Declarative and Procedural Determinants of Second Languages: (40 Studies in Bilingualism)

This volume is the outcome of the author’s observations and puzzlement over seventeen years of teaching English and French as second languages, followed by 30 years of research into the neurolinguistic aspects of bilingualism. It examines, within the framework of a neurolinguistic theory of bilingualism (Paradis, 2004), the crucial and pervasive contributions made by declarative and procedural memory to the appropriation, representation and processing of a second language. This requires careful consideration of a number of concepts associated with issues pertaining to second language research: consciousness, interface, modularity, automaticity, proficiency, accuracy, fluency, intake, ultimate attainment, switching, implicit linguistic competence and explicit metalinguistic knowledge. It is informed by data from a variety of domains, including language pathology, neuroimaging, and, from each side of the fence, practical classroom experience. This book introduces four further proposals within the framework of a neurolinguistic theory of bilingualism: (1) There are two sets of cerebral representations, those that are capable of reaching consciousness and those that are not; implicit grammar is inherently not capable of reaching consciousness. (2) The increased activation observed in neuroimaging studies during the use of a second language is not devoted to the processing of implicit linguistic competence. (3) Intake is doubly implicit. (4) Given the premise that metalinguistic knowledge cannot be converted into implicit competence, there can be no possible interface between the two.

Table of Contents:
1. Preface; 2. Chapter 1. Key concepts, framework, and clarifications; 3. Chapter 2. Consciousness in L2 appropriation; 4. Chapter 3. The disintegration of the implicit/explicit interface debate (or interface newspeak?); 5. Chapter 4. Ultimate attainment in L2 proficiency; 6. Chapter 5. Pervasive relevance of the distinction between implicit competence and explicit knowledge; 7. Summary of key proposals; 8. References; 9. Subject index

Review :
This volume provides a thorough and comprehensive review of issues regarding the distinction between declarative and procedural aspects of processing in the L2. It includes a strong emphasis on the neurocognitive underpinnings of this distinction. Paradis discusses the differences between L1 and L2 in terms of the involvement of implicit versus explicit knowledge, and he makes important claims about the inability of studies that use single-word stimuli to reveal much about processing in implicit knowledge systems. Paradis defends the no-interface view of the relationship between explicit and implicit knowledge (i.e., that explicit or metalinguistic knowledge cannot be converted into forms of implicit knowledge), and this has implications for an understanding of fluency development. At a moment when issues of bilingualism assume greater importance in the United States and as neurocognitive techniques rapidly gain terrain in SLA research, an extension of Paradis’s (2004) neurolinguistic theory of bilingualism could hardly be more timely. This volume stands out for its clarity, accessibility, and thought-provoking style. [...] this volume will interest psycholinguists, neurolinguists, and SLA researchers. Readers already familiar with Paradis’s (2004 ) work can benefit from the model additions, updated information on diverse topics, new data that claim to bolster central tenets of the theory, and plenty of room for rebuttal. Those less familiar with Paradis’s research and the explicit-implicit distinction and interface debate can read the preface (a synopsis of the 2004 book) and the appendix that summarizes key proposals (giving an overview of the constructs created after 2004) before delving into the individual chapters. This excellent, lucid and scholarly work is a treatise on the conceptual basis of our understanding of second language appropriation and use, and the neural systems that subserve it. It is an important extension of MP’s seminal work on neurolinguistic theory of bilingualism (Paradis, 2004). [...] a rigorous exercise in clearing muddled thinking and in exploring the behavioural and neural bases of second language performance. [...] The core thesis is applied to different issues in the different chapters and this means that the chapters can be read somewhat independently. In consequence, readers with different interests can grasp the thesis and its implications for their area of interest efficiently. I think they will find themselves enticed to read further and enjoy, as I did, a book that provides a wide-ranging exploration of a common theme. The thesis that MP eloquently develops [...] is open to explicit test. [...] As one works through the treatise, it is clear that despite targeting an expert readership, the book does not completely exclude educated lay readers, much to its credit. This is achieved through the rigorous systematicity with which the arguments of the book are presented [...] What particularly strikes me is how the author elucidates some of his points in a way that is wholly comprehensible and intuitive. [...] One cannot but be awed by the extent of knowledge the author has on the subject being dealt with, as evident in his exhaustive and critical commentary on the relevant literature. The comprehensiveness of this work makes it a must-read for students and scholars who are interested in bilingualism in general and second language acquisition in particular. One cannot but be awed by the extent of knowledge the author has on the subject being dealt with, as evident in his exhaustive and critical commentary on the relevant literature. The comprehensiveness of this work makes it a must-read for students and scholars who are interested in bilingualism in general and second language acquisition in particular.