Word-Nonword Phonological Memory and L2 Proficiency

Misun Seo (서미선); Lim Jayeon (임자연)

Word-Nonword Phonological Memory and L2 Proficiency

Modern English Education
Abbr : MEESO
2015, 16(1), pp.1-19
Publisher : The Modern English Education Society
Research Area : Humanities > English Language and Literature > English Language Teaching

Misun Seo ¹, Lim Jayeon ²

¹한남대학교
²서울시립대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study examines whether phonological memory (PM) of adult Korean learners ofEnglish correlates with their proficiency levels in L2. Previous studies have shown that PM is significantly related to L1 and L2 learning, mostly with regard to vocabulary and grammar. The present study measured PM with both English words and English-based nonwords in order to examine its relationship with L2 proficiency. Twenty Korean learners of English at different proficiency levels performed serial recognition tasks of PM words and nonwords. According to a repeated measures analysis of variance(ANOVA) and Pearson correlation, both accuracy and reaction time data revealed asignificant relationship between PM words and L2 proficiency. The high group wasmore accurate and faster than the low group with PM words. However, no significantrelationship was found between PM nonwords and L2 proficiency. The results indicate the high group learners’ better performance with PM words was not replicated in PM nonwords. Additionally, the two groups exhibited different reaction times with different pair types in words, with the high group showing faster reaction time. No differencewas observed with different pair types in nonwords. The findings of the present studyimply that words and nonwords are differently processed by the high group L2 learners of English unlike the low group.

KEYWORDS

phonological memory, L2 proficiency, accuracy, reaction time

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

[journal] Atkins, P. W. B. / 1998 / Working memory and distributed vocabulary learning / Applied Psycholinguistics 19(4) : 537~552

[book] Baddeley, A. D. / 1986 / Working memory / Oxford University Press

[journal] Baddeley, A. D. / 2000 / The episodic buffer : A new component of working memory? / Trends in Cognitive Science 4(11) : 417~423

[book] Baddeley, A. D. / 2007 / Working memory, thought, and action / Oxford University Press

[journal] Baddeley, A. D. / 1998 / The phonological loop as a language learning device / Psychological Review 105(1) : 158~173

[journal] 차미양 / 2008 / Factors in Development of Language Teaching Methods / 현대영어교육 / 현대영어교육학회 9(2) : 1~20

[journal] Cheung, H. / 1996 / Nonword span as a unique predictor of second-language vocabulary / Developmental Psychology 32(5) : 867~873

[journal] Duffield, N. / 1999 / Assessing L2 knowledge of Spanish clitic placement : Converging methodologies / Second Language Research 15(2) : 133~160

[journal] Flege, J. E. / 1999 / Age constraints on second language acquisition / Journal of Memory and Language 41(1) : 78~104

[thesis] French, L. / 2003 / Phonological working memory and L2 acquisition: A developmental study of Quebec francophone children learning English / doctor / Université Laval

[book] Gass, S. M. / 1997 / Input, interaction and the second language learner / Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

[journal] Gathercole, S. E. / 1989 / Evaluation of the role of phonological STM in the development of vocabulary in children : A longitudinal study / Journal of Memory and Language 28(2) : 200~213

[book] Gathercole, S. E. / 1993 / Working memory and language / Erlbaum

[journal] Gathercole, S. E. / 2001 / Dissociable lexical and phonological influences on serial recognition and serial recall / The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 54A(1) : 1~30

[journal] Gathercole, S. E. / 1999 / Phonological short-term memory and vocabulary development : Further evidence on the nature of the relationship / Applied Cognitive Psychology 13(1) : 65~77

[journal] Gathercole, S. E. / 1992 / Phonological memory and vocabulary development during the early school years : A longitudinal study / Developmental Psychology 28(5) : 887~898

[book] Han, Z. H. / 2006 / Studies of fossilization in second language acquisition. / Multilingual Matters

[book] Harley, T. A. / 2008 / The psychology of language : From data to theory / Psychology Press

[book] Huang, T. / 2001 / Studies on the interplay of speech perception and phonology (Vol. 55) / Ohio State University Working Papers in Linguistics : 23~42

[journal] Hulme, C. / 1991 / Memory for familiar and unfamiliar words : Evidence for a longer term memory contribution to short-term memory span / Journal of Memory and Language 30(6) : 685~701

[journal] Hummel, K. M. / 2009 / Aptitude, phonological memory, and second language proficiency in nonnovice adult learners / Applied Psycholinguistics 30(2) : 225~249

[journal] Kaushanskaya, M. / 2011 / Word learning in adults with secondlanguage experience : Effects of phonological and referent familiarity. Journal of Speech, Language / and Hearing Research 56(2) : 667~678

[journal] Kormos, J. / 2008 / Phonological short-term memory, working memory and foreign language performance in intensive language learning / Bilingualism : Language and Cognition 11(2) : 261~271

[journal] Long, M. H. / 1990 / Maturational constraints on language development / Studies in Second Language Acquisition 12(3) : 251~285

[book] Luce, P. A. / 2001 / Spoken word access processes / Psychology Press : 565~581

[thesis] Miettinen, H. / 2012 / Phonological working memory and L2 knowledge: Finish children learning English / doctor / University of Jyväskylä

[journal] O’Brien, I. / 2006 / Phonological memory and lexical, narrative, and grammatical skills in second language oral production by adult learners / Applied Psycholinguistics 27(3) : 377~402

[journal] O’Brien, I. / 2007 / Phonological memory predicts second language oral fluency gains in adults / Studies in Second Language Acquisition 29(4) : 557~582

[book] Odlin, T. / 1989 / Language transfer. / Cambridge University Press

[journal] Odlin, T. / 2005 / Cross-linguistic influence and conceptual transfer: What are the concepts? / Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 25(1) : 3~25

[journal] Papagno, C. / 1995 / Verbal short-term memory and vocabulary learning in polyglots / The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 48A(1) : 98~107

[journal] Service, E. / 1995 / Is the relation between phonological memory and foreign language learning accounted for by vocabulary acquisition? / Applied Psycholinguistics 16(2) : 155~172

[journal] Shepard, R. N. / 1975 / The internal representation of numbers / Cognitive Psychology 7(1) : 82~138

[book] Skehan, P. / 2012 / The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition / Routledge : 381~395

[journal] Thorn, A. S. / 1999 / Language-specific knowledge and short-term memory in bilingual and non-bilingual children / The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 52A(2) : 303~324

[journal] Walter, C. / 2008 / Phonology in second language reading : Not an optional extra / TESOL Quarterly 42(3) : 455~474

[book] Williams, J. N. / 2012 / The Routledge of handbook of second language acquisition / Routledge : 427~441

[journal] Williams, J. N. / 2005 / Phonological memory and rule-learning / Language Learning 55(S1) : 157~233

KJCKorea
Journal Central

Modern English Education 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.55