Cover not available

In:Cognitive Individual Differences in Second Language Processing and Acquisition
Edited by Gisela Granena, Daniel O. Jackson and Yucel Yilmaz
[Bilingual Processing and Acquisition 3] 2016
► pp. 89–104

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Methodological implications of working memory tasks for L2 processing research

 | Florida State University
 | Florida State University
Published online: 23 December 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/bpa.3.05lee
Abstract
A growing body of research within cognitive perspectives of second language acquisition (SLA) has investigated how individual differences in working memory (WM) capacity may impact second language (L2) processes. Many of these studies have employed versions of complex span measures, such as the reading span test (RSPAN). The findings of these studies are mixed, and no standard scoring methods exist for these tasks. Therefore, this study examines the consequences of different scoring methods and data analysis procedures of two common complex span tasks (reading span and operation span) used in L2 sentence processing research. L2 Spanish learners completed two WM span tasks and an online Spanish sentence interpretation task. The results indicate that various scoring methods of the complex span tasks were significantly correlated within tasks. However, in examining the relationship between WM and sentence interpretation, we found that different results emerged, depending on WM task type, scoring method and type of analysis. Implications for research investigating WM resources in SLA are discussed.
Article outline
  • 1.Methodological issues of working memory tasks for L2 processing research
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Working memory and second language input processing
    • 2.2Working memory and span tasks
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Materials
    • 3.3Procedure
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion
  • References
References (35)
References
Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working memory. In G. A. Bower (Ed.), Recent advances in learning and motivation, (Vol. 8; pp. 47–90). New York, NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baddeley, A. D. (2003). Working memory and language: An overview. Journal of Communication Disorders, 36, 189–208. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chun, D. M., & Payne, J. S. (2004). What makes students click: Working memory and look-up behavior. System, 32, 481–503. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Conway, A. R., Kane, M. J., Bunting, M. F., Hambrick, D. Z., Wilhelm, O., & Engle, R. W. (2005). Working memory span tasks: A methodological review and user’s guide. Psychonomic Bulletin Review, 12, 769–786. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 450–466. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, N. C. (2005). At the interface: dynamic interactions of explicit and implicit language knowledge. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27, 305–352. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fernández, C. (2008). Reexamining the role of explicit information in processing instruction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30, 277–305. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Friedman, N.P., & Miyake, A. (2005). Comparison of four scoring methods for the reading span test. Behavior Research Methods, 37, 581–590. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gass, S.M. (1997). Input, interaction, and the second language learner. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harrington, M., & Sawyer, M. (1992). L2 working memory capacity and L2 reading skill. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 14, 25–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Irwin, J. R., & McClelland, G. H. (2003). Negative consequences of dichotomizing continuous predictor variables. Journal of Marketing Research, 40, 366–371 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Juffs, A.(2004). Representation, processing and working memory in a second language. Transactions of the Philological Society, 102, 199–225. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005). The influence of first language on the processing of wh-movement in English as a second language. Second Language Research, 21, 121–151. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kroll, J., Michael, E., Tokowicz, N., & Dufour, R. (2002). The development of lexical fluency in a second language. Second Language Research, 18, 137–171. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leeser, M. J. (2007). Learner-based factors in L2 reading comprehension and processing grammatical form: Topic familiarity and working memory. Language Learning, 57, 229–270. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Long, M. (1990). The least a second language acquisition theory needs to explain. TESOL Quarterly, 24, 649–666. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
MacCallum, R.C., Zhang, S., Preacher, K.J., & Rucker, D.D. (2002). On the practice of dichotomization of quantitative variables. Psychological Methods, 7, 19–40. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
MacDonald, M.C., & Christiansen, M.H. (2002). Reassessing working memory: comment on Just and Carpenter (1992) and Waters and Caplan (1996). Psychological Review, 109, 35–54. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mackey, A., Philp, J., Egi, T., Fujii, A., & Tatsumi, T. (2002). Individual differences in working memory, noticing interactional feedback and L2 development. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Individual differences and instructed language learning (pp. 181–209). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miyake, A. (1998). Individual differences in second language proficiency: The role of working memory. In A. F. Healy & L. E. Bourne Jr., (Eds.), Foreign language learning: Psycholinguistic studies on training and retention (pp. 339–364). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miyake, A., & Shah, P. (Eds.). (1999). Models of working memory: Mechanisms of active maintenance and executive control. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Grady, W. (2003). The radical middle: Nativism without universal grammar. In C. J. Doughty & M. Long (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 43–62). Malden, MA: Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Osaka, M., & Osaka, N. (1992). Language-independent working memory as measured by Japanese and English reading span tests. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 30, 287–289. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Osaka, M., Osaka, N., & Groner, R. (1993). Language-independent working memory: Evidence from German and French reading span tests. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 31, 117–118. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sunderman, G., & Kroll, J.F. (2006). First language activation during second language lexical processing: An investigation of lexical form, meaning, and grammatical class. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28, 387–422. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). When study abroad experience fails to deliver: The internal resources threshold effect. Applied Psycholinguistics, 30, 1–21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tokowicz, N., Michael, E.B., & Kroll, J.F. (2004). The roles of study-abroad experience and working-memory capacity in the types of errors made during translation. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 7, 255–272. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Turner, M., & Engle, R.W. (1989). Is working memory task dependent? Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 127–154. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
VanPatten, B. (1996). Input processing and grammar instruction: Theory and research. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007). Input processing in adult second language acquisition. In B. VanPatten, & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition (pp. 115–135). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
VanPatten, B., & Williams, J. (2007). Introduction: The nature of theories. In B. VanPatten, & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition (pp. 1–16). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Waters, G.S., & Caplan, D. (1996). The measurement of verbal working memory capacity and its relation to reading comprehension. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49A, 51–79. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
White, J. P. (2008). The effect of input-based instruction type on the acquisition of Spanish accusative clitics. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Florida State University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (9)

Cited by nine other publications

Uribe, Diana & Ana I. Schwartz
2025. The impact of cross-language co-activation of cognates on bilingual performance on the reading span task. Memory & Cognition 53:6 ► pp. 1849 ff. DOI logo
Wu, Ying, Xiaoxue Liu, Yuanyuan Zhao, Xinyan Chen & Jianwu Gao
2025. Multimodal glosses revisited: Interplay of individual differences and repeated exposures. Language Learning & Technology 29:3 ► pp. 92 ff. DOI logo
Cunnings, Ian
2022. Interference-based and capacity-based approaches to working memory in second language sentence processing. In Generative SLA in the Age of Minimalism [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 67], ► pp. 243 ff. DOI logo
Cunnings, Ian
2025. Group level and individual differences in second language sentence processing. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism DOI logo
In’nami, Yo, Yuko Hijikata & Rie Koizumi
2022. WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY AND L2 READING. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 44:2 ► pp. 381 ff. DOI logo
Jo, Kyuhee, Kitaek Kim & Hyunwoo Kim
2021. Children's interpretation of negation and quantifier scope in L3 English. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 24:3 ► pp. 427 ff. DOI logo
Edmonds, Amanda & Pascale Leclercq
2020. Introduction. Journal of French Language Studies 30:2 ► pp. 111 ff. DOI logo
Edmonds, Amanda & Aarnes Gudmestad
2018. Operationalizing variables. In Critical Reflections on Data in Second Language Acquisition [Language Learning & Language Teaching, 51], ► pp. 125 ff. DOI logo
Gudmestad, Aarnes & Amanda Edmonds
2018. Introduction. In Critical Reflections on Data in Second Language Acquisition [Language Learning & Language Teaching, 51], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 15 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue