The Effect of Working Memory Capacity on Second Language Acquisition

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.220131.023How to use a DOI?

Keywords

working memory; second language acquisition; language acquisition; bilingualism; language development; language performance

Abstract

Second language acquisition (SLA) ability had been widely associated to cognitive abilities such as working memory (WM) capacity, where greater SLA ability is proposed to be positively correlated to WM capacity, implying there is a WM advantage in SLA. Hence, greater WM capacity may aid SLA. However, there were large discrepancies between the results of past studies on this topic, therefore, this study explores the relationship between SLA and WM capacity through evaluating past literature, where differences in methodology and data analysis are examined across studies. Results had found a small but robust effect size of WM capacity on SLA, especially in beginner and intermediate language learners, where the WM advantage in SLA weakens as language proficiency enhances. Implications of this paper could be extended to aid the development of new interventions supporting SLA, such as using training exercises to enhance WM capacity, especially for those with difficulties in SLA.

Copyright

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

Open Access

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yulu Chai
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/02/01
TI  - The Effect of Working Memory Capacity on Second Language Acquisition
BT  - Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Education, Language and Art (ICELA 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 129
EP  - 134
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220131.023
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.220131.023
ID  - Chai2022
ER  -