Phonological processing and the L2 mental lexicon: Looking back and moving forward

Twenty-five years ago, the publication of an article by Pallier, Colomé, and Sebastián-Gallés (2001) launched a new and rapidly evolving research program on how second language (L2) learners represent the phonological forms of words in their mental lexicons. Many insights are starting to form an overall picture of the unique difficulties for establishing functional and precise phonolexical representations in L2; however, for the field to move forward it is pertinent to outline its major emerging research questions and existing challenges. Among significant obstacles for further research, the paper explores the current lack of theoretical agreement on the concept of phonolexical representations and the underlying mechanism involved in establishing them, as well as the variable use of the related terminology (e.g., fuzziness and target-likeness). Methodological challenges involved in investigating phonological processing and phonolexical representations as well as their theoretical implications are also discussed. To conclude, we explore the significance of L2-specific phonological representations for the bottom-up lexical access during casual, conversational speech and how our emerging knowledge of L2 lexical representations can be applied in an instructional setting as two potentially fruitful research avenues at the forefront of the current research agenda.