This book reviews recent research on the second language acquisition of meaning with a view of
establishing whether there is a critical period for the acquisition of compositional semantics.
A modular approach to language architecture is assumed. The book addresses the Critical Period
Hypothesis by examining the positive side of language development: it demonstrates which
modules of the grammar are easy to acquire and are not subject to age effects. The Bottleneck
Hypothesis is proposed which argues that inflectional morphology and its features present the
most formidable challenge while syntax and phrasal semantics pose less difficulty to learners.
Findings from the neurofunctional imaging (PET fMRI) and electrophysiology (ERPs) of L2
comprehension are reviewed and critically examined. Since it is argued that experimental tasks
in those studies are mostly in need of linguistic refinement evidence from behavioral studies
of L2 acquisition of semantics are brought to bear on comprehension modeling. Learning
situations are divided into two types: those presenting learners with complex syntax but
simple semantics and those offering complex semantic mismatches in simple syntactic contexts.
The numerous studies of both types reviewed in the book indicate that there is no barrier to
ultimate success in the acquisition of phrasal semantics.
