LANGUAGE STRATEGIES FOR BILINGUAL FAMILIES: THE ONE-PARENT–ONE-LANGUAGE APPROACH. Suzanne Barron-Hauwaert. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2004. Pp. 248. $79.95 cloth, $29.95 paper.

How do families who are trying to raise their children bilingually attempt to do so, and how do they overcome some of the challenges of this decision? This is the main theme of this very readable book, which is written with a variety of audiences in mind. The book is theoretically sound even though it is not primarily addressed to the research community. The author, who has had personal experience raising children bilingually, also documents the experiences of many other families involved in this endeavor, using direct quotes from interviews and small case studies of these families as documentation for the theoretical assertions.

This study examines the effects of asymmetrical mappings of L2 sounds to L1 sounds on real-time processing of L2 phonology. L1-Korean participants completed a self-paced listening (SPL) task paired with a picture verification (PV) task, in which an English sentence was presented word by word along with a picture that matched or mismatched the sentence. In the critical region, an L2 vowel was deliberately replaced with the wrong vowel for two types of English vowel pairs: Type 1: English vowel pairs showing a one-to-one mapping to Korean counterparts (e.g., English: /i/ and /æ/ to Korean /i/ and /æ/, respectively); and Type 2: English vowel pairs showing a two-to-one mapping to a Korean counterpart (e.g., English /i/ and /ɪ/ to Korean /i/). We analyzed response times (RTs) and PV accuracy. Longer RTs were observed for Type 1 errors than Type 2 errors, indicating lower sensitivity to L2 vowels with two-to-one mapping to an L1 vowel. Also, PV accuracy was lower for the sentences containing Type 2 errors. These results suggest that asymmetrical L2-L1 sound mapping can affect learners’ processing of L2 phonological knowledge, which in turn can negatively affect their comprehension.

THE SOCIAL TURN IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. David Block. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 2003. Pp. viii + 162. $26.95 paper.

This book is devoted to what Block calls the Input-Interaction-Output (IIO) model of SLA. By this model, he means SLA research conducted over the last few decades by Gass, Long, Pica, Swain, and others, generally known as the “interaction hypothesis” and the “output hypothesis.” Block's chief aim is “to critically examine some of the basic notions and assumptions that underpin this model and to suggest a more interdisciplinary and socially informed approach to SLA research” (p. vii). He takes pains to point out that his criticisms are intended to be constructive, noting that his intent is to encourage IIO researchers to look beyond what he views as a psycholinguistic bias in mainstream SLA.

This study investigates how linguistic and nonlinguistic information interacts in second language (L2) sentence processing. Previous studies argued that L2 behaviors might stem from how L2 speakers rely more on one type of information over another. However, direct attempts have not been made to test the (dis)agreement of different information types. To fill this gap, the present study explored the integration of definiteness and real-world knowledge. Experiment 1 showed that both first language (L1) speakers (n = 34) and advanced L2 speakers (n = 49) could use definiteness to predict unmentioned referents, but intermediate L2 speakers could not (n = 35). After confirming that L1 and L2 speakers shared the same real-world knowledge, Experiment 2 (n (L1) = 36, n (L2) = 43) showed that the two groups’ behaviors differed when linguistic and nonlinguistic information had to be processed simultaneously. The findings suggest that L2 speakers can process linguistic information in a targetlike manner only in the absence of usable nonlinguistic information.

This study expands on previous research into filler-gap dependency processing in second language (L2) English, by means of a replication of Canales’s (2012) self-paced reading study. Canales, among others, found that advanced L2-English speakers exhibited the same processing behavior that Stowe (1986) found for native English processing: On encountering a filler, they posited gaps in licensed positions and avoided positing gaps in grammatically unlicensed island positions. However, the previous L2 studies focused on advanced-level L2 proficiency and did not test specifically for first language (L1) influence. The present study compares two groups of intermediate-level L2-English speakers with contrasting non-wh-movement L1s, Jordanian Arabic and Mandarin, to investigate the effects of L1 influence and individual differences in proficiency. Our results provide evidence that at intermediate level, too, L2 filler-gap processing adheres to grammatical constraints. L1 did not affect this behavior, but proficiency effects emerged, with larger licensed filled-gap effects at higher proficiency.

The use of the Spanish pronouns of address tú and usted is an intricate matter for L2 learners due to the many factors that influence their selection at the discourse and interactional level. Although the literature has traditionally focused on the challenges experienced by L1-English learners of L2-Spanish in learning these forms, less is known about speakers whose L1s also present similar (but not identical) pronouns of address. This study thus analyzes the use of tú and usted by L1-French and L1-European Portuguese learners who learn Spanish either in their home countries (i.e., France and Portugal) or in Spain as part of a study-abroad experience. Results indicate that learners in both L1 groups used tú more often while in Spain than in their home country. Additionally, students in immersion started adopting more similar criteria to those of L1-Spanish speakers in determining whether tú or usted would be appropriate in certain contexts.