Although research on outcomes of second language (L2) learning (e.g., generative approaches, ultimate attainment) has made important contributions to the field of second language acquisition (SLA), what was and had been missing for some time is research on underlying processes and processing—that is, the psycholinguistics of L2 learning. The seeds for work on processing have their roots in early L2 research, but the psycholinguistics of SLA didn’t really take off until the 1990s.
Since then we have seen a steady increase in work related to input processing, sentence processing, output processing, lexical processing/retrieval, explicit/implicit processing, and other related areas. We have seen a steady increase in papers presented at conferences such as the Second Language Research Forum, as well as the emergence of conferences with a sole focus on the psycholinguistics of L2 learning. Journals such as Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Language Learning, and Second Language Research regularly publish papers with a psycholinguistics bent. And in doctoral programs in L2 studies, we have seen both regular courses and specialized seminars focused almost exclusively on the psycholinguistics of L2 learning. There has been, so to speak, a boom in psycholinguistic approaches to L2 learning in the last two decades.
Against this backdrop, the present volume was conceived. Its intent is to offer students of SLA an introduction to the various methods used in psycholinguistic (and neurolinguistic) research. With the exception of Chapter 1—which lays some foundational issues for the field of psycholinguistics in L2 research—and the final chapter—which assesses and comments on the various methods presented in the volume—the chapters in this book present the most current techniques and methods used to conduct psycholinguistic research in the L2 context. Each contribution is authored by a researcher or researchers with expertise in the particular method under question, who can offer experienced insight into not only the history of the method, but what is measured, how it is measured, issues in research and stimuli design, and the pros and cons of the method.