First Exposure to a Second Language

This collection of original studies examines the cognitive processes and the fundamental mechanisms underlying adult second language acquisition.

ZhaoHong Han is Professor of Language and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Rebekah Rast is Associate Professor of English and Linguistics in the Department of Comparative Literature and English at the American University of Paris.

Introduction. First exposure, input processing and theorizing ZhaoHong Han and Rebekah Rast; 1. First exposure: a replication of Han and Peverly (2007) ZhaoHong Han and Yayun Sun; 2. Learners' first exposure to written L2 input: insights from learners' spontaneous think-alouds Eun Sung Park; 3. Initial processing and use of inflectional markers: evidence from French adult learners of Polish Rebekah Rast, Marzena Watorek, Heather Hilton and Ellenor Shoemaker; 4. Processing 'words' in early-stage foreign language acquisition: a comparison of first exposure and low proficiency learners S. E. Carroll; 5. Absence of morphological transfer in beginners: evidence from eye tracking Nuria Sagarra; 6. The challenges of establishing spontaneous allocation of attention to meaning and form Nina Moreno; Epilogue. Input processing by novices: issues in the nature of processing and in research methods Bill VanPatten.