A Review of L1 and L2/ESL Word Integration Skills and the Nature of L2/ESL Word Integration Development Involved in Lower‐Level Text Processing

This article examines the nature and development of fluent L2/ESL word integration skills involved in lower-level text processing. Four theoretical approaches to word integration and sentence processing in the L1 and L2/ESL literature are discussed in conjunction with a review of the relevant research. The research indicates that L1 and fluent L2/ESL speakers utilize similar processing procedures to integrate words into larger phrase and sentence structures. The research also indicates that the development of fluent and accurate L2/ESL word integration skills depends to a substantial degree on the development of L2/ESL syntactic structure–building skills.