The 13 original articles presented in this volume are brought together under a broad definition of second language (L2) processing as the practical application of a learner’s grammatical knowledge during online comprehension. This somewhat liberal perspective thus allows for a wide range of topics to be considered in this volume, including phonology, lexicon, morphology, prosody, and discourse as well as syntactic phenomena (wh--movement and relative clause ambiguities). Additionally, the different contributions present studies that have investigated a handful of different L2s—namely, English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese—through a variety of research methodologies: eye tracking, self-paced reading, and event-related brain potentials (ERPs), among others (however, self-paced reading seems to be the tool of choice, as it is used in 6 of the 13 studies). Furthermore, several of the studies combine the use of both on- and offline measures.
As the editors point out in the introduction, the investigation of L2 processing has only recently become the focus of current research, after much debate concerning the end product of SLA (i.e., the nature of the grammar). This new line of research naturally reconsiders the issues of first language (L1) influence and nativelikeness, echoing questions that motivated the discussion of access to universal grammar in SLA. The various articles in this volume offer differing perspectives on these still somewhat controversial issues. For example, whereas Mitsugi and MacWhinney found no clear effect of L1 English or Korean in their reading-time study of ditransitive construction scrambling in L2 Japanese, Jackson presents evidence from a self-paced reading study on subject-object ambiguity in L2 German that suggests that the L1 (in this case, English or Dutch) can indeed influence L2 processing, even at more advanced proficiency levels. Similarly, with respect to the question of whether nativelike processing is attainable, the results of Dinçtopal-Deniz’s reading-time study, which investigated relative clause attachment preferences among L1 Turkish learners of L2 English, are argued to be consistent with the claim that nonnative speakers are unable to process L2 input in nativelike ways. In contrast, through a self-paced reading study involving L1 Arabic learners of English, Aldwayan, Fiorentino, and Gabriele demonstrate that L2 processing is incremental and sensitive to syntactic constraints on wh-movement.
The articles are organized thematically in five sections that examine (a) the processing of wh-movement and ambiguous relative clauses in L2 English (with contributions by Dinçtopal-Deniz; Aldwayan and colleagues; and Cunnings, Batterham, Felser, & Clahsen), (b) sensitivity to gender and number agreement in L2 Romance languages (with chapters on Spanish and French by Keating and Renaud, respectively), (c) subject and object ambiguities related to word-order phenomena (with chapters on L2 Japanese by Mitsugi & MacWhinney and Hara; on L2 German by Jackson; and on L2 Spanish by Malovrh & Lee), (d) phonological and lexical processing (with a chapter on liaison in L2 French by Shoemaker and a review article on translation ambiguity by Tokowicz & Degani), and (e) nonnative processing at the interface between syntax and prosody (with a study on English-Spanish bilinguals by Fernández) and syntax and discourse context (with an ERP study on L1 English learners of L2 French by Reichle).
Most of the contributions follow a similar general format and organization, and the authors of each chapter introduce the relevant concepts and terminology and provide a good contextualization for the study within a wider framework. The chapters can thus easily be read as stand-alone articles. Additionally, for all of the empirical studies but one (Mitsugi & MacWhinney) the complete experimental stimulus is included in an appendix, which not only serves to strengthen readers’ understanding of the study but also allows for replication. The Tokowicz and Degani chapter, which synthesizes recent research (much of it by the authors themselves) on translation ambiguity and word-concept mappings in the L2 mental lexicon, seems a bit out of place among the other empirical studies of this volume, as if it were only included to round out the section on phonology and lexicon.
Overall, however, this collection of articles offers a fairly well-rounded view of current issues in L2 processing by considering a range of topics, target languages, and theoretical claims and would thus be a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in L2 processing. Additionally, given its broad perspective and the inclusion of studies that support both sides of the current debates, this volume would make a good textbook for an introductory graduate-level course on research in L2 processing.
