THE NEUROSCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE IN 2ND-LANGUAGE ACQUISITION RESEARCH - A CRITICAL SYNOPSIS

This article starts with an overview tracing the history of the neuros cientific study of language. It then surveys the three main issues tha t have emerged from the neuroscience/second language acquisition (SLA) interface: the neurofunctional differences that hold between primary language acquisition (PLA) and SLA; the critical period issue; and the purported role played by the right hemisphere (RH). In his concluding remarks the author discusses the relevance of neuroscientific finding s among nonbiological factors with particular reference for the learni ng process to some of the modern instructional models. Needless to say , we are only that the beginning of the expansion of knowledge about t he 'mystery' of language acquisition.