Implicit and Explicit Language Learning: Conditions, Processes, and Knowledge in SLA and Bilingualism

Over the last several decades, neuroscientists, cognitive psychologists, and psycholinguists have investigated the implicit and explicit continuum in language development and use from theoretical, empirical, and methodological perspectives. This book addresses these perspectives in an effort to build connections among them and to draw pedagogical implications when possible.

The volume includes an examination of the psychological and neurological processes of implicit and explicit learning, what aspects of language learning can be affected by explicit learning, and the effects of bilingualism on the mental processing of language. Rigorous empirical research investigations probe specific aspects of acquiring morphosyntax and phonology, including early input, production, feedback, age, and study abroad. A final section explores the rich insights provided into language processing by bilingualism, including such major areas as aging, third language acquisition, and language separation.

Cristina Sanz is a professor of Spanish applied linguistics, director of the School of Foreign Service & Intensive Spanish Programs, and codirector of the Center for Brain Basis of Cognition at Georgetown University. She is the editor of Mind and Context in Adult Second Language Acquisition, which won the MLA’s Kenneth W. Mildenberger Award.

Ronald P. Leow is professor of Spanish applied linguistics and director of Spanish language instruction at Georgetown University. He is the coeditor of Little Words: Their History, Phonology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics, and Acquisition.