ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role of declarative memory in lexical learning; this mechanism should not be considered exclusively limited to lexical learning. The term consolidation has been used to describe the necessary changes to neurons and more broadly to describe the development of neural systems for long-term memory. The declarative/procedural model and the Hebbian Model of Language (HML) are both based primarily on evidence from first language lexicon use, but these theories are shown to be applicable to second language lexical learning. Pulvermuller's Hebbian Model of Language provided a neuronal explanation of lexical development supporting the idea that neural substrates for lexical items are not dedicated local circuits, but rather widely dispersed cortical networks networks also posited by Multiple Trace Theory (MTT). The search for a neurological substrate for language, particularly lexical learning, should not be a search just for 'places' in the brain, but rather should attempt to find neural systems which underlie language learning.
