Working memory and (second) language processing (original) (raw)
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Working memory and language: An overview of key topics
2021
Given these obvious gaps in the research literature, we thus set out to compile this comprehensive handbook, with the goal in mind to fill up all these lacunae from previous research. Furthermore, we also aim for theoretical ingenuity and empirical robustness in our individual chapter reviews and devote independent sections to key areas of foundational theories, including working memory models and measures in cognitive psychology, as well as incorporating working memory within well-established linguistic theories and processing frameworks. As far as we know, much of these have not been done before. As such, we are hoping that the comprehensive coverage of key topics in all these essential areas in our handbook will benefit researchers and students not just from psychology and linguistics, but also readers from all other related fields of cognitive sciences to draw insights and inspirations from the chapters herein.
Working memory and language: an overview
Journal of Communication Disorders, 2003
Working memory involves the temporary storage and manipulation of information that is assumed to be necessary for a wide range of complex cognitive activities. In 1974, Baddeley and Hitch proposed that it could be divided into three subsystems, one concerned with verbal and acoustic information, the phonological loop, a second, the visuospatial sketchpad providing its visual equivalent, while both are dependent upon a third attentionally-limited control system, the central executive. A fourth subsystem, the episodic buffer, has recently been proposed. These are described in turn, with particular reference to implications for both the normal processing of language, and its potential disorders. Learning outcomes: The reader will be introduced to the concept of a multi-component working memory. Particular emphasis will be placed on the phonological loop component, and (a) its fractionation into a storage and processing component, (b) the neuropsychological evidence for this distinction, and (c) its implication for both native and second language learning. This will be followed by (d) a brief overview of the visuospatial sketchpad and its possible role in language, culminating in (e) discussion of the higher-level control functions of working memory which include (f) the central executive and its multidimensional storage system, the episodic buffer. An attempt throughout is made to link the model to its role in both normal and disordered language functions. #
Working memory and psycholinguistics
ENG 562 FDFP-ΦΛ I forgot my title: Working memory, language, and psycholinguistics in the 20 th century Much of this paper owes a debt to Randall W. Engle"s belief that "individual differences in WM capacity are apparently important to cognition in a large sample of real-life situation, at least in those involving the acquisition of new information" (Engle, 1996: 91). The role of WM in these real-life situations offers us a glimpse into the intricate workings of cognition, verbal skills, and recall in daily life. This paper starts with Baddeley and Hitch"s seminal paper on the topic and maneuvering through the current research. The purpose of this review is to see whether working memory (WM), whether short-term or long-term, capacity has adequately offered the field of psycholinguistics any definite answers to how and why input and output affect error production. Throughout this paper I will discuss the initial history of WM as it has evolved in the discipline and the ways in which it has shaped studies throughout the last four decades.
Working Memory, Long-Term Memory, and Language Processing: Issues and Future Directions
Brain and Language, 2000
We examined different views concerning the relationships between working memory, long-term memory and language processing : working memory considered as a gateway between sensory input and long-term memory or rather as a workspace; working memory considered as not strictly tied to any particular cognitive system (and consequently viewed as separated from the language system) or rather as drawing on the operation and storage capacities of a subset of components involved in language processing. It is argued that further functional imagery studies (along with neuropsychological research) could contribute to decide between these conceptions.
The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and psycholinguistics, 2022
Working memory is a cognitive space for simultaneous information manipulation and storage. In the field of second language acquisition, working memory has been investigated as a key individual difference variable mediating various aspects of the process and outcome of language learning. Despite the voluminous body of research, there has been confusion over its conceptualization, measurement, and mechanism, and the research has yielded disparate, and sometimes contradictory, findings. This chapter seeks to clarify the construct and navigate through the empirical evidence that has been accumulated over the past three decades with a view to extracting meaningful patterns and trends emerging from the research. The chapter starts with a discussion of the nature, scope, and architecture of working memory, followed by an introduction to the various tests that have been used to measure the construct and its components. The chapter proceeds to discuss the research on the role of working memory in second language acquisition including theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence on the associations between working memory and learning outcomes or processes. The chapter ends by identifying areas for future research.
Verbal Working Memory as Emergent from Language Comprehension and Production
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2020
This article reviews current models of verbal working memory and considers the role of language comprehension and long-term memory in the ability to maintain and order verbal information for short periods of time. While all models of verbal working memory posit some interaction with long-term memory, few have considered the character of these long-term representations or how they might affect performance on verbal working memory tasks. Similarly, few models have considered how comprehension processes and production processes might affect performance in verbal working memory tasks. Modern theories of comprehension emphasize that people learn a vast web of correlated information about the language and the world and must activate that information from long-term memory to cope with the demands of language input. To date, there has been little consideration in theories of verbal working memory for how this rich input from comprehension would affect the nature of temporary memory. There has also been relatively little attention to the degree to which language production processes naturally manage serial order of verbal information. The authors argue for an emergent model of verbal working memory supported by a rich, distributed long-term memory for language. On this view, comprehension processes provide encoding in verbal working memory tasks, and production processes maintenance, serial ordering, and recall. Moreover, the computational capacity to maintain and order information varies with language experience. Implications for theories of working memory, comprehension, and production are considered.
The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language
The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language discusses the role of memory in the development and use of language, both mother tongues and additional languages. The book is divided into sections that cover general theoretical frameworks and measures, linguistic theory and models, and how memory, particularly working memory, functions in first and second language acquisition with respect to vocabulary development, formulaic chunking, sentence processing, reading comprehension, writing, discourse comprehension, learning difficulties, and specific language impairments. Given that this book features contributions from a team of world-leading experts who discuss cutting-edge work from a variety of approaches, it is hoped that the book will benefit researchers and advanced undergraduate and graduate students of several fields including, but not limited to, language acquisition, linguistics, and psychology.
Working memory and second language acquisition: Theory and findings
2016
This article presents a narrative review of research on working memory (WM) in order to offer a foundation for understanding issues in second language acquisition (SLA). In the first section, current psychological views on WM are described in terms of three distinct theoretical models associated with Baddeley, Cowan, and Engle. Based on this, general issues for WM theories are summarized and practical implications for research are stated. In the second section, empirical findings from SLA research on WM in three domains are discussed. These domains include learning conditions, cognitive processes, and linguistic outcomes. The review concludes with some brief reflections on the future of WM research in SLA.
WORKING MEMORY (WM) generally refers to our human capacity to temporarily maintain and manipulate a limited amount of information (e.g. 7±2 in Miller 1956; or 4±1 in Cowan 2001) in our immediate consciousness for accomplishing higher-order cognitive tasks. Despite theoretical debates and controversies haunting the concept of WM since its inception in Baddeley & Hitch’s (1974) seminal model, most cognitive psychologists would agree to conceptualize it as a multiple-component system comprising domain-specific storage mechanisms and domain-general executive functions (Miyake & Shah 1999; Conway et al. 2007; Williams 2012). This fractionated view on the construct manifests itself clearly in strands of WM-language research where subsequently two contrasting paradigms have emerged (Wen 2012).