Working Memory Effects on Interlanguage Variation in using

Working Memory Effects on Interlanguage Variation in using complex grammar by advanced adult learners of English, often not overcome even in immersion settings “Who does play the music? ” “What did Mary think it tasted delicious? ” Clare. wright 1@ncl. ac. uk

Individual differences in SLA - Memory and Processing Problem? ¨ Questions late acquired and hard to get right: What Tom brought to the party? Has any drink on the table? What was John study? Who had Ann knew to send her a card? Research question: ¨ Can variation in advanced attainment be explained by differences in Working Memory capacity? Relevance for classroom: ¨ Optimising learning for students and teachers

Working Memory (Baddeley 2000) STORAGE & CONTROL Central executive Phonological Episodic loop buffer Language Episodic LTM Visuo-spatial sketch-pad Visual semantics

WM test – Stepped Span Task Let’s have a go! A Go straight down the road to the corner. Take the first right after the car park. B Turn right after the bridge but before the metro. Walk down this hill until you pass the shop. C Walk up the street until the lights. Take the second turn on the left.

WM “key” to Language Acquisition? ¨ Hypothesis 1: WM can affect conscious control over correct grammatical forms ¨ Hypothesis 2: WM correlates with faster improvement in production of correct grammatical forms

My Study Investigated variation in question formation ¨ 10 Mandarin-speaking postgraduates at a UK university ¨ Tested on arrival and after 6 months

Participants ¨ All IELTS 5. 5 or above (equivalent of TOEFL 525/196 or i. BT 70) ¨ Mean age of learning: 11. 9 (range 10 -15) ¨ 3 males and 7 females ¨ 3 from Taiwan, 7 from mainland China ¨ Test for “competence” Mean score on timed grammaticality judgement task: 37% (range 27. 3 -72. 7%)

Methodology ¨ Oral task for linguistic proficiency (two-way picture-based question task) – Tested on arrival and after 6 months ¨ WM tests: Digits Back, Story Recall, Stepped Span Task (combining Word Span and Sentence Span) – Tested on arrival (stability assumed)

Findings on arrival Mean variation in accurate question production Accuracy in questions Digits Back Story Recall Stepped Span High (4) 22% 86% (20 -27%) 68% Medium (2) 13% 85% (10 -17%) 47% 71% 2% 84% (0 -5%) 64% 66% Low (4)

No evidence of correlation between mean WM scores and Oral Proficiency

WM scores across all proficiency groups – no clear evidence

Findings after 6 months Mean variation in degree of improvement: Improved accuracy in questions High (4) Low (2) Negative (4) Digits Back 28% 86% (26 -31%) 4% 75% (3 -5%) -3% 89% (-1 to – 6%) Story Recall Stepped Span 64% 72% 54% 42% 65% 76%

WM scores across all proficiency groups – no clear trend

WM scores in higher proficiency groups correlated with improvement: clearer trends

Digits Back correlation

Story Recall correlation

Word and Sentence Span correlation

Working Memory “key to language learning”? ¨ Hypothesis 1: WM affects control of correct grammatical forms – No clear evidence ¨ Hypothesis 2: WM correlates with faster rates of improvement – Some evidence? ¨ Further research - phonological loop in the classroom: importance for noticing feedback?

Working Memory not so much a “key” as a “bottle neck”. Thank you! clare. wright 1@ncl. ac. uk

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