An adequate characterization of L2learners’ competence should include its three dimensions:accuracy,appropriateness,and automaticity.Much progress has been made to assess L2learners’ appropriate use of an L2in more recently years.In contrast,much less attention has been given to the assessment of automaticity.This paper attempts to achieve four goals:characterize L2competence,explain the importance of automaticity in second language acquisition research,discuss the limitations of current assessment methods and their associated problems in research,and outline a set of test methods that may be more effective in assessing automatic competence in a second language.Studies in which these methods were employed are reviewed. An adequate characterization of L2learners ’competence should include its three dimensions: accuracy, appropriateness, and automaticity .Much progress has been made to assess L2learners’ appropriate use of an L2in more recently years.In contrast, much less attention has been given to the assessment of automaticity.This paper attempts to achieve four goals: characterize L2competence, explain the importance of automaticity in second language acquisition research, discuss the limitations of current assessment methods and their associated problems in research, and outline a set of test methods that may be more effective in assessing automatic competence in a second language. Books in which these methods were employed are reviewed.