Working memory, language processing, and implications of malleability for second language acquisition
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Nancy Tsai
Abstract
Working memory is thought of as a fundamental cognitive system that is particularly important for complex cognition such as language processing. Individuals differ in the amount of information they can keep in working memory, and such differences predict language processing and acquisition, including second language (L2) learning. Given its relevance for higher order cognition, interventions targeting WM have proliferated in recent years, on the premise that improving WM skills might also improve other cognitive functions relying on WM. Accumulating evidence is promising in that certain interventions do result in language-related improvements that go beyond task-specific practice. Given the importance of WM in L2 acquisition, we propose that WM interventions might be a promising avenue to facilitate L2 learning.
Abstract
Working memory is thought of as a fundamental cognitive system that is particularly important for complex cognition such as language processing. Individuals differ in the amount of information they can keep in working memory, and such differences predict language processing and acquisition, including second language (L2) learning. Given its relevance for higher order cognition, interventions targeting WM have proliferated in recent years, on the premise that improving WM skills might also improve other cognitive functions relying on WM. Accumulating evidence is promising in that certain interventions do result in language-related improvements that go beyond task-specific practice. Given the importance of WM in L2 acquisition, we propose that WM interventions might be a promising avenue to facilitate L2 learning.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
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Introduction
- Introduction. Cognitive individual differences in second language learning and processing 1
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Part 1. Theoretical and methodological issues
- Foreign language aptitude, acquisitional sequences, and psycholinguistic processes 17
- Miniature natural language learning in L2 acquisition research 41
- Working memory, language processing, and implications of malleability for second language acquisition 69
- Methodological implications of working memory tasks for L2 processing research 89
- Analyzing individual differences in second language research 105
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Part 2. Empirical studies
- Music, song and speech 131
- An empirical study of working memory, personality, and second language construction learning 157
- Elicited imitation as a measure of implicit L2 knowledge 185
- Working memory and L2 English speakers’ primed and subsequent production of passives 205
- Interrelationships among L2 linguistic knowledge, working memory functions, and L2 reading 223
- Executive control and phonological processing in language acquisition 249
- Corrective feedback and working memory capacity 279
- The interaction between feedback exposure condition and phonetic coding ability 303
- The role of explicit language aptitude in implicit, explicit, and mixed feedback conditions 327
- Index 351
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introduction
- Introduction. Cognitive individual differences in second language learning and processing 1
-
Part 1. Theoretical and methodological issues
- Foreign language aptitude, acquisitional sequences, and psycholinguistic processes 17
- Miniature natural language learning in L2 acquisition research 41
- Working memory, language processing, and implications of malleability for second language acquisition 69
- Methodological implications of working memory tasks for L2 processing research 89
- Analyzing individual differences in second language research 105
-
Part 2. Empirical studies
- Music, song and speech 131
- An empirical study of working memory, personality, and second language construction learning 157
- Elicited imitation as a measure of implicit L2 knowledge 185
- Working memory and L2 English speakers’ primed and subsequent production of passives 205
- Interrelationships among L2 linguistic knowledge, working memory functions, and L2 reading 223
- Executive control and phonological processing in language acquisition 249
- Corrective feedback and working memory capacity 279
- The interaction between feedback exposure condition and phonetic coding ability 303
- The role of explicit language aptitude in implicit, explicit, and mixed feedback conditions 327
- Index 351
