13. Working Memory, Learning Conditions and the Acquisition of L2 Syntax

Tagarelli, Kaitlyn M.; Mota, Mailce Borges; Rebuschat, Patrick

doi:10.21832/9781783093595-017

Cited by 36 publications

(59 citation statements)

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“…In the case of grammar, the results show that both groups may have primarily developed conscious knowledge of the grammar of the artificial language. This contradicts prior studies that have found evidence for both types of knowledge (e.g., Rebuschat and Williams, 2012; Hamrick and Rebuschat, 2014; Tagarelli et al, 2015; Godfroid, 2016; Rogers et al, 2016), including for both incidental and intentional exposure conditions (e.g., Rebuschat and Williams, 2012). It is often assumed that incidental and intentional conditions will lead to implicit (unconscious) and explicit (conscious) knowledge, respectively.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 97%

“…We used a modified version of Rebuschat’s (2008) artificial language paradigm (see also Rebuschat and Williams, 2012; Tagarelli et al, 2015, 2016). The artificial language consists of English vocabulary and German grammar, i.e., English words were rearranged in accordance with German word order.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, intentional learning entails deliberate effort on the part of the learner to commit novel information to memory, with explicit (conscious) knowledge a likely outcome (Hulstijn, 2005; Leow and Zamora, 2017). Studies that directly compare incidental and intentional learning of language typically find an advantage for the latter, for both vocabulary (e.g., Sonbul and Schmitt, 2013; Bordag et al, 2016; Khezrlou et al, 2017) and grammar (e.g., de Graaff, 1997; Tagarelli et al, 2011, 2015, 2016; Denhovska and Serratrice, 2017; McManus and Marsden, 2017). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is evidence that incidental or implicit exposure does not necessarily lead to implicit knowledge, nor does intentional or explicit exposure necessarily lead to explicit knowledge. Many studies have found that both types of knowledge may develop, irrespective of exposure condition (e.g., Rebuschat and Williams, 2012; Hamrick and Rebuschat, 2014; Tagarelli et al, 2015; Godfroid, 2016; Rogers et al, 2016), so it is important to verify what type of knowledge participants acquire as a result of exposure (Rebuschat, 2013). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some individual differences with particularly good explanatory power in L2 acquisition include age (Pfenninger and Singleton, 2017), aptitude (Wen et al, 2017), motivation (Csizér, 2017), and working memory (Juffs and Harrington, 2011). The role of working memory, for example, has been demonstrated separately for vocabulary (e.g., Hummel, 2009; Martin and Ellis, 2012; Malone, 2018; Yang et al, 2018) and grammar learning (Tagarelli et al, 2015, 2016; Denhovska and Serratrice, 2017; Indrarathne and Kormos, 2017). Further, several studies have indicated that the effect of working memory may depend on exposure condition, with working memory playing a more important role under explicit exposure conditions than in implicit conditions (Tagarelli et al, 2011; Grey et al, 2015; Linck and Weiss, 2015; Indrarathne and Kormos, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Simultaneous Acquisition of Words and Syntax: Effects of Exposure Condition and Declarative Memory

2018

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This study examined the simultaneous acquisition of vocabulary and grammar by adult learners and the role of exposure condition and declarative memory. Most experimental studies investigating the acquisition of artificial or natural languages focus on either vocabulary or grammar, but not both. However, a systematic investigation of the simultaneous learning of multiple linguistic features is important given that it mirrors language learning outside the lab. Native English speakers were exposed to an artificial language under either incidental or intentional exposure conditions. Participants had to learn both novel pseudowords and word order patterns while also processing stimulus sentences for meaning. The results showed that adult learners are able to rapidly acquire basic syntactic information of a novel language while processing the input for meaning (plausibility judgments) and attempting to learn novel vocabulary at the same time. The results further indicated that exposure condition (incidental versus intentional) made no difference in terms of either vocabulary or grammar learning gains. Findings also revealed that learners developed explicit, not implicit, knowledge of lexis and syntax. Finally, the results indicated that individuals’ declarative memory capacity was not related to vocabulary learning but only to grammar learning. Our study underscores the importance of studying the simultaneous acquisition of different language features and from different perspectives of comprehension versus production, incidental versus intentional learning conditions, implicit/explicit knowledge, and individual differences in cognitive abilities.

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