"Research Talks: Motivating Acquisition-Centered Classrooms" by Eric Herman - Book Review

While I was at CI Iowa, I attended two sessions presented by Eric Herman regarding academic SLA research. I had never met Eric previous to CI Iowa, but I was very familiar with his name due to his reputation for being the "research guy" in the CI/ADI community. In meeting him, I can tell you that although Eric is the "research guy" (a title to which Eric probably does not want to be referred lol), he is so much more than that, is incredibly down to earth, and presents it all in a very relatable, understandable manner. During one of Eric's sessions, Jim Tripp promoted a book written by Eric called "Research Talks: Motivating Acquisition-Centered Classrooms," and I am currently reading it now.

Here on this blog, I have stated numerous times that I absolutely hate reading academic research. Reading academic articles makes me feel stupid, because I have such a difficult time wrapping my head around everything being stated. Latinists will understand this reference: For me, reading academic research is like translating Cicero - while I can translate it into English, I still have NO IDEA what he is trying to communicate due to his complex sentences and structures.

This book is SO different though. For some reason, I want to call this book "Research Bites," much like the mid 90's film "Reality Bites" (sidenote : that is such a Gen X movie. I saw it a month before I was to graduate from UCLA, and I was so depressed for a few weeks after that - much like Winona Ryder and her friends in the movie, I had NO idea what I was going to do with my life post-college outside of graduate school, and that was just delaying the inevitable for a few years!). However, in some ways "Research Bites" could be an apt title, because Eric presents this research in bite-sized chunks. Published in 2019, this book is organized into 30-week chapters, with each chapter divided into 5 "days," with a single SLA research quote and citation for each day related to a theme: input, development, textbook grammar, communication, and beliefs. I believe that this book is based on his Acquisition Memos, which were daily "memos' sent out to his subscribers? In his introduction, Eric writes:

This book can be read straight through or spaced out over time. My recommendation is to read and reflect on your quote per school day, providing you with daily inspiration to align language teaching with language science. The quotes have been organized for this purposes (page vi).

I like the ability to reflect on and to interact with a single academic quote. And while it is only a single citation, that citation packs a punch in what it conveys about SLA research! While I do possess a great deal of second-hand academic knowledge related to CI/ADI which I have learned from others, what I like about Eric's book is that it is both providing and exposing me to the actual academic research sources from where this is coming, thus helping to fill in some gaps. Already, some of my own personal annotated notes for quotes include:

• Even in 1977, researchers were wary of trendy educational reforms!
• Wow, this research predates Krashen!
• This!
• Latinists were questioning this (grammar translation method) back in 1657??!! Preach it, Comenius!
• There were "ADI" advocates in 1973??

Even more so, although for me Eric is preaching to the choir, I do appreciate his attitude towards those who may read his book and experience some objection to some of the quotes and ideas presented. He writes:

There is a significant gap between SLA and mainstream language teaching, so some readers will undoubtedly experience some dissonance...I hope that this book will motivate future learning, including exposure to alternative ways of teaching (page vi).  

That quote typifies Eric so much! He will not try to hit you over the head with academic research, but if you ask Eric (or even disagree with him) about something related to SLA research, he will enter in a friendly dialogue with you but will back it up a wealth of knowledge. I highly recommend this book - it is a definite must-read!

P.S. Remember how I hate reading academic research? Due to the compelling nature of many of these quotes, I have actually gone to Google Scholar/JSTOR to find the original articles to learn more, and I have read a number of them! I will admit that many still feel like a "forced march through Gaul" due to their high-level academic nature, but I am actually enjoying reading that which I am able to understand. Progress!