Abstract

Research on second language acquisition (SLA) and use has always been enriched by linguistic schools and theories. The purpose of the present paper is give readers a snapshot of contributions grand linguistic theories have made to L2 acquisition research and pedagogy. The grand linguistic theories chosen for review in the present study include Structural Linguistics, Nativism, Functional Linguistics, and Cognitive Linguistics. These four linguistics theories have been, and some of them are, paid much more focus in the field of linguistics than other theories. In fact, the areas of SLA research and pedagogy have been highly influenced by these four grand linguistic theories. However, their impacts on these two areas have not been equal and, as a matter of fact, some of linguistic theories have more influenced SLA research while other theories have had implications more for SLA pedagogy. The contributions of the aforementioned grand linguistic theories to SLA research and pedagogy are discussed, along with criticisms against the contributions of each linguistic theory posed by the rival researchers.

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