Individual differences in second language acquisition (SLA) encompass differences in working memory capacity, which is believed to be one of the most crucial factors influencing language learning. However, in Poland research on the role of working memory in SLA is scarce due to a lack of proper Polish instruments for measuring this construct. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the process of construction and validation of the Polish Listening Span (PLSPAN) as a tool intended to measure verbal working memory of adults. The article presents the requisite theoretical background as well as the information about the PLSPAN, that is, the structure of the test, the scoring procedures and the steps taken with the aim of validating it.
Working memory is a complex cognitive system responsible for the concurrent storage and processing of information. Given that a complex cognitive task like mental arithmetic clearly places demands on working memory (e.g., in remembering partial results, monitoring progress through a multi-step calculation), there is surprisingly little research exploring the possibility of increasing young children's working memory capacity through systematic school-based training. This study reports the preliminary results of a working memory training programme, targeting executive processes such as inhibiting unwanted information, monitoring processes, and the concurrent storage and processing of information. The findings suggest that children who received working memory training made significantly greater gains in the trained working memory task, and in a non-trained visual-spatial working memory task, than a matched control group. Moreover, the training group made significant improvements in their mathematical functioning as measured by the number of errors made in an addition task compared to the control group. These findings, although preliminary, suggest that school-based measures to train working memory could have benefits in terms of improved performance in mathematics.
Working memory is now one of the most frequently studied individual differences in various fields of science, including cognitive and developmental psychology, neuroscience, and second language acquisition. It affects cognitive functioning, including all aspects of learning a foreign language, and its deficits severely impair learning outcomes. This article focuses on practical application of this knowledge (see Gregersen & MacIntyre, 2014) in a language classroom. To this end, we first present a definition of a working memory and its components altogether with their relevance for various areas of foreign language learning. This is followed by a review of research on linguistically gifted individuals, polyglots, and savants as well as bilinguals from the perspective of memory aptitude. The last section offers some pedagogical implications, such as aptitude-treatment interaction and working memory training. The article ends with suggestions for further research in this area.
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