Søren Wind Eskildsen
Biographic Data
| ID | 6521644 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Søren Wind Eskildsen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Søren Wind |
| FAMILY NAME | Eskildsen |
| SIGNATURE | ESKILDSEN S W |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Southern Denmark |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2432-9161 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 32 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 15 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
On the need of pluralism and common ground in SLA
Science, like the Mississippi, begins in a tiny rivulet in the distant forest. Gradually other streams swell its volume. And the roaring river that bursts the dikes is formed from countless sources. (Flexner, 1939, p. 547) Hyperbolic claims that SLA is in crisis (!), that a unifying theory is overdue, or that research must be oriented toward pedagogy have resurfaced once again—most recently in the response by Lantolf et al. (2025) to the Special …
Forging common ground in second language acquisition and teaching
In this final article in this guest‐edited issue on synergies in second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T), we attempt to bring together the main content of this issue in an overall, combined synergy statement, concluding this project as a whole. Let us remind readers of the project: A shared effort by 17 scholars taking 11 different perspectives on SLA/T is not the norm in our field. Our aim has been to promote the intermingling and cross…
Praxeology, humanism, equity, and mixed methods
In this article, we present our vision of a transformed second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T) disciplinary community that approaches second language (L2) education through four pillars. The first pillar is praxeology (i.e., the study of human action) to highlight the sociocontextually emergent nature of L2 competence. It locates the emergence of L2 grammar and interactional competence in humans acting conjointly with others with and th…
Manual Interventions
Drawing on datasets of interactions in which the participants are engaged in manual activities, this article investigates manual interventions—that is, multimodal methods by which Other takes hold of an object that is handled by Self and starts manipulating it in a way that modifies the projected course of action. The analysis shows that manual interventions are achieved by Other first moving into the space in which Self handles the object, then …
A multi-factor study of the development of English receptive skills by young Danish children
This longitudinal study examined the influence of child-specific and environmental factors on the development of English receptive vocabulary and grammar by two groups of Danish children: Early Starters (ES) and Late Starters (LS). Age of onset, gender, language aptitude and SES significantly predicted both outcome measures. English competence beliefs (ECB) were positively related to L2 proficiency but only for children with low foreign language …
Emergent L2 Grammars in and for Social Interaction
Setting the stage for the central themes and the articles in this special issue, this introduction delineates the epistemological confluences, complementarities, and differences among conversation analysis (CA), on the one hand, and 2 strands of usage‐based linguistics, on the other—namely, usage‐based second‐language acquisition (SLA) and interactional linguistics. This implies depicting how an increased interest in actual usage within the field…
Accumulating Semiotic Resources for Social Actions
This study investigates a second language (L2) speaker's use and learning of the Icelandic auxiliary verb ætla (pronounced /aihtla/) in the wild. This analytic focus is motivated by the L2 speaker's (Anna) own orientation to ætla as a learnable. We track Anna's use of ætla in naturally occurring social interaction over time. Anna first learns to use ætla to make requests in service encounters but this does not automatically transfer to other envi…
Embodiment, Semantics and Social Action
Using conversation analysis and usage-based linguistics, I focus on a beginning L2 user in an ESL classroom and trace his use of a “family of expressions” which, from the perspective of linguistic theory, are instantiations of either the ditransitive dative construction (e.g., “he told me the story”) or a prepositional dative construction (e.g., “he told the story to me”). The semantics of both constructions denotes transfer of an object, physica…
From Trouble in the Talk to New Resources
This chapter explores how a family of related expressions emerge from repairs and are refined over time by a novice speaker of L2 English. We trace longitudinally a connection between a complex of deictic (pointing) and dynamic (hand movements) gestures and a small family of specific, related linguistic resources centred on the verbs “ask”, “tell”, and “say”. The data reveal that the L2 speaker packages these linguistic resources with particular …
Constructing L2 Learning Spaces
The language classroom and contexts beyond provide different environments for learning. In the classroom, L2 users are typically and primarily labeled ‘learners’, whereas beyond the classroom, ‘in the wild’ to borrow a term from Hutchins (1995), any aspect of their identity might take prominence (Firth and Wagner 1997). Drawing on data sets from classroom and non-classroom settings, this article shows two examples of the interactional work that g…
Embodied L2 Construction Learning
This study uses conversation analysis (CA) to investigate the coupling of specific linguistic items with specific gestures in second language (L2) learning over time. In particular, we are interested in how gestures accompany learning of new vocabulary. CA-informed studies of gesture have previously shown the importance of embodiment in L2 use and situated learning, substantiating the idea that gestures are ingrained in the ongoing work to achiev…
What Counts as a Developmental Sequence? Exemplar-Based L2 Learning of English Questions
Drawing on usage-based linguistics and its exemplar-based path of language learning, from recurring multiword expressions to increasingly abstract, schematized constructions, this article examines evidence for the exemplar-based developmental sequences for yes/no interrogatives and WH interrogatives in English as a second language (L2). The empirical point of departure is an audio-visual corpus of American English L2 classroom interaction. The lo…
Orders and Sequences in the Acquisition of L2 Morphosyntax, 40 Years On
This Special Issue of Language Learning provides a state-of-the-art overview of current perspectives on acquisition orders and sequences in second language acquisition. It contains examples of empirical studies, theoretical reflections of, and a dialogue between proponents of Dynamic Systems Theory, Learner Varieties, Processibility Theory, Processing Determinism, Sociocultural Theory, and Usage-Based Linguistics. This introduction presents the c…
L2 Negation Constructions at Work
This article explores the usage- and exemplar-based roots of second language (L2) negation construction learning. Based on two longitudinal case studies involving two adult L2 English learners and a corpus of 63 three-hour sessions of recorded classroom interactions, the study shows that L2 learning follows the predictions of usage-based models of language knowledge and acquisition, as the two participants' learning of English negation constructi…
Constructing another Language--Usage-Based Linguistics in Second Language Acquisition
The general aim of this article is to discuss the application of Usage-Based Linguistics (UBL) to an investigation of developmental issues in second language acquisition (SLA). Particularly, the aim is to discuss the relevance for SLA of the UBL suggestion that language learning is item-based, going from formulas via low-scope patterns to fully abstract constructions. This paper examines how well this suggested path of acquisition serves ‘as a de…
L2 Negation Constructions at Work
This article explores the usage- and exemplar-based roots of second language (L2) negation construction learning. Based on two longitudinal case studies involving two adult L2 English learners and a corpus of 63 three-hour sessions of recorded classroom interactions, the study shows that L2 learning follows the predictions of usage-based models of language knowledge and acquisition, as the two participants' learning of English negation constructi…
Embodied L2 Construction Learning
This study uses conversation analysis (CA) to investigate the coupling of specific linguistic items with specific gestures in second language (L2) learning over time. In particular, we are interested in how gestures accompany learning of new vocabulary. CA-informed studies of gesture have previously shown the importance of embodiment in L2 use and situated learning, substantiating the idea that gestures are ingrained in the ongoing work to achiev…
What Counts as a Developmental Sequence? Exemplar-Based L2 Learning of English Questions
Drawing on usage-based linguistics and its exemplar-based path of language learning, from recurring multiword expressions to increasingly abstract, schematized constructions, this article examines evidence for the exemplar-based developmental sequences for yes/no interrogatives and WH interrogatives in English as a second language (L2). The empirical point of departure is an audio-visual corpus of American English L2 classroom interaction. The lo…
Manual Interventions
Drawing on datasets of interactions in which the participants are engaged in manual activities, this article investigates manual interventions—that is, multimodal methods by which Other takes hold of an object that is handled by Self and starts manipulating it in a way that modifies the projected course of action. The analysis shows that manual interventions are achieved by Other first moving into the space in which Self handles the object, then …
Orders and Sequences in the Acquisition of L2 Morphosyntax, 40 Years On
This Special Issue of Language Learning provides a state-of-the-art overview of current perspectives on acquisition orders and sequences in second language acquisition. It contains examples of empirical studies, theoretical reflections of, and a dialogue between proponents of Dynamic Systems Theory, Learner Varieties, Processibility Theory, Processing Determinism, Sociocultural Theory, and Usage-Based Linguistics. This introduction presents the c…
Constructing another Language--Usage-Based Linguistics in Second Language Acquisition
The general aim of this article is to discuss the application of Usage-Based Linguistics (UBL) to an investigation of developmental issues in second language acquisition (SLA). Particularly, the aim is to discuss the relevance for SLA of the UBL suggestion that language learning is item-based, going from formulas via low-scope patterns to fully abstract constructions. This paper examines how well this suggested path of acquisition serves ‘as a de…
L2 Negation Constructions at Work
This article explores the usage- and exemplar-based roots of second language (L2) negation construction learning. Based on two longitudinal case studies involving two adult L2 English learners and a corpus of 63 three-hour sessions of recorded classroom interactions, the study shows that L2 learning follows the predictions of usage-based models of language knowledge and acquisition, as the two participants' learning of English negation constructi…
Embodied L2 Construction Learning
This study uses conversation analysis (CA) to investigate the coupling of specific linguistic items with specific gestures in second language (L2) learning over time. In particular, we are interested in how gestures accompany learning of new vocabulary. CA-informed studies of gesture have previously shown the importance of embodiment in L2 use and situated learning, substantiating the idea that gestures are ingrained in the ongoing work to achiev…
What Counts as a Developmental Sequence? Exemplar-Based L2 Learning of English Questions
Drawing on usage-based linguistics and its exemplar-based path of language learning, from recurring multiword expressions to increasingly abstract, schematized constructions, this article examines evidence for the exemplar-based developmental sequences for yes/no interrogatives and WH interrogatives in English as a second language (L2). The empirical point of departure is an audio-visual corpus of American English L2 classroom interaction. The lo…
Orders and Sequences in the Acquisition of L2 Morphosyntax, 40 Years On
This Special Issue of Language Learning provides a state-of-the-art overview of current perspectives on acquisition orders and sequences in second language acquisition. It contains examples of empirical studies, theoretical reflections of, and a dialogue between proponents of Dynamic Systems Theory, Learner Varieties, Processibility Theory, Processing Determinism, Sociocultural Theory, and Usage-Based Linguistics. This introduction presents the c…
Constructing L2 Learning Spaces
The language classroom and contexts beyond provide different environments for learning. In the classroom, L2 users are typically and primarily labeled ‘learners’, whereas beyond the classroom, ‘in the wild’ to borrow a term from Hutchins (1995), any aspect of their identity might take prominence (Firth and Wagner 1997). Drawing on data sets from classroom and non-classroom settings, this article shows two examples of the interactional work that g…
From Trouble in the Talk to New Resources
This chapter explores how a family of related expressions emerge from repairs and are refined over time by a novice speaker of L2 English. We trace longitudinally a connection between a complex of deictic (pointing) and dynamic (hand movements) gestures and a small family of specific, related linguistic resources centred on the verbs “ask”, “tell”, and “say”. The data reveal that the L2 speaker packages these linguistic resources with particular …
Embodiment, Semantics and Social Action
Using conversation analysis and usage-based linguistics, I focus on a beginning L2 user in an ESL classroom and trace his use of a “family of expressions” which, from the perspective of linguistic theory, are instantiations of either the ditransitive dative construction (e.g., “he told me the story”) or a prepositional dative construction (e.g., “he told the story to me”). The semantics of both constructions denotes transfer of an object, physica…
A multi-factor study of the development of English receptive skills by young Danish children
This longitudinal study examined the influence of child-specific and environmental factors on the development of English receptive vocabulary and grammar by two groups of Danish children: Early Starters (ES) and Late Starters (LS). Age of onset, gender, language aptitude and SES significantly predicted both outcome measures. English competence beliefs (ECB) were positively related to L2 proficiency but only for children with low foreign language …
Emergent L2 Grammars in and for Social Interaction
Setting the stage for the central themes and the articles in this special issue, this introduction delineates the epistemological confluences, complementarities, and differences among conversation analysis (CA), on the one hand, and 2 strands of usage‐based linguistics, on the other—namely, usage‐based second‐language acquisition (SLA) and interactional linguistics. This implies depicting how an increased interest in actual usage within the field…
Accumulating Semiotic Resources for Social Actions
This study investigates a second language (L2) speaker's use and learning of the Icelandic auxiliary verb ætla (pronounced /aihtla/) in the wild. This analytic focus is motivated by the L2 speaker's (Anna) own orientation to ætla as a learnable. We track Anna's use of ætla in naturally occurring social interaction over time. Anna first learns to use ætla to make requests in service encounters but this does not automatically transfer to other envi…
Forging common ground in second language acquisition and teaching
In this final article in this guest‐edited issue on synergies in second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T), we attempt to bring together the main content of this issue in an overall, combined synergy statement, concluding this project as a whole. Let us remind readers of the project: A shared effort by 17 scholars taking 11 different perspectives on SLA/T is not the norm in our field. Our aim has been to promote the intermingling and cross…
Praxeology, humanism, equity, and mixed methods
In this article, we present our vision of a transformed second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T) disciplinary community that approaches second language (L2) education through four pillars. The first pillar is praxeology (i.e., the study of human action) to highlight the sociocontextually emergent nature of L2 competence. It locates the emergence of L2 grammar and interactional competence in humans acting conjointly with others with and th…
Manual Interventions
Drawing on datasets of interactions in which the participants are engaged in manual activities, this article investigates manual interventions—that is, multimodal methods by which Other takes hold of an object that is handled by Self and starts manipulating it in a way that modifies the projected course of action. The analysis shows that manual interventions are achieved by Other first moving into the space in which Self handles the object, then …
On the need of pluralism and common ground in SLA
Science, like the Mississippi, begins in a tiny rivulet in the distant forest. Gradually other streams swell its volume. And the roaring river that bursts the dikes is formed from countless sources. (Flexner, 1939, p. 547) Hyperbolic claims that SLA is in crisis (!), that a unifying theory is overdue, or that research must be oriented toward pedagogy have resurfaced once again—most recently in the response by Lantolf et al. (2025) to the Special …
Linguistics (14 works) · Psychology (11 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (10 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Second Language Acquisition and Learning (7 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (6 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (6 works) · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition (5 works) · Sociology (5 works)