Multilingual Matters Working Memory and Second Language Learning: Towards an Integrated Approach (Second Language Acquisition): 100

This book introduces an approach to understanding and measuring working memory components and functions in second language learning, processing and development. It presents comprehensive, thorough and updated reviews of relevant literatures from cognitive sciences and applied linguistics. Drawing on multidisciplinary research, the book advocates a conceptual framework for integrating working memory theories with second language acquisition theories. An innovative theoretical model is also presented, which illuminates research studies investigating the distinctive roles of phonological and executive working memory as they relate to specific L2 learning domains, skills and processes. Theoretical and methodological implications of this integrative perspective are further elaborated and discussed within the specific realms of L2 task-based performance and language aptitude research. Review A thorough analysis of how the various components of the working memory system relate to different aspects of second language processing and learning. This is a very timely and useful contribution to a centrally important topic in the field of individual differences. --John Williams, University of Cambridge, UK One of the most encouraging features of the development of the multicomponent model of working memory has been its application beyond the laboratory to a range of issues of which language learning is among the most important. Work was initially focused on native language acquisition but subsequently exciting developments are increasingly occurring in the hugely significant field of second language learning. This book surveys the field in detail, producing a synthesis of evidence and theory that will make a substantial contribution to this important field. --Alan D. Baddeley, University of York, UK A well-informed, up-to-date, and comprehensive review of phonological and executive aspects of working memory, their components and measurement, their roles in second language acquisition and processing, and their status as language aptitudes. An excellent overview for scholars in these areas. --Nick Ellis, University of Michigan, USA About the Author Zhisheng (Edward) Wen is Associate Professor at the School of Languages and Translation at Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI). He has taught undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in applied linguistics and psycholinguistics at tertiary level for over 15 years. His research interests include second language acquisition and TESOL, psycholinguistics and cognitive science, as well as genre analysis and translation studies. He is a co-editor of Working Memory in Second Language Acquisition and Processing (2015, Multilingual Matters).