Linguistics and psychology have increasingly converged over the past decade and many of the recent research directions in SLA involve a salient psychological component. This book delivers a systematic overview of the relevant psychological areas and theories which are now essential reading for postgraduate students, researchers, teachers, and trainers: Language and the brain Neuroimaging and other psycholinguistic research methods New approaches to language acquisition (connectionism, emergentism, dynamic systems theory, and usage/exemplar-based theories) Explicit/implicit learning and procedural/declarative knowledge Learner characteristics and the Critical Period Hypothesis The psychological basis of language learning in educational contexts. Book jacket.