The interplay of individual differences and context of learning in behavioral and neurocognitive second language development Special Issue on Neurolinguistics (original) (raw)
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In order to understand variability in second language (L2) acquisition, this study addressed how individual differences in cognitive abilities may contribute to development for learners in different contexts. Specifically, we report the results of two short-term longitudinal studies aimed at examining the role of cognitive abilities in accounting for changes in L2 behavioral performance and neurocognitive processing for learners in 'at-home' and 'study-abroad' settings. Learners completed cognitive assessments of declarative, procedural, and working memory abilities. Linguistic assessments aimed at determining behavioral sensitivity and online processing of L2 Spanish syntax were administered before and after a semester of study in either a traditional university classroom context (Experiment 1) or a study-abroad context (Experiment 2). At-home learners evidenced behavioral gains, with no detected predictive role for individual differences in cognitive abilities. Study-abroad learners evidenced behavioral gains and processing changes that were partially accounted for by procedural learning ability and working memory. Taken together, these results provide preliminary insight into how individual differences in cognitive abilities may contribute to behavioral and neural processing changes over time among learners in different natural contexts.
This study investigated whether the role of working memory capacity varies over the course of second language (L2) morphosyntactic development. Eighty-seven beginning, intermediate, and advanced university L2 Spanish learners completed two nonverbal tasks measuring executive function (EF) and phonological working memory (PWM) in their native language (English) and two tasks measuring knowledge of ten grammatical structures in Spanish at three points during and after a semester of instruction. Robust relationships between both working memory components, especially PWM, and L2 performance, emerged only for lower level learners, particularly at the start of instruction and 3.5 months later. Findings demonstrate that the facilitative effects of cognitive ability appear to lessen with increasing L2 profi ciency and empirically support a developmental perspective of L2 learning. This research was supported in part by funds from a Language Learning Dissertation Grant and was recognized by the 2013 Christopher L. Brumfi t award sponsored by Cambridge University Press and Language Teaching. We are sincerely indebted to Dr. Ron Leow and Dr. Nuria Sagarra for their stellar feedback during the earlier stages of this research, to Janire Zalbidea for her poignant comments on a later draft, and to the anonymous reviewers and editors for their sharp conceptual feedback and effi cient revision process. Any errors remain ours alone. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ellen J. Serafi ni, Department of Modern and Classical Languages,
2015
This study investigated whether the role of working memory capacity varies over the course of second language (L2) morphosyntactic development. Eighty-seven beginning, intermediate, and advanced university L2 Spanish learners completed two nonverbal tasks measuring executive function (EF) and phonological working memory (PWM) in their native language (English) and two tasks measuring knowledge of ten grammatical structures in Spanish at three points during and after a semester of instruction. Robust relationships between both working memory components, especially PWM, and L2 performance, emerged only for lower level learners, particularly at the start of instruction and 3.5 months later. Findings demonstrate that the facilitative effects of cognitive ability appear to lessen with increasing L2 proficiency and empirically support a developmental perspective of L2 learning.
While research suggests that study abroad (SA) benefits second language (L2) oral fluency, its benefits for other domains are less clear, especially for shorter-term programs, which are becoming more common. Additionally, studies investigating the relationship between cognitive capacity and benefits of SA report inconsistent patterns. In light of these gaps, this study investigated whether a 5-week intensive language experience abroad benefits L2 lexical and grammatical development, and whether development is related to learners' cognitive capacity. Twenty-six L1 English–advanced L2 Spanish participants in a SA program in Spain completed pre/post grammaticality judgment (GJT) and lexical decision tasks (LDT). On the GJT, results showed higher accuracy and decreasing reaction times (RTs); specifically, accuracy increased on word order and number agreement items but not on gender agreement. RTs did not decrease for any of the three targets individually. For the LDT, performance on non-words, but not words, showed improvement while RTs for both words and non-words decreased. Overall, these gains following short-term experience abroad were independent of variation in cognitive capacity. The study makes a unique contribution towards understanding the roles of L2 proficiency, context, and individual differences in morphosyntactic and lexical development.
Learning and Individual Differences, 2009
The present paper reports results of a longitudinal research project studying the contribution of cognitive skills and other factors to proficiency in a foreign language (L2) in the Hungarian educational context. The larger project aims to describe the levels of L2 proficiency of school-aged populations in order to explore the conditions and factors contributing to processes and outcomes in foreign language education in public schools. For this purpose, paper and pencil tests were administered in English and German as a foreign language to nationally representative student samples. The project also aims to find answers to some theoretical questions; therefore, a questionnaire and other assessment instruments complemented L2 tests to provide insights into how participants' cognitive, affective and first language (L1) variables, as well as their social and school variables interact with one another over time. Students' general thinking and learning abilities were assessed with an inductive reasoning test. In the present paper we focus on the relationship between students' proficiency in English or German and inductive reasoning skills to show how general cognitive abilities interact with levels of L2 proficiency. We use a multivariate context to explore complex relationships between L2 levels in English and German and inductive reasoning skills if influences of other variables are controlled. We present results of multiple regression analyses on L2 listening, reading, and writing tasks in the two target languages. In the present paper we use both cross-sectional and longitudinal data to examine the relationships between students' L2 proficiency in the first phase (2000) and two years later (2002). Thus, a longitudinal research design was implemented by repeating cross-sectional assessment at a two-year interval.
Cognitive Individual Differences in Second Language Processing and Acquisition
Bilingual Processing and Acquisition, 2016
Although cognitive individual differences have long been investigated by SLA researchers, new methods and approaches have opened new avenues to this research area. Granena, Jackson, and Yilmaz have collaborated to edit a collection of chapters that explores these new methods and provides future directions in cognitive individual differences (IDs) research.
Cognitive differences in second language learners and the critical period effects
L1 Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 2009
Research has shown a strong association between psychological, affective, neurological and learning variables, related also with age and gender factors, in the process of acquisition and/or learning of a second language. However, there is a theoretical controversy concerning the way the critical period may affect different aspects of language competence. We developed an assessment instrument to test the phonological awareness and general cognitive achievement in L2, for application in L2 learners and also in monolinguals (natives). The goal is to predict the dimension of age (chronological age, age of acquisition, age of arrival) in the L2 literacy skills development. The data collected pertains to the first phase of a larger study and includes 64 students with migratory experience, acquiring Portuguese as L2. Findings in what concerns the decoding competence and the first language transference will be discussed, regarding particularly the results from some of the tests: alphabetic ordinance, phonemic blending, alliteration judgement and dichotic hearing The achievement observed shows that children present lower levels of accuracy in L2 context than expected, not regarding the positive levels at the alliteration judgment task, which is not an evidence of phonological awareness (in the consciousness sense). Alliteration, and rhyme judgments are symptoms of normative phonological knowledge, which is not necessarily phonological awareness, and is based on the imitation ability toward verbal stimuli. The age factor remains as the main predictor of skill and ability and the mastery exhibited by the adult learners on particular levels of L2 phonology decoding does not confirm the critical period hypothesis, which calls for its revision and for new insights related to education orientations.
2019
A study with 40 L1 Italian 8-9 year old children and its replication with 36 L1 Italian adults investigated the role of declarative and procedural learning ability in the early stages of language learning.The studies investigated: (1) the extent to which memory-related abilities predicted L2 learning of form-meaning mapping between syntax and thematic interpretation, word order and case marking; and (2) the nature of the acquired L2 knowledge in terms of the implicit/explicit distinction.Deploying a computer game in incidental instruction conditions, the participants were aurally trained in the artificial language BrocantoJ over three sessions. Standardized memory tasks, vocabulary learning ability, and an alternating serial reaction time task provided measures of visual/verbal declarative and procedural learning ability. Language learning was assessed via a measure of comprehension during practice and a grammaticality judgment test.Generalized mixed-effects models fitted to both ex...
This study draws on conceptual and methodological insights afforded within a dynamic systems perspective to explore shifting interrelationships between cognitive capacity and motivational resources in instructed adult second language (L2) learners of Spanish at increasing proficiency. Relationships that emerged showed both stability and fluctuation over a semester of instruction and varied by learners' stage of development. Findings support previous calls to improve upon mainstream approaches to conceptualizing and investigating learner individual differences (IDs) by adopting a holistic, non modular view of the L2 developmental system in general and learner IDs in particular (e.g., Dörnyei, 2009b, 2010a; Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015; Larsen−Freeman, 1997, 2001, 2015). To further align with DST principles (see Hiver & Al-Hoorie, 2016), future studies should endeavor to carry out longitudinal case studies with multiple data points in order to reveal intra-individual complexity in the group-level patterns seen here.