Specifies language acquisition processes in terms of brain mechanisms to explain the variable success achieved by early and late learners and proposes a brain-based model for language acquisition on the basis of the literature. Two conditions for full acquisition of a language are motivation and grammatical ability. The neural underpinnings for…

Responds to L. Eubank and K. R. Gregg article (this issue), suggesting that they present a narrow view of language that they wish the field of language acquisition to share. It is suggested that Eubank and Gregg contend that the only thing to be explained is the human capacity for grammatical competence. This belief discounts, misrepresents, or…

Proposes that the confluence of stimulus appraisal and social cognition that is effected by the neural system in the brain has important implications for language and learning theories. Describes the anatomy and functions of this neural system and discusses how it may operate in motivation for second language acquisition and how in conjunction…

This document presents a theory of how the psychology and neurobiology of stimulus appraisal influence variability in second language acquisition, and extends the notion of affect developed for second language acquisition to primary language acquisition and to cognition in general. The first chapter lays out a psychological framework that develops…