We present a critical examination of phonological effects in a picture–word interference task. Using a methodology minimizing stimulus repetition, English/Spanish and Spanish/English bilinguals named pictures in either L1 or L2 (blocked contexts) or in both (mixed contexts) while ignoring word distractors in L1 or L2. Distractors were either phonologically related to the picture name (direct; FISH–fist), or related through translation to the picture name (TT; LEG–milk–leche), or they were unrelated (bear–peach). Results demonstrate robust activation of phonological representations by translation equivalents of word distractors. Although both direct and TT distractors facilitated naming, TT facilitation was more consistent in L2 naming and under mixed contexts.

In the last decade there has been a surge of interest in the use of neuroimaging tools such as event-related potentials (ERP) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine critical issues in the representation and processing of multiple languages in the brain. In 2001, David Green edited a special issue for Bilingualism: Language and Cognition on the cognitive neuroscience of bilingualism that involved studies of bilingual populations in English, German, Italian, and Japanese. According to a review by Vaid and Hull (2002), by 2001, there were at least 25 fMRI studies and 13 PET (positron emission tomography) studies of bilingual language processing in healthy individuals. This number has grown more rapidly since 2001. Many of these neuroscience studies of bilingualism have also appeared in top science journals and attracted widespread attention.

Over the past ten years, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition has established itself as a high-standard journal in the area of bilingualism by reporting novel research findings and new theoretical positions as well as providing the research community with state of the art reports in key areas. We thank all the contributors and reviewers who have made this possible.

This short piece relates how BLC was started, from the decision to begin a new journal in the spring of 1996 all the way to the publication of the first issue in June 1998. The topics covered are: writing a proposal, choosing a publisher, getting things started at Cambridge University Press and within the editorial team, and preparing the first issue.

This study reports the results of a picture verification task assessing the interpretation of intra-sentential anaphora and cataphora in Italian by a group of English–Italian bilingual eight-year-olds, a group of age-matched Italian monolinguals, and a group of Italian monolingual adults. No significant differences between the groups were observed in the choice of a subject antecedent for null anaphoric pronouns, and only marginally significant differences were reported between the adults and the two groups of children for the interpretation of null cataphoric pronouns. By contrast, overt pronominal subjects were accepted as co-referential with a subject antecedent significantly more often by the bilingual children than by the monolingual children and the adults in the anaphoric condition, and both groups of children accepted a subject as the antecedent of an overt cataphoric pronoun significantly more often than the adults. These results are interpreted in the context of language-universal and language-specific processing strategies in anaphora resolution in bilingual and monolingual acquisition.

Neuroimaging studies of reading have identified unique patterns of activation for individuals reading in alphabetic and Asian languages, suggesting the involvement of different processes in each. The present study investigates the extent to which a cognitive prerequisite for reading, the understanding of the symbolic function of print, is common to children learning to read in these two different systems. Four-year-old children in Hong Kong learning to read in Cantonese and children in Canada learning to read in English are compared for their understanding of this concept by means of the moving word task. Children in both settings performed the same on the task, indicating similar levels of progress in spite of experience with very different writing systems. In addition, the children in Hong Kong benefited from the structural similarity between certain iconic characters and their referents, making these items easier than arbitrary characters. These results point to an important cognitive universal in the development of literacy for all children that is the foundation for skilled reading that later becomes diverse and specialized.

Bilingual reading can require more than knowing two languages. Learners must acquire also the writing conventions of their second language, which can differ in its deep mapping principles (writing system) and its visual configurations (script). We review ERP (event-related potential) and fMRI studies of both Chinese–English bilingualism and Chinese second language learning that bear on the system accommodation hypothesis: the neural networks acquired for one system must be modified to accommodate the demands of a new system. ERP bilingual studies demonstrate temporal indicators of the brain's experience with L1 and L2 and with the frequency of encounters of words in L2. ERP learning studies show that early visual processing differences between L1 and L2 diminish during a second term of study. fMRI studies of learning converge in finding that learners recruit bilateral occipital-temporal and also middle frontal areas when reading Chinese, similar to the pattern of native speakers and different from alphabetic reading. The evidence suggests an asymmetry: alphabetic readers have a neural network that accommodates the demands of Chinese by recruiting neural structures less needed for alphabetic reading. Chinese readers have a neural network that partly assimilates English into the Chinese system, especially in the visual stages of word identification.

This paper examines the syntax of GENDER CONCORD in mixed utterances where bilingual children switch between a modifier in one language and a noun in another. Particular attention is paid to how children deal with potential gender mismatches between modifier and noun, i.e., if one of the languages has grammatical gender but the other does not, or if one of the languages has a ternary gender system and the other a binary one. We show that the English–Italian and French–German bilingual children in our study accommodate the gender properties of the noun to those of its modifiers in such cases, in order to ensure convergence.

In this article it is argued that language can be seen as a dynamic system, i.e. a set of variables that interact over time, and that language development can be seen as a dynamic process. Language development shows some of the core characteristics of dynamic systems: sensitive dependence on initial conditions, complete interconnectedness of subsystems, the emergence of attractor states in development over time and variation both in and among individuals. The application of tools and instruments developed for the study of dynamic systems in other disciplines calls for different approaches to research, which allow for the inclusion of both the social and the cognitive, and the interaction between systems. There is also a need for dense data bases on first and second language development to enhance our understanding of the fine-grained patterns of change over time. Dynamic Systems Theory is proposed as a candidate for an overall theory of language development.

A DST (Dynamic Systems Theory) characterization of L2 acquisition as an emergent process marks the coming of age of SLA research. It is an important theoretical maturation in that it brings together the many factors that interact in the complex system of language, learning, and use. It is an approach that has been budding for some time (Elman et al., 1996; Larsen-Freeman, 1997; MacWhinney, 1997; Ellis, 1998, 2003; Herdina and Jessner, 2002; Ellis and Larsen-Freeman, 2006), and recent symposia at AILA 2005, TESOL 2006 and AAAL 2006 conferences, and special issues in Applied Linguistics (2006) and here leave us heady with the scent of its blossom. What of fruition; what harvest shall we reap?

This paper investigates the shared or independent nature of grammatical gender representations in the bilingual mental lexicon and the role word form similarity (as in the case of cognates) plays in these representations. In a translation task from Greek (L1) to German (L2), nouns that had the same gender in both languages were translated faster than nouns with different genders, but only when the L2 target utterance required computation of gender agreement (adjective + noun). This tendency held for both cognates and noncognates. Unlike noncognates, however, gender-incongruent cognates yielded more errors than gender-congruent cognates. These results are interpreted as evidence for a shared L1–L2 gender system with L2 cognates relying more heavily on the L1 gender value than noncognates.

Neural plasticity in speech acquisition and learning is concerned with the timeline trajectory and the mechanisms of experience-driven changes in the neural circuits that support or disrupt linguistic function. In this selective review, we discuss the role of phonetic learning in language acquisition, the “critical period” of learning, the agents of neural plasticity, and the distinctiveness of linguistic systems in the brain. In particular, we argue for the necessity to look at brain–behavior connections using modern brain imaging techniques, seek explanations based on measures of neural sensitivity, neural efficiency, neural specificity and neural connectivity at the cortical level, and point out some key factors that may facilitate or limit second language learning. We conclude by highlighting the theoretical and practical issues for future studies and suggest ways to optimize language learning and treatment.

This paper presents an empirical study of how different wh -words behave in English speakers' L2 Chinese wh-questions. Our results indicate that L2 Chinese wh-questions are specified by the Chinese wh -particle ne and that there is neither variability nor L1 transfer in this aspect of L2 grammars as no wh -movement is found in English speakers' L2 Chinese. However, wh -words do not develop in a uniform fashion and different wh -words behave differently both synchronically and developmentally in English speakers' L2 Chinese. There is evidence for both temporary variability and persistent variability in some aspects of English speakers' L2 Chinese wh-questions. This is believed to result from breakdowns at the lexical morphology–syntax interface and morphosyntax–semantics interface levels in L2 Chinese grammars. We will provide an account for the no variability, temporary variability as well as persistent variability in English speakers' L2 Chinese wh-questions.

In this study we examined ERP (event-related-potential) responses in the morphosyntactic processing of subject–verb agreements by L2 Chinese learners of English. Fifteen proficient L2 learners and fifteen native English speakers were presented with English sentences that varied in the grammaticality of the sentence with respect to subject–verb agreement. Our results indicate that late L2 learners show distinct ERP responses from native speakers in the processing of syntactic features that are absent in their L1, even when their behavioral patterns are similar to those of native speakers. The results are taken to support the proposal that language-specific experiences with L1 shape the neural structure of processing in L2.

The article “A Dynamic Systems Theory approach to second language acquisition” by De Bot, Lowie and Verspoor discusses Dynamic Systems Theory (DST), and in particular the benefits of studying second language acquisition (SLA) within the DST framework. The article explains the main characteristics of DST, and goes on to show how various aspects of SLA can be treated from a DST perspective. In particular, the article proposes that the DST framework allows an investigation of how various social and cognitive aspects of SLA interact.

Second language acquisition research is coming to recognize the influence of the sociocultural environment in the L2 learning. For example, beginning with the early work of Frawley and Lantolf (1985), a group of L2 researchers have been exploring the implications of L. S. Vygotsky's (1978, 1986) sociocultural theory of mind (henceforth, SCT) for the learning and teaching of languages beyond the first. Similarly, scholars working within the Conversational Analysis tradition, stimulated in large part by the seminal article of Firth and Wagner (1997), have also been investigating the impact of conversation on L2 development. It should come as no real surprise that researchers interested in dynamic systems theory (henceforth DST), and its variants (emergentism, chaos and complexity theory) have also shown an interest in the implications of their theoretical stance for SLA. Larsen-Freeman (1997, 2002), to my knowledge, the first researcher to make a case for the potential relevance of chaos and complexity theory for L2 acquisition, argues for the need to expand the scope of factors impacting on L2 learning to consider more than what goes on inside of a learner's head. In addition to Larsen-Freeman's publications, a special issue of Applied Linguistics (N. Ellis and Larsen-Freeman, 2006) and an invited colloquium at the 2006 Annual Conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (De Bot, 2006) have been devoted to the topic. The contribution by De Bot, Lowie and Verspoor (henceforth, DBL&V) represents a significant continuation of this trend.

In four experiments we explored processes underlying L2 gender retrieval. We focused on L1 interference and on the influence of the L2 noun's termination. In Experiments 1 and 2 we tried to manipulate the intensity of L1 interference. We found that L2 speakers cannot eliminate or substantially reduce the interlingual interference neither when they know the response language long in advance in a situation in which code-switching is required (Experiment 1), nor when they are close to the monolingual mode (Experiment 2). Experiments 3 and 4 yielded evidence that gender typicality of the L2 noun's termination also exerts an influence on L2 processing, both in production and comprehension. L2 gender thus does not seem to be stored as a fixed feature as it is assumed for L1. Rather, our data support the assumption that it is computed anew each time when needed for processing. Further implications for modeling are discussed.

The goal of this study was to examine the effect of the linguistic distance between a first language (L1) and a second language (L2) on neural activity during second language relative to first language processing. We compared different L1–L2 pairs in which different linguistic features characterize linguistic distance. Chinese and Korean native speakers were instructed to perform sentence comprehension tasks in two L2s (English and Japanese) and their respective L1s. Activation while understanding English sentences relative to understanding sentences in L1 was greater for the Korean group than the Chinese group in the left inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral posterior superior temporal gyri, and right cerebellum. Activation while understanding Japanese sentences relative to understanding sentences in L1 was greater for the Chinese group than the Korean group in the anterior portion of the left superior temporal gyrus. The results demonstrated that the location of the L2–L1 processing-induced cortical activation varies between different L1–L2 pairs.

In this paper I claim that there is evidence of grammatical interference in the development of ergative case in bilingual children acquiring Basque and Spanish. While both monolingual and bilingual children have difficulty acquiring the ergative case in Basque (Barreña, 1995; Ezeizabarrena, 1996), my results indicate that bilingual children omit the ergative case marker to a greater extent than monolingual children. I argue that this difference is the result of interference from Spanish, which takes the form of reinforcing a non-target-like option in Basque (Müller and Hulk, 2001).

In the late 1980s, I reviewed what was known about the field of second language acquisition (SLA), first with a co-author in a book (Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1991) and then in a highly condensed form for a 25th anniversary issue of the TESOL Quarterly (Larsen-Freeman, 1991). Stock-taking activities can be very useful, and I was grateful for these opportunities.