Event-related Potentials (ERPs) in Second Language Research: A Brief Introduction to the Technique, a Selected Review, and an Invitation to Reconsider Critical Periods in L2

Abstract

This article provides a selective overview of recent event-related brain potential (ERP) studies in L2 morpho-syntax, demonstrating that the ERP evidence supporting the critical period hypothesis (CPH) may be less compelling than previously thought. The article starts with a general introduction to ERP methodology and language-related ERP profiles in native speakers. The second section presents early ERP studies supporting the CPH, discusses some of their methodological problems, and follows up with data from more recent studies avoiding these problems. It is concluded that well-controlled ERP studies support the convergence hypothesis, according to which L2 learners initially differ from native speakers and then converge on native-like neurocognitive processing mechanisms. The fact that ERPs in late L2 learners at high levels of proficiency are often indistinguishable from those of native speakers suggests that age-of-acquisition effects in SLA are not primarily driven by maturational constraints.