This study sought to investigate the psychological network structure of adult Spanish heritage language (HL) learners' motivational profile by considering interconnections among the following variables: the possible HL selves, family influence, intended HL learning effort, HL achievement goal orientations, HL enjoyment, HL anxiety, perceived…

Argues that the brain is the seat of cognition, that cognitive processes are neutral processes, and that, in the brain, affect and cognition are distinguishable but inseparable. This perspective allows a reconceptualization of the affective filter in terms of the brain's stimulus appraisal system, which interacts with cognition to promote or…

Isolates domain-general decision-making (DM) processes in their specific instantiations in adult second-language acquisition (SLA). Some impediments to success in SLA may be artifacts of mature (adult) DM procedures. (Contains 29 references.) (JP)

Discusses special issue of the journal, which is product of a University of Oregon symposium that looked for points of contact among perspectives on second-language acquisition (SLA), second-language instruction, and cognition. Contributions make case for extension of cognitive science methods and ideas but also make case for incorporating study…

Argues that a unified account for the observed phenomena in first- and second-language acquisition and in native speaker use of tense-aspect morphology (TMA) is found in the discourse function of TMA. Three cognitive principles (Relevance, Congruence, One to One) plus access to a notion of prototypicality can account for language learners'…

Addressed three issues in a description of techniques used to study how people learn structured sequences. These are the content of what is learned, the role of conscious awareness in syntactic learning, and the role of limited-capacity processing or focal attention in syntactic learning. (Contains 86 references.) (Author)

The acquisition of German in three adult Poles over a three-year period is examined based on an acquisition profile of each person that specified the sequences in acquisition. The findings suggest that cognitive factors must be considered to explain the varying degree of success in the acquisition process. (40 references) (Author/LB)