Neurolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Perspectives on SLA: (48 Second Language Acquisition)

Neurolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Perspectives on SLA is a collection of twelve chapters, reporting on research results and presenting theoretical insights into the processes of language acquisition. It is divided into two major sections: the first part demonstrates the ways in which the latest developments in non-invasive techniques of brain monitoring allow researchers to test hypothesis related to biological foundations of language acquisition, including also accounts of emotional factors, limbic communication and evidence from language disorders. The second part offers psycholinguistic modelling of a number of components of second language competence, such as the acquisition of reading and writing, handling of foreign language vocabulary and the nature of bi- and multilingualism. It is a valuable collection for active researchers in the field, as well as for postgraduate students in language acquisition, psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics.

Table of Contents:
Introduction to the Volume by Janusz Arabski and Adam Wojtaszek I. Neurolinguistic Perspective 1. Identifying the Neural Substrates of Second Language Acquisition: What is the Contribution from Functional and Structural MRI? - Maurits van den Noort, Peggy Bosch, Tarik Hadzibeganovic, Katrien Mondt, Marco Haverkort & Kenneth Hugdahl 2. The Critical Period Hypothesis: Evidence from Information Structural Processing in French - Robert V. Reichle 3. On Neuroanatomical Substrates of Dyslexia: With some Implications for FL Acquisition - Joanna Nijakowska 4. Emotion versus Cognition, or what Psycho- and Neurolinguistics Tell Us about Affectivity in SLA - Danuta Gabryś-Barker 5. Observable Strategizing: On Limbic Communication in Advanced Users of Language - Agnieszka Ślęzak-Świat II. Psycholinguistic Perspective 6. Bilingual Language Control in Translation Tasks: A TAP Study into Mental Effort Management by Inexperienced Translators - Bogusława Whyatt 7. A Connectionist-enactivist Perspective on Learning to Write - Jan Zalewski 8. Cross-linguistic Conceptual Influence from a Bilingual Perspective: In Search of Research Paradigm - Jolanta Latkowska 9. On the Asymmetry of Verb-noun Collocations – Wojciech Malec 10. Gender Differences in L1 and L2 Reading - Liliana Piasecka 11. An Educational Language Community: External and Internal Language Use by Multilingual Students - Anna Ewert 12. Language Awareness in Using Cognate Vocabulary: The Case of Polish Advanced Students of English in the Light of the Theory of Affordances – Agnieszka Otwinowska-Kasztelanic

About the Author :
Janusz Arabski and Adam Wojtaszek both work at the University of Silesia, Poland. Their research interests include psycholinguistics, language acquisition and linguistic pragmatics. They are the editors of Neurolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Perspectives on SLA and The Acquisition of L2 Phonology, both recently published by Multilingual Matters. The editors and the contributing authors are active members of many scientific committees and organizations devoted to the investigation of language acquisition processes, and they regularly participate in many conferences and publish extensively. The author list comprises experienced scholars as well as young and promising researchers. Adam Wojtaszek is Associate Professor and the Deputy Director at the Institute of English, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland. His major field of interest is linguistic pragmatics, psycholinguistics and language of persuasion. He has published two books on advertising language, Deciphering Radio Commercials – A Pragmatic Perspective (2002) and Theoretical Frameworks in the Study of Press Advertisements – Polish, British and Chinese Perspective (2011), as well as a number of articles on the topic. Within the area of psycholinguistics and second language acquisition studies, he has co-edited a number of volumes reporting on recent studies and developments, such as Neurolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Perspectives on SLA (2010), The Acquisition of L2 Phonology (2011a), Individual Learner Differences in SLA (2011b), Aspects of Culture in Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Learning (2011c), and recently Studying Second Language Acquisition from a Qualitative Perspective (2014). He is also the author of a chapter on morphosyntactic development in the volume edited by Danuta Gabryś-Barker, Readings in Second Language Acquisition (2012). He is also one of the organizers of the annual international SLA conference held in Szczyrk, Poland, a major event of international recognition, initiated in the mid 1980’s by Janusz Arabski.

Review :
The compilation of articles in this book offers a view on the breadth of current research on second language acquisition and processing. Coming from a teaching background, the contributors provide reviews of a heterogeneous set of theoretical positions and research approaches. Some may find it eclectic, I found it stimulating. This book is a must for all interested in SLA, multilingualism and language learning in general. It offers a well-composed selection of thought-provoking perspectives stemming from neuro- and psycholinguistic studies focusing on the second language learner. The various scholars study a wide range of topics in two promising areas of research and thereby give evidence of the multifaceted nature of methodologies used in modern linguistics. This source will certainly open up new research avenues in the field.