The study of second language acquisition (SLA) is an increasingly interdisciplinary field that draws on various branches of linguistics as well as cognitive psychology, educational research, sociology, and neurology to describe exactly how second languages are learned by different individuals in different contexts, and to explain the biological, cognitive, and social mechanisms underlying these phenomena. Factors commonly studied include the role of instruction, age, aptitude, native language, universal grammar, communicative practice, and sociolinguistic context.
Some students also pursue a certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in the Department of Linguistics.
Multiple research clusters fall under the Second Language Acquisition ARCO.