When study-abroad experience fails to deliver: The internal resources threshold effect

Sunderman, Gretchen; Kroll, Judith F.

doi:10.1017/s0142716408090048

Cited by 59 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…VWM has been considered important for grammar learning through its involvement in noticing (Mackey, Philp, Egi, Fuji, & Tatsumi, 2002) and processing of linguistic structures (Harrington & Sawyer, 1992;Sunderman & Kroll, 2009), but these claims have been almost exclusively based on L2 classroom studies. There is some evidence, however, that VWM is related to grammar learning more strongly in explicit L2 learning conditions than in implicit learning conditions (Tagarelli, Borges Mota, & Rebuschat, 2011), in line with the idea that explicit learning requires the control of attention, an important function of VWM.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do verbal short-term memory and working memory relate to the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar? A comparison between first and second language learners

Verhagen

Leseman

2016

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

130

100

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do verbal short-term memory and working memory relate to the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar? A comparison between first and second language learners

Verhagen

Leseman

2016

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

130

100

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“…One core element of WM, and in particular verbal Working Memory (vWM), is the “phonological loop”, which has been shown to be critical for language acquisition during development, as well as language processing in daily life (Baddeley, 1992). However, it has been widely reported that WM capacity may be limited for students who are learning in an environment where the language of instruction is not their native language (Andersson, 2010; Kroll et al, 2002; Mackey et al, 2002; McDonald, 2006; Miyake & Friedman, 1998; Service, 1992; Service et al, 2002; Sunderman & Kroll, 2009; Tokowicz, Michael & Kroll, 2004) and this appears to be due to demands on WM resources in the second language (L2) (Service et al, 2002). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Poorer verbal working memory for a second language selectively impacts academic achievement in university medical students

Mann

Canny

Reser

et al. 2013

PeerJ

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Working memory (WM) is often poorer for a second language (L2). In low noise conditions, people listening to a language other than their first language (L1) may have similar auditory perception skills for that L2 as native listeners, but do worse in high noise conditions, and this has been attributed to the poorer WM for L2. Given that WM is critical for academic success in children and young adults, these speech in noise effects have implications for academic performance where the language of instruction is L2 for a student. We used a well-established Speech-in-Noise task as a verbal WM (vWM) test, and developed a model correlating vWM and measures of English proficiency and/or usage to scholastic outcomes in a multi-faceted assessment medical education program. Significant differences in Speech-Noise Ratio (SNR50 ) values were observed between medical undergraduates who had learned English before or after five years of age, with the latter group doing worse in the ability to extract whole connected speech in the presence of background multi-talker babble (Student-t tests, p < 0.001). Significant negative correlations were observed between the SNR50 and seven of the nine variables of English usage, learning styles, stress, and musical abilities in a questionnaire administered to the students previously. The remaining two variables, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Age of Acquisition of English (AoAoE) were significantly positively correlated with the SNR50 , showing that those with a poorer capacity to discriminate simple English sentences from noise had learnt English later in life and had higher levels of stress – all characteristics of the international students. Local students exhibited significantly lower SNR50 scores and were significantly younger when they first learnt English. No significant correlation was detected between the SNR50 and the students’ Visual/Verbal Learning Style (r = −0.023). Standard multiple regression was carried out to assess the relationship between language proficiency and verbal working memory (SNR50 ) using 5 variables of L2 proficiency, with the results showing that the variance in SNR50 was significantly predicted by this model (r2 = 0.335). Hierarchical multiple regression was then used to test the ability of three independent variable measures (SNR50 , age of acquisition of English and English proficiency) to predict academic performance as the dependent variable in a factor analysis model which predicted significant performance differences in an assessment requiring communications skills (p = 0.008), but not on a companion assessment requiring knowledge of procedural skills, or other assessments requiring factual knowledge. Thus, impaired vWM for an L2 appears to affect specific communications-based assessments in university medical students.

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“…Previously, some WM researchers in cognitive psychology have pointed out that the total performance score should better approximate a continuous variable such as the WM span (Miyake 2001; also see Sunderman and Kroll 2009; Rai et al. 2011 for a similar argument).…”

Section: An Integrated Framework Of Wm For Slamentioning

confidence: 98%

Working memory and second language learning

Wen

2012

Int J App Linguistics

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This book introduces a principled approach to incorporating the construct of working memory (WM) into second language acquisition (SLA) research. Towards that end, I argue for an integrated framework of WM for SLA that draws on insights from established WM research in cognitive psychology as well as initial findings from SLA studies looking into the effects of WM. Within the framework, I also propose a set of general principles that serve as a basis for further studies probing the WM‐SLA nexus. Applying some tenets from this framework, I report on an empirical study investigating the differential effects of WM constructs on L2 task‐based speech planning and performance, culminating in forged links bridging WM components and their corresponding L2 speech performance measures. Further implications of this integrated framework of WM for SLA are also discussed in the context of “WM as foreign language aptitude”.

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When study-abroad experience fails to deliver: The internal resources threshold effect

Cited by 59 publications

References 36 publications

How do verbal short-term memory and working memory relate to the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar? A comparison between first and second language learners

How do verbal short-term memory and working memory relate to the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar? A comparison between first and second language learners

Poorer verbal working memory for a second language selectively impacts academic achievement in university medical students

Working memory and second language learning

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