A neurocognitive perspective on language: The declarative/procedural model
Abstract
What are the psychological, computational and neural underpinnings of language? Are these neurocognitive correlates dedicated to language? Do different parts of language depend on distinct neurocognitive systems? Here I address these and other issues that are crucial for our understanding of two fundamental language capacities: the memorization of words in the mental lexicon, and the rule-governed combination of words by the mental grammar. According to the declarative/procedural model, the mental lexicon depends on declarative memory and is rooted in the temporal lobe, whereas the mental grammar involves procedural memory and is rooted in the frontal cortex and basal ganglia. I argue that the declarative/procedural model provides a new framework for the study of lexicon and grammar.
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The acquisition of morphology poses a significant challenge for EFL learners, particularly adults, because they learn explicitly, unlike young learners.
“Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research has shown that the acquisition of morphology poses a significant challenge for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, particularly adults, because they learn explicitly, unlike young learners (DeKeyser, 2000(DeKeyser, , 2003;;Ullman, 2001;Ellis, 2005Ellis, , 2009;;Spit et al. 2022).”
From Transformative impacts of explicit morphological instruction on irregular inflectional acquisition in Saudi EFL learners (2024) · cites this paper as Ullman, 2001
The acquisition of morphology poses a substantial challenge for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, particularly adults, because they learn explicitly, unlike young learners.
“The pretest-analysis of this study reveals a significant aspect of previous researchers who state that the acquisition of morphology poses a substantial challenge for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, particularly adults, because they learn explicitly, unlike young learners (DeKeyser, 2000(DeKeyser, , 2003;;Ullman, 2001;Ellis, 2005Ellis, , 2009;;Spit et al. 2022).”
From Transformative impacts of explicit morphological instruction on irregular inflectional acquisition in Saudi EFL learners (2024) · cites this paper as Ullman, 2001
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“…(SLA) research has shown that the acquisition of morphology poses a signi fi cant challenge for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, particularly adults, because they learn explicitly, unlike young learners (DeKeyser, 2000, 2003; Ullman, 2001; Ellis, 2005, 2009; Spit et al. 2022).”
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- Authors
- Ullman, M. T.
- Affiliations
- Georgetown University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ullman, Michael T.
- ORCID
- Ullman, Michael T.
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience
- Published
- 2001-10
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 717-726
- ISSN
- 1471-003X (ISSN-L)
- 1471-0048
- OpenAlex
- W2022652786
- Cited by
- 997
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 70 · 2020: 49 · 2019: 100 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 84 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 73 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 53 · 2012: 71
- FWCI
- 1.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature reviews. Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
- Keywords
- language, mental lexicon, mental grammar, declarative memory, procedural memory, temporal lobe, frontal cortex, basal ganglia, vocabulary memorization
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Aplysia, Brain, Cognition, Humans, Language, Language Disorders, Models, Neurological, Neural Pathways, Neurons, Speech
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