It is widely believed that adults cannot learn a foreign language in the same way that children learn a first language. However, recent evidence suggests that adult learners of a foreign language can come to rely on native-like language brain mechanisms. Here, we show that the type of language training crucially impacts this outcome. We used an artificial language paradigm to examine longitudinally whether explicit training (that approximates traditional grammar-focused classroom settings) and implicit training (that approximates immersion settings) differentially affect neural (electrophysiological) and behavioral (performance) measures of syntactic processing. Results showed that performance of explicitly and implicitly trained groups did not differ at either low or high proficiency. In contrast, electrophysiological (ERP) measures revealed striking differences between the groups’ neural activity at both proficiency levels in response to syntactic violations. Implicit training yielded an N400 at low proficiency, whereas at high proficiency, it elicited a pattern typical of native speakers: an anterior negativity followed by a P600 accompanied by a late anterior negativity. Explicit training, by contrast, yielded no significant effects at low proficiency and only an anterior positivity followed by a P600 at high proficiency. Although the P600 is reminiscent of native-like processing, this response pattern as a whole is not. Thus, only implicit training led to an electrophysiological signature typical of native speakers. Overall, the results suggest that adult foreign language learners can come to rely on native-like language brain mechanisms, but that the conditions under which the language is learned may be crucial in attaining this goal.

This study employed an artificial language learning paradigm together with a combined behavioral/event-related potential (ERP) approach to examine the neurocognition of the processing of gender agreement, an aspect of inflectional morphology that is problematic in adult second language (L2) learning. Subjects learned to speak and comprehend an artificial language under either explicit (classroomlike) or implicit (immersionlike) training conditions. In each group, both noun-article and noun-adjective gender agreement processing were examined behaviorally and with ERPs at both low and higher levels of proficiency. Results showed that the two groups learned the language to similar levels of proficiency but showed somewhat different ERP patterns. At low proficiency, both types of agreement violations (adjective, article) yielded N400s, but only for the group with implicit training. Additionally, noun-adjective agreement elicited a late N400 in the explicit group at low proficiency. At higher levels of proficiency, nounadjective agreement violations elicited N400s for both the explicit and implicit groups, whereas noun-article agreement violations elicited P600s for both groups. The results suggest that interactions among linguistic structure, proficiency level, and type of training need to be considered when examining the development of aspects of inflectional morphology in L2 acquisition. Keywordssecond language acquisition; event-related potentials; language processing; explicit; implicit; agreement Aspects of inflectional morphology, including grammatical gender agreement in noun phrases (NPs), seem to be particularly difficult for late second language (L2) learners to acquire (Montrul, 2004; Montrul, Foote, Perpiñán, Thornhill, & Vidal, 2008;White, 2003).Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kara Morgan-Short, Departments of Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese and Psychology, 1706 UH MC 315, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607. Internet: karams@uic.edu; Michael T. Ullman, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057. Internet: michael@georgetown.edu. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptLang Learn. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 February 24.Published in final edited form as:Lang Learn. 2010 March ; 60(1): 154-193. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00554.x. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptEven for learners at advanced levels of proficiency, errors in gender agreement appear to persist (Dewaele & Veronique, 2001;Franceschina, 2005). Although this issue has been addressed from multiple perspectives (Arteaga, Herschensohn, & Gess, 2003;Bartning, 2000;Benati, 2005;De Jong, 2005;Dewaele & Veronique, 2001;Franceschina, 2005;Gass & Alvarez Torres, 2005;Hawkins & Chan, 1997;Keating, 2009;Montrul, 2004;Montrul et al., 2008;White, Valenzuela, Kozlowska-Macgregor, & Leung, 2004), neurocognitive research has only begun to consider the development, representation, and processing of L2 grammatical gender ...

Studies on the acquisition of a third language (L3) in a bilingual context have shown that literacy in two languages facilitates the acquisition of a third (Cenoz & Valencia, 1994; Swain, Lapkin, Rowen, & Hart, 1990). The present study seeks to contribute to this line of research by comparing the acquisition of English as an L3 by Catalan/Spanish bilingual high school students in an immersion program with the acquisition of English by Spanish monolinguals. Data from 201 participants were submitted to a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, rendering results that show that bilingualism indeed has a positive effect on the acquisition of an L3. The evidence is discussed from a cognitive perspective.

The facilitative role of explicit information in second language acquisition has been supported by a significant body of research (Alanen

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While research suggests that study abroad (SA) benefits second language (L2) oral fluency, its benefits for other domains are less clear, especially for shorterterm programs, which are becoming more common. Additionally, studies investigating the relationship between cognitive capacity and benefits of SA report inconsistent patterns. In light of these gaps, this study investigated whether a 5‐week intensive language experience abroad benefits L2 lexical and grammatical development and whether development is related to learners' cognitive capacity. Twenty‐six L1 English–advanced L2 Spanish participants in a SA program in Spain completed pre‐/post‐SA grammaticality judgment (GJT) and lexical decision tasks (LDT). On the GJT, results showed higher accuracy and decreasing reaction times (RTs); specifically, accuracy increased on word order and number agreement items but not on gender agreement. RTs did not decrease for any of the three targets individually. For the LDT, performance on nonwords, but not words, showed improvement while RTs for both words and nonwords decreased. Overall, these gains following short‐term experience abroad were independent of variation in cognitive capacity. This study makes a unique contribution toward understanding the roles of L2 proficiency, context, and individual differences in morphosyntactic and lexical development.

This study investigated whether the role of working memory capacity varies over the course of second language (L2) morphosyntactic development. Eighty-seven beginning, intermediate, and advanced university L2 Spanish learners completed two nonverbal tasks measuring executive function (EF) and phonological working memory (PWM) in their native language (English) and two tasks measuring knowledge of ten grammatical structures in Spanish at three points during and after a semester of instruction. Robust relationships between both working memory components, especially PWM, and L2 performance, emerged only for lower level learners, particularly at the start of instruction and 3.5 months later. Findings demonstrate that the facilitative effects of cognitive ability appear to lessen with increasing L2 proficiency and empirically support a developmental perspective of L2 learning.

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