Working memory capacity across L2 speech proficiency levels

Authors

  • Gicele Vergine Vieira Prebianca IFC ##default.groups.name.author##
  • Kyria Rebeca Finardi UFES
  • Janaina Weissheimer UFRN

Keywords:

working memory capacity, L2 speech proficiency level

Abstract

This study investigates whether working memory capacity (WMC) varies across languages and in the course of L2 speech proficiency levels. Following suggestions in Finardi and Weissheimer (2009) and Prebianca (2010), who found that WMC varied as a function of L2 speech proficiency, the present study assessed three proficiency levels (elementary, intermediate and advanced) and two languages (L1-Portuguese and L2-English). Two WM tests were used, one in the L1 and another in the L2, both in the speaking mode. Sixty adult learners of English as a foreign language participated in the study: 19 elementary, 19 intermediate and 22 advanced learners. Results of Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests corroborate Finardi and Weissheimer (2009) and Prebianca (2010) suggesting that WMC measured with a speaking span test in L2 seems to conflate the relationship between speech proficiency levels and WMC.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Gicele Vergine Vieira Prebianca, IFC

    Professora Dra. em Letras Inglês pela Universidade Federal de SC. Área de interesse: Produção oral em L2, acesso lexical e memória de trabalho.

    Coordenadora do Grupo de Pesquisa Linguagem, Cognição e Tecnologia, atuando nas seguintes linhas de pesquisa:

    Linhas de Pesquisa:

     

    • Ensino e aprendizagem de línguas mediado por Tecnologia

    • Processamento cognitivo da linguagem

    • Aquisição/aprendizagem de língua estrangeira

    Atualmente é professora do IFC - campus Araquari.


References

ANDERSON, J. R. The Architecture of Cognition Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983.

BERQUIST, B. Individual Differences in Working Memory Span and L2 Proficiency: Capacity or Processing Efficiency? Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics, 1998.

CANTOR, J.; ENGLE, R. Working Memory Capacity as Long-Term Memory Activation: An Individual-Differences Approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, v. 19, n. 5, p. 1101-1114, 1993.

COWAN, N. Activation, Attention and Short Term Memory. Memory and Cognition, v. 2, n. 2, p. 162-167, 1993.

CONWAY, A.; ENGLE, R. Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity: More Evidence for a General Capacity Theory. Memory, v. 4, p. 577-590, 1996.

DANEMAN, M. Working Memory as a Predictor of Verbal Fluency. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, v. 20, p. 445-464, 1991.

DANEMAN, M.; GREEN, I. Individual Differences in Comprehending and Producing Words in Context. Journal of Memory and Language, v. 25, p. 1-18, 1986.

DANEMAN, M.; CARPENTER, P. Individual Differences in Working Memory and Reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour, v. 19, p. 450-466, 1980.

DANEMAN, M.; TARDIF, T. Working Memory and Reading Skill Re Examined. In: COLTHEART, M. (Ed.). Attention and Performance 12: The Psychology of Reading. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1987. p. 491-508.

DEKEYSER, R. Practice in a Second Language: Perspectives from Applied Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge, 2007.

ENGLE, R. Working Memory Capacity as Executive Attention. Current Directions in Psychological Science, v. 11, p. 19-23, 2002.

FELDMAN-BARRETT, L.; TUGADE M. M.; ENGLE, R. W. Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity and Dual-Process Theories of the Mind. Psychological Bulletin, v. 130, n. 4, p. 553-573, 2004.

FINARDI, K. Working Memory Capacity in Second Language Learning 1. ed. Saarbrucken: Lambert Academic Publishing AG & Co.KG, 2010.

FINARDI, K.; PREBIANCA, G. Working Memory Capacity and Speech Production in L2: Evidence from a Picture Description Task. Revista de Estudos da Linguagem, v. 14, p. 231-260, 2006.

FINARDI, K.; WEISSHEIMER, J. On the Relationship Between Working Memory Capacity and L2 Speech Development. Signótica, v. 20, p. 367-391, 2009.

FINARDI, K.; MOTA, M. The Acquisition of a Syntactic Structure in L2 Speech: The Role of Working Memory Capacity. RLA. Revista de Linguística Teórica y Aplicada (Impressa), v. 50, p. 119-138, 2012.

FORTKAMP, M.B.M. Working Memory Capacity and Fluent L2 Speech Production. (Master's thesis) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, 1995. Unpublished.

FORTKAMP, M. B. M. Working Memory Capacity and Elements of L2 Speech Production. Communication and cognition, v. 32, p. 259-295, 1999.

FORTKAMP, M. B. M. Working Memory Capacity and L2 Speech Production: An Exploratory Study. Doctoral dissertation - Department of English. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, 2000.

FORTKAMP, M. B. M. Aspectos cognitivos da aprendizagem de LE: entendendo a memória de trabalho. In: ALVARES, K.A.D.S.M.L.O. Perspectivas de investigação em Linguística Aplicada: estudos em homenagem ao Professor Dr. José Carlos Paes de Almeida Filho, v. 2. Campinas: Pontes Editores. 2008. p. 267-284.

HAMBRICK, D. Z.; ENGLE, R.W. Effects of Domain Knowledge, Working Memory Capacity, and Age on Cognitive Performance: An Investigation of the Knowledge-Is-Power Hypothesis. Cognitive Psychology, v. 44, p. 339-387, 2002.

HARRINGTON, M. Working Memory Capacity as a Constraint on L2 Development. In: HARRIS, R. J. (Ed.). Cognitive Processing in Bilinguals Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1992.

HARRINGTON, M.; SAWYER, M. L2 Working Memory Capacity and L2 Reading Skills. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, v. 14, n. 1, p. 25-38, 1992.

JUFFS, M.; HARRINGTON, M. Aspects of Working Memory in Second Language Learning and Teaching. Language Teaching, v. 44, p. 137-166, 2011.

JUST, M.; CARPENTER, P. A Capacity Theory of Comprehension: Individual Differences in Working Memory. Psychological Review, v. 98, p. 122-149, 1992.

KANE, M. J.; CONWAY, A. R. A.; ENGLE, R. W. What Do Working-Memory Tests Really Measure? Behavioral and Brain Science, v. 22, n. 1, 1999.

KANE, M. J., BLECKLEY, K. M., CONWAY, A. R. A.; ENGLE, R. W. A Controlled-Attention View of Working-Memory Capacity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, v. 130, p. 169-183, 2001.

LEVELT, W. Speaking: From Intention to Articulation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 1989.

MCLAUGHLIN, B. Theories of Second-Language Learning London: Edward Arnold Publishers Ltd., 1987.

MCLAUGHLIN, B.; HEREDIA, R. Information-Processing Approaches to Research on Second Language Acquisition and Use. In: RITCHIE, B.W. (Ed.). Handbook of Second Language Acquisition San Diego: Academic Press, 1996. p. 213-228.

MIYAKE, A.; FRIEDMAN, N. F. Individual Differences in Second Language Proficiency: Working Memory as Language Aptitude. In: HEALY, A.F.; BOURNE, L.E. (Eds.). Foreign Language Learning: Psycholinguistic Studies on Training and Retention. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1998. p. 339-364.

PREBIANCA, G. Working Memory Capacity, Lexical Access and Proficiency Level In L2 Speech Production: An Exploratory Study. (Unpublished research paper). Department of English. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis. 2007.

PREBIANCA, G. Working Memory Capacity and Foreign Language Speech Production: A Look at Lexical Access Processes and Level of Proficiency. 1. ed. Saarbrücken: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing AG & Co. KG, 2010.

SHAH, O.; MIYAKE, A. Models of Working Memory: An Introduction. In: MIYAKE, A.; SHAH, P. (Eds.). Models of Working Memory: Mechanisms of Active Maintenance and Executive Control. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999. p. 1-27.

TURNER, N.; ENGLE, R. Is Working Memory Capacity Task-Dependent? Journal of Memory and Language, v. 28, p. 127-154, 1989.

UNSWORTH, N.; ENGLE, R.W. Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity and Retrieval: A Cue-Dependent Search Approach. In: NAIRNE, J. S. (Ed.). The Foundation of Remembering: Essays in Honor of Henry L. Roediger, III. New York: Psychology Press, 2007. p. 241-258.

UNSWORTH, N.; REDICK, T. S.; HEITZ, R. P.; BROADWAY, J. M.; ENGLE, R. W. Complex Working Memory Span Tasks and Higher-Order Cognition: A Latent-Variable Analysis of the Relationship Between Processing and Storage. Memory, v. 17, n. 6, p. 635-654, 2009.

VAN DEN NOORT, M. W. M. L.; BOSCH, M. P. C.; HUGDAHL, K. Foreign Language Proficiency and Working Memory Capacity. European Psychologist, v. 11, n. 4, p. 289-296, 2006.

WEISSHEIMER, J. Working Memory Capacity and the Development of L2 Speech Production. (Doctoral dissertation) - Department of English. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis. 2007.

WEISSHEIMER, J.; MOTA, M. Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity and the Development of L2 Speech Production. Issues in Applied Linguistics, v. 17, p. 34-52, 2009.

WEISSHEIMER, J. The Role of Working Memory Capacity in the Development of L2 Speech Production. Ilha do Desterro (UFSC), v. 60, p. 75-104, 2011.

WEISSHEIMER, J.; MOTA, M. Working Memory Capacity and Lexical Density in L2 Speech Production. Organon (UFRGS), v. 51, p. 267-290, 2011.

WEN, Z. Working Memory and Second Language Learning. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, v. 22, n. 1, p. 1-22, 2012.

XHAFAJ, D. Pause Distribution and Working Memory Capacity in L2 Speech Production. 2006. (Master's thesis) - Department of English. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis.

Downloads

Published

Aug-Fri-2014

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 2 (2014): Ensino de línguas em contextos multilíngues

Section

Artigos

License

Copyright (c) 2014 Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Autores de artigos publicados pela RBLA mantêm os direitos autorais de seus trabalhos, licenciando-os sob a licença Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0, que permite que os artigos sejam reutilizados e distribuídos sem restrição, desde que o trabalho original seja corretamente citado.