ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of problem management in L2 speech production. The most extensively researched area of L2 problem-solving behavior has been the study of communication strategies (CSs), a term first used by Selinker. The role of communication strategies in language learning has been rather controversial. The chapter conveys that according to Levelt, speech formulation processes are lexically driven; that is, grammatical and phonological encoding are mediated by lexical entries. Lexical problem-solving mechanisms are considered to be attempts by the speaker to overcome problems in lemma retrieval. Grammatical encoding is a continuation of the lexical retrieval process, as this is the point when the grammatical form of the lemma and the argument structure are accessed and encoded, and when the lemmas are ordered in a phrase. This chapter also reveals that psycholinguistic mechanisms involved in coping with time pressure were also discussed in the light of theories of automaticity.
