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Detail of contribution

Auteur: Kyria FINARDI

Titre:
The role of working memory capacity in L2 speech production and development


Abstract/Résumé: This study investigated whether working memory capacity is related to the acquisition (seen in two moments, one of retention and another one of acquisition proper) of a syntactic structure as it emerges in L2 speech. Departing from Information Processing Theory (for example McLaughlin & Heredia, 1996) L2 speaking is conceptualized as a complex skill requiring both automatic and controlled processes working in tandem for its execution (Fortkamp, 2000; Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977). Controlled processes require attention, which is assumed to be limited in working memory. L2 speech production and acquisition are explained in terms of the interplay of controlled and automatic processes as well as in terms of the operation of a dual code cognitive system made up of a rule-based and a memory-based system (Skehan, 1998) in which the importance of working memory capacity is highlighted in the processes involved in L2 speech production (Finardi & Prebianca, 2006; Fortkamp, 2000), in L2 speech development (Finardi, Prebianca & Weissheimer, in press) and in the acquisition of a syntactic structure in L2 speech (Finardi, 2007). Working memory is assumed to be involved in the execution of controlled processes operating in the rule-base system, which, in turn, are assumed to be at least partially responsible for the retention and acquisition of a syntactic rule in short responses in L2 speech. The study acknowledges the fact that working memory capacity alone cannot account for the retention and acquisition of a syntactic structure in L2 speech and so linguistic accounts of syntactic processing in L2 are also reviewed and used to explain the data. Ninety-seven adult learners of English as a foreign language participated in this study, 50 control and 47 experimental. The method used was quasi-experimental and mainly quantitative and correlational. The target language structure investigated was agreeing with So+aux+I and Neither+aux+I in short responses in L2 speech. Retention of a syntactic structure was operationalized as correct use of the target language structure in a focused, immediate test. Acquisition of a syntactic structure was operationalized as accurate use of the target language structure in an unfocused, delayed test. Overall results show that working memory capacity (assessed in terms of a speaking span test in both L1 and L2) is related to the acquisition of a complex syntactic structure in L2 speech. Results suggest that the acquisition of a syntactic rule in L2 speech is mediated by working memory capacity operating on controlled processes in the rule-based system.