Suggests that cognitive science, a field that draws on research in linguistics, psychology, anthropology, and computer science, might provide better explanations of student behavior in the classroom than mainstream second-language acquisition research. An attempt is made to show how research from cognitive science might offer explanations for what…

Discusses studies done on second-language classroom interaction by classroom researchers and second-language (L2) acquisition researchers. Argues that it is critical to explore how the learner processes L2 information, because classroom interaction is a dynamic process characterized by the interplay between external verbal exchanges and internal…