Whither Bilinguals, Natives, and Variability? A Commentary on “The Neurocognitive Underpinnings of Second Language Processing: Knowledge Gains From the Past and Future Outlook”

Abstract

Janet van Hell is to be praised for shining a spotlight on three intersecting concerns-L2 learner comparisons with natives, dispersion of outcomes, and approaches to analysis-that, having received considerable notice in the past, warrant still more attention from both expanded and refined perspectives.As a matter of historical record, in 1990 Mike Long proposed that the critical period hypothesis for second language (L2) acquisition was money in the bank unless falsified by a single late learner who was indistinguishable from a monolingual native in all imaginable respects. The year before, François Grosjean had pointed out to neurolinguists that no bilingual could resemble a monolingual in either language. In 2023, echoing Grosjean, van Hell has reminded researchers that coactivation of both languages precludes monolingual-likeness in both the first language (L1) and the L2. The fact that reciprocal L1-L2 influences occur regardless of the age of L2 learning (i.e., including bilinguals from birth) invalidates the falsification criterion for the critical period hypothesis for L2 acquisition. The appositeness of Grosjean's argument, reinforced and elaborated over three-plus decades by other