Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-nt87m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-17T17:15:34.863Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Phonological memory and lexical, narrative, and grammatical skills in second language oral production by adult learners

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2006

IRENA O'BRIEN ,
NORMAN SEGALOWITZ ,
JOE COLLENTINE  and
BARBARA FREED
IRENA O'BRIEN
Affiliation:
Université du Québec à Montréal and Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance
NORMAN SEGALOWITZ
Affiliation:
Concordia University and Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance
JOE COLLENTINE
Affiliation:
Northern Arizona University
BARBARA FREED
Affiliation:
Carnegie Mellon University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study investigated the role of phonological memory (PM) in second language (L2) speech production by English-speaking adults who were learning Spanish. PM, operationalized as serial nonword recognition, and L2 lexical, narrative, and grammatical abilities from speech samples were assessed 13 weeks apart. After controlling for the amount of speech output, PM contributed significantly to the development of L2 narrative skills for less proficient participants (17.5% of variance explained) and to gains in correct use of function words for more proficient participants (15.7% of variance explained). These findings suggest that PM plays an important role in narrative development at earlier stages of L2 learning and in the acquisition of grammatical competence at later stages.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , July 2006 , pp. 377 - 402
Copyright
2006 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Adams A.-M., & Gathercole S. E.1995. Phonological working memory and speech production in preschool children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 38, 403– 414.Google Scholar
Adams A.-M., & Gathercole S. E.1996. Phonological working memory and spoken language development in young children. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1996, 216– 233.Google Scholar
Adams A.-M., & Gathercole S. E.2000. Limitations in working memory: Implications for language development. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 35, 95– 116.Google Scholar
Atkins P. W. B., & Baddeley A. D.1998. Working memory and distributed vocabulary learning. Applied Psycholinguistics, 19, 537– 552.Google Scholar
Baddeley A.1986 Working memory. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Baddeley A.2000. The episodic buffer: A new component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 417– 423.Google Scholar
Baddeley A. D.2003. Working memory and language: An overview. Journal of Communication Disorders, 36, 189– 208.Google Scholar
Baddeley A., Gathercole S., & Papagno C.1998. The phonological loop as a language learning device. Psychological Review, 105, 158– 173.Google Scholar
Baddeley A., & Hitch G.1974. Working memory. In G. A. Bower (Vol. Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 8, pp. 47– 89). New York: Academic Press.
Biber D.1988. Variation across speech and writing. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Blake J., Austin W., Cannon M., Lisus A., & Vaughan A.1994. The relationship between memory span and measures of imitative and spontaneous language complexity in preschool children. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 17, 91– 107.Google Scholar
Bowey J. A.2001. Nonword repetition and young children's receptive vocabulary: A longitudinal study. Applied Psycholinguistics, 22, 441– 469.Google Scholar
Breiner-Sanders K., Lowe P., Miles J., & Swender E.2000. ACTFL proficiency guidelines: Speaking, revised 1999. Foreign Language Annals, 33, 13– 18.Google Scholar
Cheung H.1996. Nonword span as a unique predictor of second-language vocabulary learning. Developmental Psychology, 32, 867– 873.Google Scholar
Collentine J.2004. The effects of learning contexts on morphosyntactic and lexical development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 227– 248.Google Scholar
Daneman M., & Case R.1981. Syntactic form, semantic complexity, and short-term memory: Influences on children's acquisition of new linguistic structures. Developmental Psychology, 17, 367– 378.Google Scholar
Díaz-Campos M.2004. Context of learning in the acquisition of Spanish second language phonology. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 249– 273.Google Scholar
Ellis N. C., & Sinclair S. G.1996. Working memory in the acquisition of vocabulary and syntax: Putting language in good order. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49A, 234– 250.Google Scholar
French L.2004a Phonological working memory and L2 acquisition: A developmental study of Québec Francophone children learning English (Doctoral dissertation, Université Laval, 2003). Dissertation Abstracts International, 65(2-A), 487.Google Scholar
French L.2004b, May. Does phonological memory ability predict gains in children's L2 grammatical knowledge?Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics, Portland, OR.
Gathercole S. E.1998. The development of memory. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 39, 3– 27.Google Scholar
Gathercole S. E., & Pickering S. J.1999. Estimating the capacity of the phonological short-term store. International Journal of Psychology, 34, 378– 382.Google Scholar
Gathercole S. E., Pickering S. J., Hall M., & Peaker S. M.2001. Dissociable lexical and phonological influences on serial recognition and serial recall. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54A, 1– 30.Google Scholar
Gathercole S. E., Willis C. S., Ellis H., & Baddeley A.1992. Phonological memory and vocabulary development during the early school years: A longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 28, 887– 898.Google Scholar
Gupta P.2003. Examining the relationship between word learning, nonword repetition, and immediate serial recall in adults. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56A, 1213– 1236.Google Scholar
Hulme C., Maughan S., & Brown G. D. A.1991. Memory for familiar and unfamiliar words: Evidence for a long-term memory contribution to short-term memory span. Journal of Memory and Language, 30, 685– 701.Google Scholar
Hulme C., Thomson N., Muir C., & Lawrence A.1984. Speech rate and the development of short-term memory span. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 38, 241– 253.Google Scholar
Karakas S., Yalin A., Irak M., & Erzengin Ö. U.2002. Digit span changes from puberty to old age under different levels of education. Developmental Neuropsychology, 22, 423– 453.Google Scholar
Lafford B. A.2004. The effect of the context of learning on the use of communication strategies by learners of Spanish as a second language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 201– 225.Google Scholar
Lafford B. A., & Collentine J. G.1987. Lexical and grammatical access errors in the speech of intermediate/advanced level students of Spanish. Lenguas Modernas, 14, 87– 112.Google Scholar
Lafford B. A., & Collentine J. G.1989. The telltale targets: An analysis of access errors in the speech of intermediate students of Spanish. Lenguas Modernas, 16, 143– 162.Google Scholar
Lazar N. A.2004. A short survey on causal inference, with implications for context of learning studies of second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 329– 347.Google Scholar
Masoura E. V., & Gathercole S. E.1999. Phonological short-term memory and foreign language learning. International Journal of Psychology, 34, 383– 388.Google Scholar
Masoura E. V., & Gathercole S. E.2005. Contrasting contributions of phonological short-term memory and long-term knowledge to vocabulary learning in a foreign language. Memory, 13, 422– 429.Google Scholar
Nimmo L. M., & Roodenrys S.2002. Syllable frequency effects on phonological short-term memory tasks. Applied Psycholinguistics, 23, 643– 659.Google Scholar
O'Brien I., Segalowitz N., Freed B., & Collentine J.2006. Phonological memory predicts second language oral fluency in adults.Manuscript submitted for publication.
Romani C.1994. The role of phonological short-term memory in syntactic parsing: A case study. Language and Cognitive Processes, 9, 29– 67.Google Scholar
Segalowitz N., & Freed B. F.2004. Context, contact and cognition in oral fluency acquisition: Learning Spanish in at home and study abroad contexts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26, 173– 199.Google Scholar
Service E.1992. Phonology, working memory, and foreign-language learning. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 45A, 21– 50.Google Scholar
Service E., & Kohonen V.1995. Is the relation between phonological memory and foreign language learning accounted for by vocabulary acquisition? Applied Psycholinguistics, 16, 155– 172.Google Scholar
Slobin D. I.1985. Crosslinguistic evidence for the language-making capacity. In D. I. Slobin (Seri. & Vol. Ed.), The crosslinguistic study of language acquisition (pp. 1157– 1256). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Snowling M., Chiat S., & Hulme S.1991. Words, nonwords, and phonological processes: Some comments on Gathercole, Willis, Emslie, & Baddeley. Applied Psycholinguistics, 12, 369– 373.Google Scholar
Speciale G., Ellis N. C., & Bywater T.2004. Phonological sequence learning and short-term store capacity determine second language vocabulary acquisition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 25, 293– 321.Google Scholar
Speidel G. E.1989. Imitation: A bootstrap for learning to speak? In G. E. Speidel & K. E. Nelson (Eds.), The many faces of imitation in language learning (pp. 151– 179). New York: Springer–Verlag.
Speidel G. E.1993. Phonological short-term memory and individual differences in learning to speak: A bilingual case study. First Language, 13, 69– 91.Google Scholar
The College Board. 2000. Taking the SAT II: Subject test. New York: Author.
Thorn A. S. C., Gathercole S. E., & Frankish C. R.2002. Language familiarity effects in short-term memory: The role of output delay and long-term knowledge. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 55A, 1363– 1383.Google Scholar
VanPatten B.2004. Input processing in second language acquisition. In B. VanPatten (Ed.), Processing instruction: Theory, research, and commentary (pp. 5– 31). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Williams J. N., & Lovatt P.2003. Phonological memory and rule learning. Language Learning, 53, 67– 121.Google Scholar
Willis C. S., & Gathercole S. E.2001. Phonological short-term memory contributions to sentence processing in young children. Memory, 9, 349– 363.Google Scholar