Second Language Sentence Processing

This addition to the Cognitive Science and Second Language Acquisition series presents a comprehensive review of the latest research findings on sentence processing in second language acquisition. The book begins with a broad overview of the core issues of second language sentence processing research and then narrows its focus by dedicating individual chapters to each of these key areas. While a number of publications have discussed research findings on knowledge of formal syntactic principles as part of theories of second language acquisition, there are fewer resources dedicated to the role of second language sentence processing in this context. This volume will act as the first full-length literature review of the field on the market.

This addition to the Cognitive Science and Second Language Acquisition series presents a comprehensive review of the latest research findings on sentence processing in second language acquisition. The book begins with a broad overview of the core issues of second language sentence processing research and then narrows its focus by dedicating individual chapters to each of these key areas. While a number of publications have discussed research findings on knowledge of formal syntactic principles as part of theories of second language acquisition, there are fewer resources dedicated to the role of second language sentence processing in this context. This volume will act as the first full-length literature review of the field on the market.

There is ample evidence that language users, including second-language (L2) users, can predict upcoming information during listening and reading. Yet it is still unclear when, how, and why language users engage in prediction, and what the relation is between prediction and learning. This volume presents a collection of current research, insights, and directions regarding the role of prediction in L2 processing and learning. The contributions in this volume specifically address how different (L1-based) theoretical models of prediction apply to or may be expanded to account for L2 processing, report new insights on factors (linguistic, cognitive, social) that modulate L2 users’ engagement in prediction, and discuss the functions that prediction may or may not serve in L2 processing and learning. Taken together, this volume illustrates various fruitful approaches to investigating and accounting for differences in predictive processing within and across individuals, as well as across populations.

Second Language Processing: An Introduction is the first textbook to offer a thorough introduction to the field of second language processing (SLP). The study of SLP seeks to illuminate the cognitive processes underlying the processing of a non-native language. While current literature tends to focus on one topic or area of research, this textbook aims to bring these different research strands together in a single volume, elucidating their particularities while also demonstrating the relationships between them. The book begins by outlining what is entailed in the study of SLP, how it relates to other fields of study, and some of the main issues shared across its subareas. It then moves into an exploration of the three major areas of current research in the field—phonological processing, lexical processing, and sentence processing. Each chapter provides a broad overview of the topic and covers the major research methods, models, and studies germane to that area of study. Ideal for students and researchers working in this growing field, Second Language Processing will serve as the go-to guide for a complete examination of the major topics of study in SLP.

Bilingual Sentence Processing

This volume is the first dedicated to the growing field of theory and research on second language processing and parsing. The fourteen papers in this volume offer cutting-edge research using a number of different languages (e.g., Arabic, Spanish, Japanese, French, German, English) and structures (e.g., relative clauses, wh-gaps, gender, number) to examine various issues in second language processing: first language influence, whether or not non-natives can achieve native-like processing, the roles of context and prosody, the effects of working memory, and others. The researchers include both established scholars and newer voices, all offering important insights into the factors that affect processing and parsing in a second language.

Preface and acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Input processing in second language acquisition : The pioneering work of Bill VanPatten / Michael J. Leeser, Gregory D. Keating and Wynne WongPart -- Research on sentence processing -- The processing of case in intermediate L2 Spanish / Jill Jegerski -- The processing of subject shifts in L2 Spanish : an examination of L2 learners' use of inflectional morphology and reliance on overt subject pronouns / Suzanne Johnston -- When more is better : higher L1/L2 similarity, L2 proficiency, and working memory facilitate L2 morphosyntactic processing / Nuria Sagarra -- Research and perspectives on VanPatten's model of input processing -- VanPatten (1990)'s long and winding story and the nature of replication studies / Cristina Sanz and Timothy J. McCormick -- Research on second language processing and processing instruction -- Contextual effects in processing OVS constructions in Spanish : a partial replication of VanPatten and Houston (1998) and Malovrh (2006) / Casilde A. Isabelli -- Multilevel input processing : emerging developments and future challenges / Joe Barcroft -- Research and perspectives on processing instruction -- Trials-to-criterion as a methodological option to measure language processing in processing instruction / Claudia Fernández -- PI and the French causative and passive constructions : examining transfer-of-training effects using eye tracking / Wynne Wong, Kiwako Ito and Laurene Glimois -- Why does processing instruction work? The role of PI within a framework of language and second language development / Michael J. Leeser -- Conclusion -- Online methods in research on input processing and processing instruction / Gregory D. Keating.