The most fundamental change in the area of L2 learning in recent years has been a
shift from concern with the teacher, the textbook and the method to an interest in
the learner and the acquisition process. For example, one radical feature of most
communicative approaches is the toleration of “errors” produced by students.
Traditionally, “errors” were regarded negatively and had to be avoided or eradicated.
The more recent acceptance of such errors in learners’ use of the L2 is based
on a fundamental shift in perspective from the more traditional view of how L2
learning takes place.