2 Following several decades of research on native language (L1) processing, psycholinguists have more recently begun to investigate how non-native (L2) speakers comprehend and process language in real time. This review surveys recent findings from this line of research. Regarding the traditional assumption that L2 learners have ‘difficulty with grammar’, this new research has revealed some unexpected similarities and differences between L1 and L2 processing. Specifically, we present evidence that L2 processing can become native-like in some linguistic subdomains (including certain aspects of grammar), but that L1/L2 processing differences persist in the domain of complex syntax even in highly proficient L2 speakers. Thus more subtle linguistic distinctions seem to be required to understand the nature of non-native language processing.

Mapping of written input onto orthographic representations was examined in bilingual speakers whose two languages have partially overlapping orthographies. Russian-English bilinguals and English monolinguals were tested with a modified version of the picture-word interference paradigm, adapted for use with eye-tracking. Compared to English monolinguals, Russian-English bilinguals (tested in English) made more eye movements to written stimuli that, if mapped onto two orthographic systems simultaneously, constituted Russian words. Results suggest parallel activation of both languages during visual processing of written input, even when the orthography is associated with different phonological representations in the two languages. We suggest that decoding of written input in languages with partial orthographic overlap is not limited to one language only, but that the mapping of visual stimuli takes place onto the orthographic systems of both languages and that lexical representations in the non-target language become activated.

Language www.elsevier.com/locate/jml Lexical competition in non-native spoken-word recognition

We examine the influence of bilingualism and inhibitory control on the ability to learn a novel language. Using a statistical learning paradigm, participants learned transitional probabilities in two novel languages based on the International Morse Code. First, participants listened to a lowinterference language to test word segmentation skill. Next, participants listened to a high-interference language, in which a colliding cue to word boundaries in the form of compressed pauses between words conflicted with the language’s transitional probabilities. Results suggest that high proficiency in a second language can improve word learning in a novel language, but when interference during learning is high, language experience no longer confers a benefit and strong inhibitory control ability is necessary for learning to occur.