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摘要：This study investigates whether practice with computer-administered feedback in the absence of meaning-focused interaction can help second language learners notice the corrective intent of recasts and develop linguistic accuracy. A group of 218 beginning Anglophone learners of Spanish received 1 of 4 types of automated feedback (no feedback, utterance rejection, recasts, or enhanced recasts) in the written mode or the oral mode, in response to noun-adjective gender or number agreement errors. For both modalities, written and oral posttests conducted up to 2 months after treatment revealed that recasts yielded more target-like production and learner repair than either no feedback or utterance rejection and that utterance rejection was in turn more effective than no feedback. Two factors were found to increase the effectiveness of computer-delivered recasts: oral, but not typographical, input enhancement (orally enhanced recasts were more beneficial than orally unenhanced and typographically enhanced recasts) and working memory (higher span learners were superior to lower span learners in all recast groups). We discuss the implications of our results for the area of error treatment as an instructional focus technique and suggest avenues for future research.

摘要：In this study I examine the construct of aptitude in learning Chinese as a second language (L2) to an advanced level. I test 2 hypotheses: first, that L2 aptitude comprises 4 components -- working memory, rote memory, grammatical sensitivity, and phonemic coding ability -- and second, that L2 aptitude affects learning both directly and indirectly (mediated by strategy use and motivation). Native speakers of English (n = 96) studying advanced Chinese took the Modern Language Aptitude Test and a phonological working memory test and responded to motivation and strategy use questionnaires. Using end-of-course listening, reading, and speaking proficiency test results as measures of Chinese learning, I constructed a structural equation model to test the hypotheses. The model fit the observed data. Of the 4 components foreseen to comprise L2 aptitude, rote memory contributed the most and working memory the least. Aptitude, strategy use, and motivation had about the same impact on learning but varied in how well they predicted the individual skills of listening, reading, and speaking. The results shed light on L2 aptitude in the particular context of an advanced L2 Chinese course.

摘要：Although stress is frequently claimed to impede foreign language (FL) reading comprehension, it is usually not explained how. We investigated the effects of stress, working memory (WM) capacity, and inferential complexity on Spanish FL readers' inferential processing during comprehension. Inferences, although necessary for reading comprehension, vary in inferential complexity and WM demands. We measured 55 intermediate-level Spanish FL learners' reading comprehension, using questions with three levels of inferential complexity: non-inference (factual), bridging inference (pronoun referent), and pragmatic inference. We measured participants' WM capacity and varied their stress level between blocks using a video camera. Results showed that higher WM learners were more accurate overall. Inference construction during comprehension was negatively related to inferential complexity. Stress increased processing time overall, with a trend toward greater effect on response times (RTs) for questions requiring greater inferential complexity. Higher WM learners showed a greater effect of inferential complexity on RTs than lower WM learners. More generally, and consistent with the Eysenck, Santos, Derekschan, and Calvo's (2007) Attentional Control Theory, analyses showed that higher WM learners strategically traded reading speed (processing efficiency) for greater comprehension accuracy (processing effectiveness), whereas lower WM learners only did so under stress and did so less successfully. Thus, stress impedes FL reading comprehension through interactions between WM capacity and inferential complexity, and such effects are moderated by strategy use.

摘要：We examined negative transfer from English and Spanish to Portuguese pronunciation. Participants were native English speakers, some of whom spoke Spanish. Participants completed a computer-based Portuguese pronunciation tutorial and then pronounced trained letter-to-sound correspondences in unfamiliar Portuguese words; some shared orthographic form with their translation in Spanish or Spanish and English. Spanish-speaking participants were more accurate and made more Spanish-like than English-like errors. Contrary to predictions, non-Spanish speakers made more Spanish-like than English-like errors on cognates. Participants with higher working memory were more accurate and made more Spanish-sounding errors on cognates. The results suggest that the first language is inhibited during second-language production and that higher working memory is associated with an improved ability to inhibit the first language.

摘要：This study examines the roles of proficiency and working memory (WM) capacity in second-/foreign-language (L2) learners' processing of agreement morphology. It investigates the processing of grammatical and ungrammatical short- and long-distance number agreement dependencies by native English speakers at two proficiencies in French, and the relationship between their proficiency and WM capacity in French and their sensitivity to agreement violations. Native English speakers at mid- and high proficiencies in French and native French speakers completed an acceptability judgment task, a self-paced reading task, and a WM task in French, and the English speakers also completed a WM task in English. The results showed that whereas all participants performed at ceiling on the acceptability judgment tasks, only the high-level L2 learners and native speakers showed some sensitivity to number agreement violations. For L2 learners, this sensitivity did not vary as a function of the length of the agreement dependency. The results also indicated that L2 learners tended to be more sensitive to agreement violations as their WM memory capacity in French increased. The implications of these results for theories of L2 morphological processing are discussed.

摘要：This study investigates whether the integration of ICT in education can facilitate teaching and learning. An example of such integration is computer assisted language learning (CALL) of English technical vocabulary by undergraduate physics students in Rwanda. The study draws on theories of cognitive load and multimedia learning to explore learning in a one-computer classroom in an environment where textbooks and multiple computers are not available. Two groups of students attended a 4-week English-language technical vocabulary course (eight three-hour sessions) taught by two ESP trained science teachers. One group (n = 13) was taught using computer-mediated multimedia to present technical vocabulary on-screen. The other group (n = 19) received blackboard presentations employing traditional methods to help students internalize the same vocabulary. Post-test scores of the two groups were compared. The results show that the effect of multimedia on the recall of the concepts taught is large (Cohen's d 0.95). [Copyright The American University; published by Elsevier Ltd.]

摘要：The present study explores the relative efficacy of recasts over metalinguistic feedback on the learning of the English that-trace filter and how working memory capacity (WMC) is related to the extent to which learners can benefit from recasts and metalinguistic feedback. Fifty-four Korean English as a foreign language (EFL) learners from six intact classes at a university formed two experimental groups (recasts and metalinguistic feedback) and one control group and carried out two first language (L1) working memory (WM) span tasks (reading span and operation span tasks). The two experimental groups participated in two information gap activities over two treatment sessions, during which they were required to ask questions involving the that-trace filter and received corrective feedback (either recasts or metalinguistic feedback) on their erroneous utterances. Two dependent variable measures (a written production test and a grammaticality judgment test) were administered in each test session (pretest and immediate posttest). Results showed that recasts were as effective as metalinguistic feedback in facilitating the acquisition of the target construction. This may, to some extent, be attributable to the blocking of modified output opportunities specifically designed in this study to prevent modified output from playing a potential role as a confound. Also, individual differences in WMC significantly predicted, and thus mediated the effects of, recasts but not metalinguistic feedback, on the acquisition of the that-trace filter. This suggests that executive attention or attention control (considered as a critical component of WMC) is involved in the noticing of recasts, but not in the noticing of metalinguistic feedback. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study analyzed phonological short-term memory (PSTM) and working memory (WM) and their relationship with vocabulary and grammar learning in an artificial foreign language. Nonword repetition, nonword recognition, and listening span were used as memory measures. Participants learned the singular forms of vocabulary for an artificial foreign language before being exposed to plural forms in sentence contexts. Participants were tested on their ability to induce the grammatical forms and to generalize the forms to novel utterances. Individual differences in final abilities in vocabulary and grammar correlated between 0.44 and 0.76, depending on the measure. Despite these strong associations, the results demonstrated significant independent effects of PSTM and WM on L2 vocabulary learning and on L2 grammar learning, some of which were mediated by vocabulary and some of which were direct effects. Adapted from the source document

摘要：The goal of this study was to explain individual differences in both native and non-native listening comprehension; 121 native and 113 non-native speakers of Dutch were tested on various linguistic and nonlinguistic cognitive skills thought to underlie listening comprehension. Structural equation modeling was used to identify the predictors of individual differences in listening comprehension and to test for differences between the native and non-native participants. Listening comprehension for native speakers was found to be a function of knowledge of the language and the efficiency with which one can process linguistic information, while listening comprehension for non-native speakers was a function of knowledge and reasoning ability. Working Memory did not explain unique variance in listening comprehension in either group. Differences in experience with the Dutch language are likely to explain the observed pattern of results for both groups. Adapted from the source document

摘要：A great deal of research into second-language (L2) development focuses on the role of cognitive factors and other individual differences. Studies of children and prime-of-life adult L2 learners suggest that differences exist in the learning processes of these groups. However, to date, little empirical work has been conducted with older adult learners. In this article we argue that older adults' L2 learning aptitudes, processes, and outcomes merit investigation. We present interaction and working memory (WM) research as a case in point and then, as a preliminary illustration, report on a small-scale study of nine older adults, age 65-89, who were native speakers of Spanish learning English as a second language. These learners carried out communicative tasks with native speakers of English, who provided interactional feedback in response to nontargetlike question forms. Interestingly, the only older learners who showed L2 development were those with the highest scores on a first-language listening-span test of WM. We conclude by proposing that larger scale longitudinal research into the often overlooked population of older L2 learners is likely to shed interesting light on important questions concerning WM and learning processes in the field of second language acquisition. Adapted from the source document

摘要：In this article, we report the results of a study on the relationship between individual differences in language learning aptitude and the structural connectivity of language pathways in the adult brain, the first of its kind. We measured four components of language aptitude (vocabulary learning; sound recognition; sound-symbol correspondence; and grammatical inferencing) using the LLAMA language aptitude test. Spatial working memory, verbal working memory and IQ were also measured as control factors. Diffusion Tensor Imaging was employed to investigate the structural connectivity of language pathways in the perisylvian language network. Regression analysis suggested significant correlations between most of these behavioural measures and the structural connectivity of certain language pathways, that is, grammatical inferencing and the BA45- and BA46-Temporal pathway, sound-symbol correspondence and the interhemispheric BA45 pathway, vocabulary learning and the BA47-Parietal pathway, IQ and the BA44- and BA-47Parietal pathways, the BA47-Temporal pathway and interhemispheric BA45 pathway, spatial working memory and the interhemispheric BA6 pathway and the BA47-Parietal pathway, and verbal working memory and the BA47-Temporal pathway. These findings provide further insights into the neural underpinnings of the variation in language aptitude of human adults and are discussed in relation to relevant findings in the literature. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Although statistical learning and language have been assumed to be intertwined, this theoretical presupposition has rarely been tested empirically. The present study investigates the relationship between statistical learning and language using a within-subject design embedded in an individual-differences framework. Participants were administered separate statistical learning tasks involving adjacent and nonadjacent dependencies, along with a language comprehension task and a battery of other measures assessing verbal working memory, short-term memory, vocabulary, reading experience, cognitive motivation, and fluid intelligence. Strong interrelationships were found among statistical learning, verbal working memory, and language comprehension. However, when the effects of all other factors were controlled for, performance on the two statistical learning tasks was the only predictor for comprehending relevant types of natural language sentences.

摘要：This study examined whether the observed effectiveness of recasts is influenced by the type of outcome measure used and whether different aspects of working memory are differentially associated with learners' performance on the various outcome measures. The participants were 90 learners of English as a foreign language, who were randomly assigned to a recast, a nonrecast, and a control group. A pretest-posttest-delayed posttest design was employed to detect any improvement in the learners' knowledge of one usage of the English past progressive construction. Many-facet Rasch measurement and correlational analyses yielded two main findings. First, recasts generated the greatest gains on an oral production test, lesser gains on a written production test, and the least gains on a written grammaticality judgment test. Second, in the recast group, participants with higher reading spans achieved more development on the written tests, while those with higher digit and nonword spans showed greater improvement on the oral test. For the nonrecast group, no association was found between the working memory and developmental measures. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This article reports on a study on learning new and relearning forgotten words of French as a foreign language in young (mean age 22.4), middle-aged (mean age 50.3), and elderly speakers (mean age 76.0). The three age groups performed similarly on relearning old words, but the younger learners were significantly better at learning new words. Data from a questionnaire on contact with French and a working-memory test showed that neither diminished language contact nor age-related decline in working memory can be seen as single factors explaining differences between learning and relearning. The decline in older adults' ability to learn new lexical information is discussed in terms of theories explaining age-related memory deficits and conceived of as an age-related deficiency to form associations between unrelated concepts. Adapted from the source document

摘要：We examined negative transfer from English and Spanish to Portuguese pronunciation. Participants were native English speakers, some of whom spoke Spanish. Participants completed a computer-based Portuguese pronunciation tutorial and then pronounced trained letter-to-sound correspondences in unfamiliar Portuguese words; some shared orthographic form with their translation in Spanish or Spanish and English. Spanish-speaking participants were more accurate and made more Spanish-like than English-like errors. Contrary to predictions, non-Spanish speakers made more Spanish-like than English-like errors on cognates. Participants with higher working memory were more accurate and made more Spanish-sounding errors on cognates. The results suggest that the first language is inhibited during second-language production and that higher working memory is associated with an improved ability to inhibit the first language. Adapted from the source document

摘要：The role of short-term memory and working memory in accomplished multilinguals was investigated. Twenty-eight accomplished multilinguals were compared to 36 mainstream philology students. The following instruments were used in the study: three memory subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale (Digit Span, Digit-Symbol Coding, and Arithmetic, which constitute a memory and resistance to distraction index); two short-term memory tests of the Modern Language Aptitude Test (Part I [NumberLearning] and Part V [PairedAssociates]); and the verbal Intelligence Quotient (IQ), the nonverbal IQ, the general IQ, and a working memory test, the Polish Reading Span (PRSPAN). The results of the accomplished multilinguals were compared to the results of 1st-year English philology students (mainstream). The analysis revealed that short-term memory and working memory abilities in the accomplished multilinguals were higher than in the mainstream philology students. Results might contribute to the understanding of the controversial role of working memory and short-term memory abilities in accomplished multilinguals. A suggestion that the two components of working memory (the phonological loop and the central executive) are significant factors in determining the outcome of learning a foreign language is discussed. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study examines the effects of working memory capacity and content familiarity on literal and inferential comprehension in second language (L2) reading. Participants were 62 Turkish university students with an advanced English proficiency level. Working memory capacity was measured through a computerized version of a reading span test, whereas content familiarity was achieved through nativization of a narrative, that is, textual and contextual modification to reflect the reader's own culture. After completing the reading span test, the participants were randomly divided into two groups, one being exposed to the original text and the other to the nativized version. They then answered multiple-choice comprehension questions aiming to check literal and inferential comprehension. The results revealed independent and additive effects of working memory capacity and content familiarity on inferential comprehension. No effects were observed on literal understanding. These findings have implications for the design of assessment instruments in L2 reading comprehension. Adapted from the source document