Cover not available

Article published In: Pedagogical Linguistics: Online-First Articles

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB

Unified pedagogical linguistics

Bridging generative and usage-based SLA in language teaching

ORCiD logo with link | University of Leeds
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Leeds.

Published online: 2 October 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/pl.25015.ham
Abstract
This article argues that generative and usage-based theories of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), which are often treated as incompatible, offer complementary insights for language teaching. While generative approaches can draw on formal linguistic theory to identify linguistic properties that are likely to cause difficulty for learners, usage-based models based on frequency, analogy and schematisation shed light on how learners can engage with the input to eventually overcome these difficulties. Drawing on recent theoretical discussions and classroom-based empirical studies, I argue that both traditions are therefore well-equipped to address two fundamental questions related to language pedagogy: what properties should be taught, and how should these be taught? I illustrate how this synergy can be applied to inform the teaching of complex grammatical features, such as article semantics and wh-questions, through both formal linguistic analysis and usage-based instructional design. By reframing SLA debates around a shared pedagogical goal, this article hopes to encourage more dialogue across traditionally distinct theoretical frameworks and contribute towards closing the gap between linguistic theory and classroom practice.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Generative vs usage-based approaches to language
    • 2.1Competing linguistic frameworks
    • 2.2The spill into SLA
  • 3.Is it finally time to come together?
    • 3.1Dissenting voices of the generative vs. usage-based rivalry
    • 3.1Towards unification: Centralising language pedagogy
  • 4.Unified SLA and improved language pedagogy
    • 4.1The what and the how of language teaching
      • 4.1.2An example with articles
    • 4.2What more unified SLA research might look like
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (90)
References
Badger, R. (2006). Investigating agonism in linguistics. Journal of Pragmatics, 38(9), 1442–1456. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bayram, F., & Rothman, J. (2020). Formal Linguistics and Language Education: A View from Bilingualism Research. In: Trotzke, A. & Kupisch, T. (Eds.), Formal Linguistics and Language Education. Educational Linguistics (pp 11–19). Springer, Cham. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Buescher, K., & Strauss, S. (2018). Conceptual frameworks and L2 pedagogy. In Tyler, A., Ortega, L., Uno, M. & Park, H. (Eds). Usage-inspired L2 Instruction: Researched pedagogy. (pp. 95–115) John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bybee, J. L., & Eddington, D. (2006). A usage-based approach to Spanish verbs of ‘becoming’. Language, 82(2), 323–355. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chomsky, N. (2014). The minimalist program. MIT press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). Language architecture and its import for evolution. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 811, 295–300. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Crain, S., Koring, L., & Thornton, R. (2017). Language acquisition from a biolinguistic perspective. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 81(Pt B), 120–149. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Christiansen, M. H., & Chater, N. (2009). The myth of language universals and the myth of universal grammar. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32(5), 452–453. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dąbrowska, E. (2015). What exactly is Universal Grammar, and has anyone seen it?. Frontiers in psychology, 61, 852. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Bot, K., Lowie, W., & Verspoor, M. (2007). A dynamic systems theory approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and cognition, 10(1), 7–21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Bot, K. (2015). Moving where? A reaction to Slabakova et al. (2014). Applied Linguistics, 36(2), 261–264. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DeKeyser, R. (2017). Knowledge and skill in ISLA. In Lowen, S., & Sato, M. (Eds). The Routledge handbook of instructed second language acquisition. (pp. 15–32). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, N. C. (2002a). Frequency effects in language processing: A review with implications for theories of implicit and explicit language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24(2), 143–188. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005). At the interface: Dynamic interactions of explicit and implicit language knowledge. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 271, 305–352. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). Implicit and explicit language learning: Their dynamic interface and complexity. In Rebuschat, P. (Eds.). Implicit and Explicit Learning of Languages. (pp. 3–24) John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2022). Second language learning of morphology. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 6(1). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eskildsen, S. W. (2015). What counts as a developmental sequence? Exemplar-based L2 learning of English questions. Language Learning, 65(1), 33–62. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Evans, N., & Levinson, S. C. (2009). The myth of language universals: Language diversity and its importance for cognitive science. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32(5), 429–448. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gil, K. H., Marsden, H., & Whong, M. (2019). The meaning of negation in the second language classroom: Evidence from ‘any’. Language Teaching Research, 23(2), 218–236. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hammond, T., & Gil, K. H. (2023a). Interrogative chunks, derivational complexity and L1 transfer at the initial state of L2 French. In BUCLD 47: Proceedings of the 47th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 342–355). Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2023b). Fixed wh-expressions in classroom second language acquisition: databases of computational properties or utterance schemas?. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 7(1), 75–92. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hammond, T. & Gil, K. H. (2025). Formulaic expressions and functional categories in classroom SLA: Evidence from a longitudinal corpus. Instructed Second Language Acquisition, 9(1), 30–61. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hess, E. K., & Amory, M. (2022). Promoting Korean learners’ conceptual development of honorifics through concept-based language instruction. Language Teaching Research, 0(0). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Horbowicz, P., & Nordanger, M. (2021). Epistemic constructions in L2 Norwegian: A usage-based longitudinal study of formulaic and productive patterns. Language and Cognition, 13(3), 438–466. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2025). Managing the flow of talk: A longitudinal case study of the multiword expression ‘det er sant’ in L2 Norwegian interactions. Applied Linguistics, 46(1), 16–34. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hwang, H.-B., Coss, M. D., Sato, M., Cárcamo, B., Nguyen, M. X. N. C., Dao, P., … Ortega, L. (2024). (Re)Examining the research–practice interface: International perspectives, multiple methods, persistent challenges, and novel directions. Language Teaching, 57(4), 590–596. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ionin, T. (2007). DST vs. UG: Can DST account for purely linguistic phenomena?. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 10(1), 27–29. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ionin, T., Ko, H., & Wexler, K. (2004). Article semantics in L2 acquisition: the role of specificity. Language Acquisition 12(1): 3–69. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ionin, T., Zubizarreta, M. L., & Bautista Maldonado, S. (2008). Sources of linguistic knowledge in the second language acquisition of English articles. Lingua 118(4): 554–76. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jakubowicz, C. (2011). Measuring derivational complexity: New evidence from typically developing and SLI learners of L1 French. Lingua, 121(3), 339–351. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johns, T. (1991). From printout to handout: Grammar and vocabulary teaching in the context of data-driven learning. English Language Research Journal, 41, 27–45.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Krashen, S. D. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. Longman ELT.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Langacker, R. W. (1987). Foundation of Cognitive Grammar (Vol. 1). Theoretical Prerequisites. Stanford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Essentials of cognitive grammar. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lesonen, S., Steinkrauss, R., Suni, M., & Verspoor, M. (2020). Lexically specific vs. productive constructions in L2 Finnish. Language and Cognition, 12(3), 526–563. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lieven, E., Salomo, D. & Tomasello, M. (2009). Two-year-old children’s production of multiword utterances: A usage-based analysis. Cognitive Linguistics, 20(3), 481–507. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Long, M. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. C. Ritchie & T. K. Bhatia, (Eds.), Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (pp. 413–468). New York, NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lopez, E., & Sabir, M. (2019). Article pedagogy: Encouraging links between linguistic theory and teaching practice. RELC journal, 50(1), 188–201. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lyons, C. (1999). Definiteness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marsden, H., & Slabakova, R. (2019). Grammatical meaning and the second language classroom: Introduction. Language Teaching Research, 23(2), 147–157. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Masuda, K., Ohta, A. S., & Tsujihara, R. (2025). Concept-based language instruction: Usage-based linguistics and sociocultural theory in teaching Japanese. Taylor & Francis. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Michel, M., Atkinson, D., Ribeiro, A. C., Alexopoulou, T., Cappellini, M., Eskildsen, S. W., … & Zheng, Y. (2025). Forging common ground in second language acquisition and teaching: A combined synergy statement. The Modern Language Journal, 109(S1), 90–103. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moro, A. (2016). Impossible languages. MIT press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Newmeyer, F. J. (2000). Language form and language function. MIT press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Grady, W. (2012). Three factors in the design and acquisition of language. WIREs Cognit. Sci. 3(5), 493–499. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paradis, M. (2004). Neurolinguistic Theory of Bilingualism. John Benjamins, Amsterdam-Philadelphia. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pinker, S., & Jackendoff, R. (2009). The reality of a universal language faculty. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32(5), 465–466. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pullum, G. K., & Scholz, B. C. (2002). Empirical assessment of stimulus poverty arguments. The linguistic review, 19(1–2), 9–50. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Qin, J., Wu, Z. & Zhong, S. (2023). When concept-based language instruction meets cognitive linguistics: teaching English phrasal verbs with up and out. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 61(4), 1455–1480. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Qin, L., Ouyang, X., & Ren, W. (2023). Decoding EFL learners’ internalization of English modal verbs in concept-based language instruction: Integrating SCOBAs with languaging. Modern Language Journal, 1071, 24–45. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rankin, T., & Unsworth, S. (2016). Beyond poverty: Engaging with input in generative SLA. Second Language Research, 32(4), 563–572. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rankin, T., & Whong, M. (2020). Grammar: A linguists’ guide for language teachers. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rastelli, S. (2014). Discontinuity in second language acquisition: The switch between statistical and grammatical learning. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2019). The discontinuity model: Statistical and grammatical learning in adult second-language acquisition. Language Acquisition, 26(4), 387–415. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2025). Third-way linguistics: generative and usage-based theories are both right. Language Sciences, 1071, 101685. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rastelli, S. & Gil, K. (2018). No fear of George Kinglsley Zipf: Language classroom, statistics and universal grammar. Instructed Second Language Acquisition, 2(2):242–264. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reber, A. S. (2011). An epitaph for grammar: An abridged history. In Sanz, C., & Leow, R. P. (Eds.). Implicit and explicit language learning: Conditions, processes, and knowledge in SLA and bilingualism, (pp. 23–34). Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roehr-Brackin, K. (2014). Explicit knowledge and processes from a usage-based perspective: The developmental trajectory of an instructed L2 learner. Language Learning, 64(4), 771–808. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rothman, J. & Slabakova, R. (2018). The generative approach to SLA and its place in modern second language studies. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40(2):417–442. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rothman, J., Bayram, F., Cunnings, I., & Gonzalez Alonso, J. (2019). Formal linguistics approaches to adult second language acquisition and processing. In Schwieter, J. & Benati, A., (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Language Learning (pp. 13–40). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Römer, U. (2024). Usage-based approaches to second language acquisition vis-à-vis data-driven learning. TESOL Quarterly, 58(3), 1235–1245. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sato, M., Thorne, S. L., Michel, M., Alexopoulou, T., & Hellermann, J. (2025). Language, people, classrooms, world: Blending disparate theories for united language education practices. The Modern Language Journal, 109(S1), 15–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmidt, R. W. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11(2), 129–158. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schwartz, B. D. (1993). On Explicit and Negative Data Effecting and Affecting Competence and Linguistic Behavior. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15(2), 147–163. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Slabakova, R. (2013). What is easy and what is hard to acquire in a second language: A generative perspective. In M. García Mayo, M. Junkal Gutiérrez Mangado & M. Martínez-Adrián (Eds.), Contemporary approaches to second language acquisition (pp. 6–28). John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Slabakova, R., Leal, T., & Liskin-Gasparro, J. (2015). Rumors of UG’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Applied Linguistics, 36(2), 265–269. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Slabakova, R. (2019). The Bottleneck Hypothesis updated. In T. Ionin & M. Rispoli (Eds.), Three Streams of Generative Language Acquisition Research: Selected papers from the 7th Meeting of Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition — North America, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (pp. 319–346). John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Snape, N., & Yusa, N. (2013). Explicit article instruction in definiteness, specificity, genericity and perception. In: Whong, M., Gil, K., & Marsden, H. (Eds.), Universal Grammar and the Second Language Classroom (pp. 161–183). Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In Gass, S. & Madden, C., (Eds). Input in second language acquisition (pp. 235–253). Newbury House, Rowley, Mass.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tannen, D. (2002). Agonism in academic discourse. Journal of Pragmatics, 341, 1651–1669. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thomas, M. (2019). Formalism and functionalism in linguistics: The engineer and the collector. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomasello, M., & Abbot-Smith, K. (2002). A tale of two theories: Response to Fisher. Cognition, 83(2), 207–214. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomasello, M. (2009). Universal grammar is dead. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32(5), 470–471. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trotzke, A. (2023). Pedagogical linguistics: Connecting formal linguistics to language teaching. Language, 99(3), 153–175. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trotzke, A., & Rankin, T. (2020). Introduction to pedagogical linguistics. Pedagogical Linguistics, 1(1), 1–7. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Truscott, J., & Sharwood Smith, M. (2004). Acquisition by processing: A modular perspective on language development. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 71, 1–20. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Truscott, J. & Sharwood Smith, M. (2019). The Internal Context of Bilingual Processing. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Truscott, J., & Sharwood Smith, M. (2024). Dangerous dichotomies and misunderstandings in L2 research. Second Language Research, 41(3), 605–616. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tsai, M. H. (2020). Teaching L2 collocations through concept-based instruction: The effect of L2 proficiency and congruency. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 30(3), 553–575. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tyler, A. E., & Ortega, L. (2018). Usage-inspired L2 instruction: Some reflections and a heuristic. In Tyler, A., Ortega, L., Uno, M. & Park, H. (Eds). Usage-inspired L2 Instruction: Researched pedagogy. (pp. 315–321). John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Umeda, M., Snape, N., Yusa, N., & Wiltshier, J. (2019). The long-term effect of explicit instruction on learners’ knowledge on English articles. Language Teaching Research, 23(2), 179–199. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
VanPatten, B. (2025). Input processing in Adult L2 acquisition. In VanPatten, B., Keating, G. D., & Wulff, S. (Eds.). Theories in Second Language Acquisition: An Introduction (4th ed. (pp. 64–89). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
White, L. (1991). Adverb placement in second language acquisition: some effects of positive and negative evidence in the classroom. Second Language Research, 7(2), 133–161.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2023). Should linguistics be applied and, if so, how?. Language Teaching, 56(3), 349–361. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Whong, M. (2011). Language teaching: Linguistic theory in practice. Edinburgh University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Whong, M., Gil, K. H., & Marsden, H. (2014). ‘Beyond paradigm: The ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of classroom research’, Second Language Research, 30(4): 551–568. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Widdowson, H. G. (2020). On the subject of English: The linguistics of language use and learning. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yang, C., & Montrul, S. (2017). Learning datives: The Tolerance Principle in monolingual and bilingual acquisition. Second Language Research, 33(1), 119–144. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue