students build communicative competence as they learn to use the language in the context of the rich and diverse cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. Some notable features: 1. Emphasis on cultural diversity as a context for communication. 2. Contextual, discovery-oriented presentation of grammar. 3. Explicit focus on pragmatic functions. 4. Strong emphasis on the four skills with systematic attention to strategies. 5. Engaging, carefully scripted video reinforces and extends the linguistic and cultural material presented in the text. 6. Complete student activities manual available online. 7. Truly integrated components. Read one (1) independent review of this book (automatic download) published by The Modern Language Journal, and a chapter section from Arteaga & Llorente (2009).


2003. Studies in Spanish Second Language Acquisition: State of the Science. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Spanish Second Language Acquisition provides a panoramic overview of previous studies on the acquisition of Spanish as a second or foreign language, the theoretical approaches used in these studies, and the effects of various pedagogical approaches on the development of Spanish interlanguage systems. Truly “state of the science,” this is the first volume to provide a comprehensive critical overview of the research done and data compiled on how adults acquire Spanish as a second language. Major scholars in the field of SLA have contributed chapters having to do with a wide range of “products”(phonology, tense/aspect, subjunctive, clitics, lexicon, discourse/pragmatics) and “processes”(generative, cognitive and sociocultural theories) involved in the acquisition process concluding with a discussion of the effects of instruction on Spanish interlanguage development. Read six (6) independent reviews of this book (automatic download) published by various professional journals.

To order a copy of this book, please visit Georgetown University Press.


2002. The L2 Acquisition of Tense-Aspect Morphology. Amsterdam/The Netherlands: John Benjamins.

This volume provides a cross-linguistic perspective on the development of tense-aspect in L2 acquisition.
Data-based studies included in this volume deal with the analysis of a wide range of target languages: Chinese, English, Italian, French, Japanese, and Spanish. Theoretical frameworks used to evaluate the nature of the empirical evidence range from generative grammar to functional-typological linguistics. Several studies focus on the development of past tense markers, but other issues such as the acquisition of a future marker are also addressed. An introductory chapter outlines some theoretical and methodological issues that serves as relevant preliminary reading for most of the chapters included in this volume. Additionally, a preliminary chapter offers a substantive review of first language acquisition of tense-aspect morphology. Read four (4) independent reviews of this book (automatic download) published by various professional journals.

To order a copy of this book, please visit John Benjamins.


2000. The Development of Past Tense Morphology in L2 Spanish. Amsterdam/The Netherlands: John Benjamins.

This book presents an extended analysis of the development of L2 Spanish past tense morphology among L1 English-speaking learners. The study addresses three major questions: (1) what is the developmental pattern of acquisition of past tense verbal morphology among tutored learners? (2) what are the relevant factors that may account for the particular distribution of morphological endings (especially at the beginning stages)?, and (3) how does instruction affect the movement from one stage to the next? The analysis provides a reassessment of the general claim of Andersen’s lexical aspect hypothesis and proposes minor changes that may render the hypothesis more appropriate for, especially, L2 classroom learning. The study includes an overview of theoretical positions on the notion of lexical versus grammatical aspect, and a comparison of the findings from previous empirical studies on the development of past tense verbal morphology among both classroom and naturalistic learners. Read three (3) independent reviews of this book (automatic download) published by various professional journals.

Selected Comments:

“This book is interesting for various reasons. It offers some good theoretical information on aspect acquisition in general; it also offers a clear and well-designed analysis based on a good knowledge of earlier studies. The development of past tense morphology in L2 Spanish is thus not strictly addressed to researchers working on Spanish but also to those focussing on other languages, especially French.”—Emmanuelle Labeau, Aston University, Birmingham, UK, in Linguist List Vol-12-2819.

“[It] constitutes a very important addition to the literature on the acquisition of tense-aspect in L2. I recommend it to readers interested in tense-aspect as well as in SLA processes. It should also be useful for teachers of Spanish because the book is highly readable and aspect is one of the areas most students have difficulty with.”—Yasuhiro Shirai, Cornell University, in Studies in Second Language Acquisition 25(1), 2003.

To order a copy of this book, please visit John Benjamins.


1996. Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism. Cornell Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 14. Ithaca, NY: Department of Linguistics.

Content:
1. Howard Grabois: Distributed Cognition and Participation in Second Language Discourse
2. Gloria Valeva: On the Notion of Conceptual Fluency in a Second Language
3. Aneta Pavlenko: Bilingualism and Cognition: Concepts in the Mental Lexicon
4. Howard Grabois: Word-Association Methodology in a Cross-Linguistic Study of Lexicon
5. Steve McCafferty: The Use of Nonverbal Forms of Expression in Relation to L2 Private Speech
6. Rafael Salaberry: The Pedagogical value of Simplified Written Input in L2 Acquisition

Download a PDF copy of volume 14 of Cornell Working Papers in Linguistics.