Michael Sharwood Smith (born 1942), Emeritus Professor of Languages at

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

& Honorary Professorial Fellow at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, is a researcher into

multilingualism Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

and the acquisition of non-native languages, a branch of

developmental linguistics Developmental linguistics is the study of the development of linguistic ability in an individual, particularly the acquisition of language in childhood. It involves research into the different stages in language acquisition, language retention, and ...

and cognitive science. He is a founding editor of ''

Second Language Research ''Second Language Research'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of linguistics, concerned foremost with second language acquisition and second-language performance. Each year, one special issue is published, devoted to some current ...

'', successor to the ''Interlanguage Studies Bulletin''. Together with John Truscott of

National Tsing Hua University National Tsing Hua University (NTHU; ) is a public research university in Hsinchu City, Taiwan. National Tsing Hua University was first founded in Beijing. After the Chinese Civil War, the then-president of the university, Mei Yiqi, and other ...

, Taiwan he has developed a new theoretical platform for studying language development and language use called the

MOGUL Framework The Modular Online Growth and Use of Language (MOGUL) project is the cover term name for any research on language carried out using the ModulaCognition Framework(MCF). Basic assumptions MOGUL project research takes as its premise that the mind ...

(Modular Growth and Use of Language) which explains language development as a

by-product A by-product or byproduct is a secondary product derived from a production process, manufacturing process or chemical reaction; it is not the primary product or service being produced. A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be consid ...

of processing albeit constrained by the modular architecture of the mind. His research interests have included theoretical issues concerning the way in which second languages are represented in the mind and how they interact,

language attrition Language attrition is the process of losing a native or first language. This process is generally caused by both isolation from speakers of the first language ("L1") and the acquisition and use of a second language ("L2"), which interferes with ...

, the role of consciousness in

language learning Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language (in other words, gain the ability to be aware of language and to understand it), as well as to produce and use words and sentences to ...

and also applications of linguistics such as the design of pedagogical grammars. He has introduced various concepts and associated terms into the field of

second language acquisition Second-language acquisition (SLA), sometimes called second-language learning — otherwise referred to as L2 (language 2) acquisition, is the process by which people learn a second language. Second-language acquisition is also the scientific dis ...

research, notably "grammatical consciousness-raising" ( Sharwood Smith 1981), "

crosslinguistic influence Crosslinguistic influence (CLI) refers to the different ways in which one language can affect another within an individual speaker. It typically involves two languages that can affect one another in a bilingual speaker. An example of ...

" ( Sharwood Smith 1982) and "

input enhancement Input enhancement (IE) is a concept in second language acquisition. Mike Sharwood Smith coined the term to cover techniques used by researchers to make salient selected features of a language for students such as word order, parts of words that e ...

" ( Sharwood Smith 1991), the last-mentioned idea focusing on the supposed learning effect of systematically making salient for learners certain specific linguistic features that are present in the language to which they are exposed. In line with the frameworks relevance to the mind in general and not just language, the MOGUL framework was accordingly renamed the Modular Cognition Framework (MCF) in 2018 and its particular applications to language were thenceforth viewed as part of the MOGUL 'Project'. The MCF covers all aspects of cognition ( Sharwood Smith 2019). Together with James Pankhurst, he ran the annual LARS (Language Acquisition Research Symposia) meetings in Utrecht between 1983 and 1998, bringing together researchers in first and

and also

theoretical linguistics Theoretical linguistics is a term in linguistics which, like the related term general linguistics, can be understood in different ways. Both can be taken as a reference to theory of language, or the branch of linguistics which inquires into the n ...

. Speakers at the LARS meetings have included leading figures such as

Melissa Bowerman Melissa Bowerman (April 3, 1942 – October 31, 2011) was a leading researcher in the area of language acquisition. From 1982-2007, she was a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. Education and career In 1971 ...

Ray Jackendoff Ray Jackendoff (born January 23, 1945) is an American linguist. He is professor of philosophy, Seth Merrin Chair in the Humanities and, with Daniel Dennett, co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He has always str ...

Annette Karmiloff-Smith Annette Karmiloff-Smith CBE FBA FMedSci (1938–2016) was a professorial research fellow at the Developmental Neurocognition Lab at Birkbeck, University of London. Before moving to Birbeck, she was Head of the Neurocognitive Development Unit a ...

, Mary-Louise Kean,

Brian MacWhinney Brian James MacWhinney (born August 22, 1945) is a Professor of Psychology and Modern Languages at Carnegie Mellon University. He specializes in first and second language acquisition, psycholinguistics, and the neurological bases of language, an ...

Frederick Newmeyer Frederick J. (Fritz) Newmeyer (born January 30, 1944) is an American linguist who is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the University of Washington and adjunct professor in the University of British Columbia Department of Linguistics and the ...

Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. P ...

and

Deirdre Wilson Deirdre Susan Moir Wilson, FBA (born 1941) is a British linguist and cognitive scientist. She is emeritus professor of Linguistics at University College London and research professor at the Centre for the Study of Mind in Nature at the Univers ...

as well as many prominent researchers in second language acquisition.

Bibliography

* Sharwood Smith, M (1980). "Strategies, language transfer and the simulation of learners' mental operations". In Language Learning 29:2, 345 – 361. * Sharwood Smith, M (1981). "Consciousness-raising and the second language learner". In Applied Linguistics 2:2, 159 – 168. * Sharwood Smith, M (1982). "Crosslinguistic aspects of second language acquisition". In Applied Linguistics 4:3, 192 – 199. * Sharwood Smith, M (1991). "Speaking to many minds: On the relevance of different types of language information for the L2 learner". In Second Language Research, 7 (2), 118–132. * Escudero, P. & Sharwood Smith, M.A. (2001). Reinventing the native speaker or 'what you never wanted to know about the native speaker so never dared to ask' in S. Foster-Cohen and A. Nizegorodcew (Eds.). EUROSLA Yearbook Vol 1. John Benjamins: Amsterdam. * Truscott, J and M. Sharwood Smith (2004). "Acquisition by processing: a modular perspective on language development". In Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 7,2: 1–20. * Truscott, J and M. Sharwood Smith (2004). How APT is your theory: present status and future prospects. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 7,2: 43–47. * Sharwood Smith, M (2004). In two minds about grammar: On the interaction of linguistic and metalinguistic knowledge in performance. Transactions of the Philological Society, 102,3: 255–280. * Sharwood Smith M. and J. Truscott (2005). "Stages or Continua in Second Language Acquisition: A Mogul Solution". In Applied Linguistics 22,2: 219–240. * Sharwood-Smith, G, Sharwood Smith. M. and Perry R (2005). Response to Webster and Greive, R. 'Transient fixation on a non-native language associated with anaesthesia'. Anaesthesia 2005, 60: 712–713. * Sharwood Smith M. and J. Truscott. 'Stages or Continua in Second Language Acquisition': A Mogul Solution' in Applied Linguistics 22,2: 219–240. * Sharwood Smith M. and J. Truscott (2006). 'Full Transfer, Full Access: a Processing Oriented Interpretation'. In Unsworth, S., T. Parodi, A. Sorace and M. Young-Scholten. Paths of Development in L1 and L2 acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins 201–206. * Sharwood Smith. M (2007). "Language Attrition By Processing: A MOGUL account". In Köpke, B., Schmid, M., S., Keijzer, Me.& Dostert, S.(Eds.). Language Attrition: Theoretical perspectives. Amsterdam. John Benjamins, 39–52. * Sharwood Smith. M (2007). 'Morphological and syntactic awareness in foreign/second language learning'. In Cenoz, J. & Hornberger, N. (2007). Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 2nd edition, Vol 6. Knowledge about Language. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic publishers:179–192. * Sharwood Smith, M (2007) Revisiting the role of consciousness with MOGUL. In Han, Z. (Ed). Understanding Second Language Processes. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters: 1–15. * Sharwood Smith, M & Truscott, J (2008). MOGUL and Crosslinguistic Influence. In Gabrys, D. (Ed.) Morphosyntactic Issues in Second Language Acquisition Studies, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters: 63–85 (hbk). * Sharwood Smith, M & J. Truscott. (2014). The multilingual mind: a modular processing perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Sharwood Smith, M. (2017). Active-passive bilingualism and functional distance between L1 and L2 explained within a unified cognitive perspective . In Ardila, A., Cieślicka, A., Heredia, R. & Rosselli, R. (Eds.). Psychology of Bilingualism: The Cognitive World of Bilinguals (pp 157–185). Berlin: Springer Verlag. * Sharwood Smith (2019). The compatibility within a modular framework of emergent and dynamical processes in mind and brain. Journal of Neurolinguistics.

External links

Sharwood Smith CV Home pageMCF Home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharwood Smith, Mike 1942 births Living people Academics of Heriot-Watt University British cognitive scientists Linguists Applied linguists