Research Article
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Year 2022, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 155 - 174, 30.12.2022

Ali İlya Burcu Koç Kerem Can Alpay

Abstract

References

  • Acheson, D. J., & MacDonald, M. C. (2009). Verbal working memory and language production: Common approaches to the serial ordering of verbal information. Psychological Bulletin, 135(1), 50.
  • Ahmadian, M. J. (2012). The relationship between working memory capacity and L2 oral performance under task-based careful online planning condition. Tesol Quarterly, 46(1), 165-175.
  • Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In K. W. Spence (Ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory (pp. 89–195). New York: Academic Press.
  • Baddeley, A.D. (1968). A three-minute reasoning test based on grammatical transformation. Psychometric Science, 10, 341-342 Baddeley, A. (2003). Working memory: looking back and looking forward. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4(10), 829-839.
  • Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working memory. In G. A. Bower (Ed.), Recent Advances in Learning and Motivation (Vol. 8, pp. 47–90). New York: Academic Press.
  • Baddeley, A. D., & Logie, R. H. (1999). Working memory: The multiple-component model. In A. Miyake & P. Shah (Eds.), Models of Working Memory (pp. 28–61). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Brown, J. (1958). Some tests of the decay theory of immediate memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 10, 12–21.
  • Cho, M. (2018). Task complexity, modality, and working memory in L2 task performance. System, 72, 85-98.
  • Creswell, J. W. (2014). Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Singapore: SAGE Publications.
  • Daneman, M. (1991). Working memory as a predictor of verbal fluency. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 20(6), 445-464.
  • Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. A. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 19, 450–466.
  • Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. A. (1983). Individual differences in integrating information between and within sentences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning. Memory. & Cognition, 9, 561584.
  • Daneman, M., & Merikle, P. M. (1996). Working memory and language comprehension: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 3(4), 422-433.
  • Ellis, A. W. (1980). Errors in speech and short-term memory: The effects of phonemic similarity and syllable position. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 19, 624–634.
  • Grabowski, J. (2007). The writing superiority effect in the verbal recall of knowledge: Sources and determinants. Studıes in Wrıtıng, 20, 165.
  • Gaulin, C. A., & Campbell, T F. (1994). Procedure for assessing verbal working memory in normal school-age children: Some preliminary data. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 79, 55-64.
  • Hampshire, A., Highfield, R. R., Parkin, B. L., & Owen, A. M. (2012). Fractionating human intelligence. Neuron, 76(6), 1225-1237.
  • Harrington, M., & Sawyer, M. (1992). L2 working memory capacity and L2 reading skill. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 14(01), 25-38.
  • Hebb, D. O. (1949). The organization of behavior. New York: Wiley. Jefferies, E., Frankish, C., & Ralph, M. A. L. (2006). Lexical and semantic influences on item and order memory in immediate serial recognition: Evidence from a novel task. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59(5), 949–964.
  • Jefferies, E., Frankish, C. R., & Ralph, M. A. L. (2006). Lexical and semantic binding in verbal short-term memory. Journal of Memory and Language, 54(1), 81–98.
  • Juffs, A., & Harrington, M. (2011). Aspects of working memory in L2 learning. Language teaching, 44(2), 137-166.
  • Just, M. A., & Carpenter, P. A. (1992). A capacity theory of comprehension: Individual differences in working memory. Psychological Review, 99, 122–149.
  • Just, M. A., & Carpenter, P. A. (1980). A theory of reading: From eye fixations to comprehension. Psychological Review, 4, 329-354.
  • Kim, Y., & Tracy-Ventura, N. (2011). Task complexity, language anxiety, and the development of the simple past. Second language task complexity: Researching the cognition hypothesis of language learning and performance, 287-306.
  • Kormos, J., & Sáfár, A. (2008). Phonological short-term memory, working memory and foreign language performance in intensive language learning. Bilingualism: Language and cognition, 11(2), 261-271.
  • Leather, C. V., & Henry, L. A. (1994). Working memory span and phonological awareness tasks as predictors of early reading ability. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 58, 88-111.
  • Mackey, A., Adams, R., Stafford, C., & Winke, P. (2010). Exploring the relationship between modified output and working memory capacity. Language learning, 60(3), 501-533.
  • McCutchen, D., Dibble, E., Blount, M. M. (1991). Phonemic effects in reading comprehension and text memory. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 8, 597–611.
  • McCutchen, D. (2000). Knowledge, processing, and working memory: Implications for a theory of writing. Educational psychologist, 35(1), 13-23.
  • Mitchell, D. C. (1982). The process of reading: A cognitive analysis of fluent reading and learning to read. New York: Wiley.
  • Mota, M. B. (2003). Working memory capacity and fluency, accuracy, complexity, and lexical density in L2 speech production. Fragmentos: Revista de Língua e Literatura Estrangeiras, 24.
  • Phillips, D. C., & Burbules, N. C. (2000). Postpositivism and educational research. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Révész, A. (2012). Working memory and the observed effectiveness of recasts on different L2 outcome measures. Language Learning, 62(1), 93-132.
  • Schriefers, H., Meyer, A. S., & Levelt, W. J. (1990). Exploring the time course of lexical access in language production: Picture-word interference studies. Journal of Memory and Language, 29(1), 86-102.
  • Schwartz, M.F., Wilshire, C.E., Gagnon, D.A., Polansky, M. (2004). Origins of nonword phonological errors in aphasic picture naming. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 21, 159–186.
  • Service E. (1992). Phonology, working memory, and foreign-language learning. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Experimental Psychology, 45(A), 21–50.
  • Service, E., & Kohonen, V. (1995). Is the relation between phonological memory and foreign language learning accounted for by vocabulary acquis ition? Applied Psycholinguistics, 16, 155-172.
  • Tavares, M. D. G. G. (2009). The relationship among pre-task planning, working memory capacity, and L2 speech performance: a pilot study. Linguagem & Ensino, 12, 165–194.
  • Tsai, A. M. (2014). The role of visuo-spatial and verbal working memory in L2 Japanese reading proficiency. University of Hawai'I Second Langauge Studies Paper 32 (2).
  • Vitevitch, M. S. (2002). The influence of phonological similarity neighborhoods on speech production. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 28, 735–747.
  • Vousden, J.I., Brown, G.D.A., Harley, T.A. (2000). Serial control of phonology in speech production: A hierarchical model. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 101–175.
  • Walker, I., & Hulme, C. (1999). Concrete words are easier to recall than abstract words: Evidence for a semantic contribution to short-term serial recall. Journal of Experimental psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 25(5), 1256.
  • Weissheimer, J. (2011). The role of working memory capacity in the development of L2 speech production. A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies, (60), 075-104.

Investigating the Relationship Between ELT Students’ Verbal Working Memory Capacity, Reasoning Ability, and Foreign Language Proficiency of Productive Skills

Year 2022, Volume: 11 Issue: 2, 155 - 174, 30.12.2022

Ali İlya Burcu Koç Kerem Can Alpay

Abstract

The role of working memory and reasoning ability in foreign language proficiency has already been well-established. As another contribution to the building block of the relevant research, the current study aimed to investigate any possible relationships between English Language Teaching (ELT) students’ verbal working memory capacity, grammatical reasoning ability, and their proficiency in productive skills in English. 40 ELT students, 20 of whom were in the first-year while the other 20 were in the fourth year, voluntarily participated in the research. They were asked to take two tests on the website of Cambridge Brain Sciences; the Digit Span Test to measure their verbal working memory capacity and the Grammatical Reasoning Test to measure their reasoning ability. They were also tested on their speaking and writing skills in English through TOEFL-IBT test items. The scores on language tests were compared with the scores on the Digit Span and the Grammatical Reasoning Tests by running multiple regression analysis and a full-factorial ANOVA. Results revealed that while the writing ability had a relationship with the verbal working memory and reasoning ability, the speaking ability could not be predicted by them. Moreover, it was also yielded that the grade level of the students did not have any effects on the L2 productive skills.

Keywords

verbal working memory reasoning ability L2 productive skills digit span

References

  • Acheson, D. J., & MacDonald, M. C. (2009). Verbal working memory and language production: Common approaches to the serial ordering of verbal information. Psychological Bulletin, 135(1), 50.
  • Ahmadian, M. J. (2012). The relationship between working memory capacity and L2 oral performance under task-based careful online planning condition. Tesol Quarterly, 46(1), 165-175.
  • Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In K. W. Spence (Ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory (pp. 89–195). New York: Academic Press.
  • Baddeley, A.D. (1968). A three-minute reasoning test based on grammatical transformation. Psychometric Science, 10, 341-342 Baddeley, A. (2003). Working memory: looking back and looking forward. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4(10), 829-839.
  • Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working memory. In G. A. Bower (Ed.), Recent Advances in Learning and Motivation (Vol. 8, pp. 47–90). New York: Academic Press.
  • Baddeley, A. D., & Logie, R. H. (1999). Working memory: The multiple-component model. In A. Miyake & P. Shah (Eds.), Models of Working Memory (pp. 28–61). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Brown, J. (1958). Some tests of the decay theory of immediate memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 10, 12–21.
  • Cho, M. (2018). Task complexity, modality, and working memory in L2 task performance. System, 72, 85-98.
  • Creswell, J. W. (2014). Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Singapore: SAGE Publications.
  • Daneman, M. (1991). Working memory as a predictor of verbal fluency. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 20(6), 445-464.
  • Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. A. (1980). Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 19, 450–466.
  • Daneman, M., & Carpenter, P. A. (1983). Individual differences in integrating information between and within sentences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning. Memory. & Cognition, 9, 561584.
  • Daneman, M., & Merikle, P. M. (1996). Working memory and language comprehension: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 3(4), 422-433.
  • Ellis, A. W. (1980). Errors in speech and short-term memory: The effects of phonemic similarity and syllable position. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 19, 624–634.
  • Grabowski, J. (2007). The writing superiority effect in the verbal recall of knowledge: Sources and determinants. Studıes in Wrıtıng, 20, 165.
  • Gaulin, C. A., & Campbell, T F. (1994). Procedure for assessing verbal working memory in normal school-age children: Some preliminary data. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 79, 55-64.
  • Hampshire, A., Highfield, R. R., Parkin, B. L., & Owen, A. M. (2012). Fractionating human intelligence. Neuron, 76(6), 1225-1237.
  • Harrington, M., & Sawyer, M. (1992). L2 working memory capacity and L2 reading skill. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 14(01), 25-38.
  • Hebb, D. O. (1949). The organization of behavior. New York: Wiley. Jefferies, E., Frankish, C., & Ralph, M. A. L. (2006). Lexical and semantic influences on item and order memory in immediate serial recognition: Evidence from a novel task. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59(5), 949–964.
  • Jefferies, E., Frankish, C. R., & Ralph, M. A. L. (2006). Lexical and semantic binding in verbal short-term memory. Journal of Memory and Language, 54(1), 81–98.
  • Juffs, A., & Harrington, M. (2011). Aspects of working memory in L2 learning. Language teaching, 44(2), 137-166.
  • Just, M. A., & Carpenter, P. A. (1992). A capacity theory of comprehension: Individual differences in working memory. Psychological Review, 99, 122–149.
  • Just, M. A., & Carpenter, P. A. (1980). A theory of reading: From eye fixations to comprehension. Psychological Review, 4, 329-354.
  • Kim, Y., & Tracy-Ventura, N. (2011). Task complexity, language anxiety, and the development of the simple past. Second language task complexity: Researching the cognition hypothesis of language learning and performance, 287-306.
  • Kormos, J., & Sáfár, A. (2008). Phonological short-term memory, working memory and foreign language performance in intensive language learning. Bilingualism: Language and cognition, 11(2), 261-271.
  • Leather, C. V., & Henry, L. A. (1994). Working memory span and phonological awareness tasks as predictors of early reading ability. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 58, 88-111.
  • Mackey, A., Adams, R., Stafford, C., & Winke, P. (2010). Exploring the relationship between modified output and working memory capacity. Language learning, 60(3), 501-533.
  • McCutchen, D., Dibble, E., Blount, M. M. (1991). Phonemic effects in reading comprehension and text memory. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 8, 597–611.
  • McCutchen, D. (2000). Knowledge, processing, and working memory: Implications for a theory of writing. Educational psychologist, 35(1), 13-23.
  • Mitchell, D. C. (1982). The process of reading: A cognitive analysis of fluent reading and learning to read. New York: Wiley.
  • Mota, M. B. (2003). Working memory capacity and fluency, accuracy, complexity, and lexical density in L2 speech production. Fragmentos: Revista de Língua e Literatura Estrangeiras, 24.
  • Phillips, D. C., & Burbules, N. C. (2000). Postpositivism and educational research. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Révész, A. (2012). Working memory and the observed effectiveness of recasts on different L2 outcome measures. Language Learning, 62(1), 93-132.
  • Schriefers, H., Meyer, A. S., & Levelt, W. J. (1990). Exploring the time course of lexical access in language production: Picture-word interference studies. Journal of Memory and Language, 29(1), 86-102.
  • Schwartz, M.F., Wilshire, C.E., Gagnon, D.A., Polansky, M. (2004). Origins of nonword phonological errors in aphasic picture naming. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 21, 159–186.
  • Service E. (1992). Phonology, working memory, and foreign-language learning. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Experimental Psychology, 45(A), 21–50.
  • Service, E., & Kohonen, V. (1995). Is the relation between phonological memory and foreign language learning accounted for by vocabulary acquis ition? Applied Psycholinguistics, 16, 155-172.
  • Tavares, M. D. G. G. (2009). The relationship among pre-task planning, working memory capacity, and L2 speech performance: a pilot study. Linguagem & Ensino, 12, 165–194.
  • Tsai, A. M. (2014). The role of visuo-spatial and verbal working memory in L2 Japanese reading proficiency. University of Hawai'I Second Langauge Studies Paper 32 (2).
  • Vitevitch, M. S. (2002). The influence of phonological similarity neighborhoods on speech production. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 28, 735–747.
  • Vousden, J.I., Brown, G.D.A., Harley, T.A. (2000). Serial control of phonology in speech production: A hierarchical model. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 101–175.
  • Walker, I., & Hulme, C. (1999). Concrete words are easier to recall than abstract words: Evidence for a semantic contribution to short-term serial recall. Journal of Experimental psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 25(5), 1256.
  • Weissheimer, J. (2011). The role of working memory capacity in the development of L2 speech production. A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies, (60), 075-104.
There are 43 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Language Studies
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Ali İlya 0000-0001-9997-9244

Burcu Koç 0000-0001-8930-4745

Kerem Can Alpay 0000-0002-9256-2339

Publication Date December 30, 2022
Submission Date June 23, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2022 Volume: 11 Issue: 2

Cite

APA İlya, A., Koç, B., & Alpay, K. C. (2022). Investigating the Relationship Between ELT Students’ Verbal Working Memory Capacity, Reasoning Ability, and Foreign Language Proficiency of Productive Skills. ELT Research Journal, 11(2), 155-174.
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