The Role of Knowledge about the L2 Code in Adult Second Language Acquisition: A Review of Theories and Research

Abstract

This article reviews theories and research on the topic of the role of L2 code knowledge in adult second language acquisition. In the literature, this issue has been addressed from two main theoretical perspectives-cognitive psychology, which examines the internal processing mechanisms involved in learning and then in using language information for communication, and second language acquisition, which examines the effects of instruction that focuses on the L2 code on the learner's developing L2 proficiency. This analysis concludes that while the knowledge the learner has about the L2 code plays a limited role (planning and monitoring) in actual communication, it does play a significant role in the development of proficiency. Finally, instructional implications emerging from existing theory and research data are drawn.