<b>The role of working memory capacity in the development of L2 speech production</b><br>

• Main Author: Janaina Weissheimer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina 2011-10-01
• Series: Ilha do Desterro
• Subjects: individual diferences; working memory capacity; l2 acquisition
• Online Access: https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/21520

This study addresses the question of how working memory capacity and L2 speech production covary over a period of time, during learners’ L2 speech development. Participants were submitted to two data collection phases, each one consisting of a working memory test (an adaptation of Daneman’s 1991 speaking span test) and a speech generation task, with a twelveweek interval between the two data collections. The results show that both lower and higher span individuals experienced some increase in L2 speech production scores in between phases. However, only lower span participants had a statistically significant improvement in working memory scores over trials. In addition, the speaking span test was related to the development of complexity in speakers’ L2 speech.