ABSTRACT
Many cognitive theoretical underpinnings have been postulated to account for the second/foreign language (L2) learning process in instructed second language acquisition (ISLA). These theoretical underpinnings have all been used to explicate the learning process (as in stages) or product (as in knowledge) in classroom-based research and are premised, directly or indirectly, on the psycholinguistic constructs of attention and/or awareness (Gass, 1997; Leow, 2015a; Robinson, 1995, 2003; Schmidt, 1990 and elsewhere; Swain, 2005; VanPatten, 2004, 2007). In this chapter, I first provide a succinct description of the major tenets of these theoretical underpinnings of L2 learning/acquisition. Second, given that these theoretical underpinnings posit important roles for several cognitive processes in the L2 learning process, a summary of the principle cognitive processes is provided, followed by studies that have provided empirical support for their role in L2 development.
