Bill VanPatten (Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin)
Interim Head, Professor of Spanish and Second Language Acquisition
(312) 996-5218
bvp@uic.edu
For my personal web page, click here

I am a researcher in both second language acquisition theory and second language teaching. My principal interests on the theoretical side are input processing and its interface with the development of a linguistic system. My principle interest on the second language teaching side is the effects of formal instruction on the development of the linguistic system. I have authored or co-authored four books (excluding language textbooks) and edited or co-edited six others. I have published some 70 articles and book chapters, the former appearing in journals such as Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Language Learning, The Modern Language Journal, The Canadian Modern Language Review, and others. I have given invited lectures in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Spain, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and in just about every state in the United States. I am on the advisory board for Studies in Second Language Acquisition and have also served on the editorial board for the Modern Language Journal.

Currently, my research interests are branching out into the psycholinguistics of bilingualism, more specifically sentence processing by second language learners, bilinguals, and monolinguals. Using eye-tracking equipment and reaction time software, a team and I are beginning to explore how various types of language users/knowers process grammatical and ungrammatical sentences.

I am also embarking on my first non-academic book tentatively titled One out of Ten Americans: Truth and Myth about Spanish and Spanish Speakers in the United States. This book is under contract with an agent (New England Publishing Associates) who is submitting it to various editorial houses. I have five out of seven chapters drafted.

Selected Publications:

Theories in Second Language Acquisition (in progress);
Form-meaning Connections in Second Language Acquisition (2004, Erlbaum)
Processing Instruction: Theory, Research, and Commentary (2004, Erlbaum)
From Input to Output: A Teacher's Guide to Second Language Acquisition (2003, McGraw-Hill)
Input Processing and Grammar Instruction: Theory and Research (1996, Ablex);
Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen (with James F. Lee, 1995; 2nd edition, 2003, McGraw-Hill);

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