Event-related potentials (ERPs) have become widespread in second language acquisition (SLA) research and a growing body of literature has been produced in recent years. We surveyed 61 SLA papers that use ERPs to study L2 sentence processing in healthy late learners. Our main aim was to provide a critical summary of findings from the decade…

Age of acquisition (AoA) refers to the age at which people learn a particular item and the AoA effect refers to the phenomenon that early-acquired items are processed more quickly and accurately than those acquired later. Over several decades, the AoA effect has been investigated using neuroscientific, behavioral, corpus and computational…

This paper focuses on the dearth of language-processing research addressing Spanish heritage speakers in assimilationist communities. First, we review key offline work on this population, and we then summarize the few psycholinguistic (online) studies that have already been carried out. In an attempt to encourage more such research, in the next…

In this review we show how magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a constructive tool for language research and review MEG findings in second language (L2) research. MEG is the magnetic analog of electroencephalography (EEG), and its primary advantage over other cross-sectional (e.g. magnetic resonance imaging, or positron emission tomography) functional…

Fifteen years ago, Pascual-Leone and colleagues used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate speech production in pre-surgical epilepsy patients and in doing so, introduced a novel tool into language research. TMS can be used to non-invasively stimulate a specific cortical region and transiently disrupt information processing. These…

Discusses the most significant findings of recent research and scholarship on the nature of the brain and its relevance to the teaching and learning of human languages. Topics covered include: (1) whether the brain is highly integrated or componential; (2) differences between conscious and unconscious processes; (3) hemispheric specialization; (4)…

Reviews research on the neuroscientific perspective to second-language acquisition and teaching, focusing on the "critical period" of language acquisition, brain hemispheric mapping, universal grammar theory, the modal directionality principle, and the modal focusing principle. (contains 74 references) (MDM)

This article reviews the history of the neuroscientific study of language, examining research on three main issues: (1) the neurofunctional differences between primary language acquisition and second-language acquisition; (2) the critical period issue; and (3) the role played by the right hemisphere of the brain in language acquisition. (140…

Considers the historiography of language teaching theories from the perspective of bimodality and suggests some directions research should take to empirically substantiate the usefulness of this concept for second-language acquisition in a classroom environment. (Author/CB)

A review of some of the major works in neurolinguistics published during the last decade extrapolates many implications for second and foreign language theory and practice, covering such issues as hemispheric dominance, language processing, and bilingualism. (35 references) (CB)

Recent research on Chinese orthography is reviewed in a discussion of the relationship between orthographic symbols and reading processes. Specifically, these issues are addressed with relation to research findings: the difficulty of learning Chinese logographs, particularly with regard to learning disabilities and biliteracy; whether reading in…

The use of freewriting in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction as a means of promoting communicative competence is examined, particularly as it may improve high-school-level ESL instruction in Japan. First, the educational environment of Japanese high schools is described, and some problems with the teaching of ESL writing are outlined.…

Based on the questions of second language teachers concerning classroom practice, generated by mail survey in 1983, research on aspects of second language teaching and learning was reviewed and is summarized here. In each case, a question or questions are posed and a brief discussion follows, in layman's language and based on relevant research,…