Abstract
The role of implicit and explicit learning in the acquisition of a second language (L2) has been a central topic in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) for decades. Right at the onset of his introduction to a special issue of Studies in Second Language Acquisition on implicit and explicit L2 learning, Hulstjin (2005) wrote: ‘There are good theoretical and educational reasons to place matters of implicit and explicit learning high on the agenda for SLA research’ (p. 129). This is precisely what the volume edited by Cristina Sanz and Ronald Leow does. The book is a selected collection of papers presented at the Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics (GURT) 2009 that address issues of implicit and explicit language learning from theoretical, empirical and methodological perspectives. It contains 17 chapters divided into four parts. In the brief introductory chapter, Sanz and Leow describe the context of GURT 2009, and lay out the format of the book and the content of each chapter. Part I consists of four chapters about theoretical aspects of implicit and explicit learning. These chapters are the papers presented by four of the five plenary speakers at GURT 2009. In Chapter 2, Bill VanPatten argues that – while other aspects of language might be amenable to explicit instruction – formal syntax and formal syntactic properties (i.e. as understood by syntacticians) are not. In Chapter 3, Arthur Reber makes a case against Chomsky’s UG model of language acquisition and proposes that it should be replaced by a theory of implicit learning that has communication, pragmatics, and a domain-general acquisition system as its central elements. Chapter 4, written by Nick Ellis, addresses the interface between implicit and explicit learning from a Dynamic Systems’ perspective and places consciousness at the center of their relationship. Ellen Bialystok’s chapter, in which she discusses the advantages and disadvantages of bilinguals in terms of the processes of analysis and control, closes the first part of the book. The papers in Part II deal with methodological issues and empirical research about awareness, pedagogical contexts, and individual differences in SLA. The study by Ronald Leow, Ellen Johnson, and Germán Zárate-Sández (Chapter 6) discusses methodological issues in research on language awareness. In Chapter 7, Alison Lenet, Cristina Sanz, Beatriz Lado, James Howard and Darlene Howard examine how different types of feedback benefit L2 learners at age 65 and older. Florencia Henshaw examines the effects of timing of explicit feedback on the acquisition of the Spanish subjunctive in adverbial clauses in Chapter 8. In Chapter 9, Jared Linck and Daniel Weiss provide evidence for the predictive validity of working memory for second language learning. Carmen Pérez-Vidal, Maria Juan-Garau, and Joan Carles Mora (Chapter 10) explore which aspects of L2 benefit from participating in a study abroad program. In Chapter 11, Rebekah Rast examines what aspects of the L2 input ab initio learners rely on in order to make sense of such input. Part III contains two chapters reporting empirical studies on L2 phonology. Heather Hilton examines the differences between fluent and disfluent speech in the L2 in Chapter 12, while Fred Eckman, Gregory Iverson, Robert Allen Fox, Ewa Jacewicz, and Sue Ann Lee discuss the constraints that affect the acquisition of L2 phonemic contrasts in Chapter 13. Finally, Part IV addresses issues related to bilingualism. In Chapter 14, which seems to have been placed in the wrong section (in fact, in the introduction of the book this chapter is discussed within the previous section), Leslie Gordon discusses the role that the phonological similarities and differences between English and Spanish vowels play in the perception of L2 Spanish. The study by David Ingram, Virginia Dubasik, Juana Liceras, and Raquel Fernández Fuertes (Chapter 15) examines the early phonological development of two English–Spanish bilingual twins. In Chapter 16, Hui-Ju Lin examines the use of language learning strategies by adult learners of a third language (L3). In the final chapter of the book, Ingrid Finger, Johanna Dagort Billig, and Ana Paula Scholl address the effects of bilingualism on inhibitory control in a group of Portuguese/Hunsrückisch bilingual adults aged 60 and above.
The studies presented in this book have important implications for future research and for L2 pedagogy. Due to the diversity of topics and contexts of these studies, I highlight just a few in this review. With respect to research, Leow et al.’s review of studies on awareness shows the importance of carefully considering aspects such as the learner’s stage in the acquisition process or the different levels of awareness and of processing, since these variables have an important effect on the claims that can be made about the role of awareness in L2 learning. On the other hand, the study by Linck and Weiss suggests that using longitudinal designs might help in determining which components of language aptitude predict subsequent learning. Regarding implications for L2 pedagogy, in a study that challenges the assumption that immediate feedback is better in computer assisted language learning (CALL), Henshaw shows that provision of explicit feedback has a beneficial effect in CALL, regardless of whether the feedback is immediate or delayed. The results of Pérez-Vidal et al.’s study offer informative guidelines for the design of study abroad programs in terms of the participants’ levels of competence, the length of stay in host country, and the nature of academic practice. Finally, in her study about fluent and disfluent speech of L1 and L2 speakers, Hilton concludes that the differences are not mainly due to implicit or explicit processes, but to differences in the nature of the declarative base on which learners draw for the linguistic encoding of ideas, suggesting that explicit instruction of formulaic sequences could work for L2 learners in the same way as implicit learning does for L1 speakers.
Like other edited collections, this book has certain limitations. Perhaps the most evident one is that, besides the two chapters on learners older than age 60 and the chapter on bilingual twins, all the other chapters that present empirical studies use university students as participants. Thus, one has to exercise certain caution when extrapolating any pedagogical implications of those studies to other educational contexts such as school settings with much younger learners. This limitation notwithstanding, this book is a remarkable collection of papers that truly represents the breadth of scope of the topic of implicit and explicit learning of the L2. Even though some readers may find that some of the chapters might not apply to their area of work, the book as a whole provides significant insights into the role of these two types of learning in the acquisition of a second language.