It is quite evident that the study of phonological issues within second language acquisition [SLA] research has been vitalized in recent years and is attracting wider interest today than it did a decade ago. This can be seen in the major journals in the field, and also in the fact that compensive anthologies solely devoted to the phonological domain of SLA research have begun to appear (Ioup and Weinberger 1987, James and Leather 1987). Since this review is intended to concentrate on works from the last few years (mostly from 1986 on), it is worth pointing out that this period does not in itself mark a radical shift or reorientation towards new research issues. Rather, it is mainly a continuation of topics that originated a few years back, and a consolidation of a field of research which is gradually becoming more established.