THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF LEARNING: PERSPECTIVES FROM SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

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THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF LEARNING: PERSPECTIVES FROM SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. John H. Schumann, Sheila E. Crowell, Nancy E. Jones, Namhee Lee, Sara Ann Schuchert, and Lee Alexandra Wood. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2004. Pp. xiii + 212. $59.95 cloth, $34.50 paper.

This volume is an attempt to relate neuroscience research to cognitive metaphors (e.g., auditory loop, Universal Grammar [UG], fossilization) used by SLA researchers and psycholinguists to describe language acquisition. The volume consists of six chapters, originally master's theses and PhD qualifying papers, and an introduction and conclusion by Schumann. The chapters review literature that pertains to the neurobiology of six subtopics: aptitude, motivation, procedural memory, declarative memory, memory consolidation, and attention. In the preface, Schumann suggests that the purpose of the volume is “to promote a neurobiology of language that starts with the brain and moves to behavior” (p. xi), although he acknowledges one page later that “empirical research on the hypothesized mechanisms may be some time off” (p. xii). The volume aims to convince the intended readership, SLA researchers who might know little or no neurobiology, that investing time in the study of the neuroscience of learning is critical to the field's progression.