Acquisition of second language grammar under incidental learning conditions: the role of frequency and working memory

Denhovska, N., Serratrice, L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5141-6186 and Payne, J. (2016) Acquisition of second language grammar under incidental learning conditions: the role of frequency and working memory. Language Learning, 66 (1). pp. 159-190. ISSN 0023-8333 doi: 10.1111/lang.12142

Abstract/Summary

Although frequency is recognized as an important factor in second language acquisition, it has remained relatively under-investigated in terms of its impact on the acquisition of grammatical knowledge under incidental learning conditions. This article reports the results of an experiment where 100 novice adult learners were exposed to a complex noun-adjective agreement pattern in Russian under 4 incidental learning conditions where type and token frequency of the stimuli were manipulated. The results support a “starting small” approach for productive knowledge acquisition; accuracy was greater in the low-type low-token condition, and low-token frequency was more significant than low-type frequency. Working memory was differentially involved in production of acquired knowledge in different conditions and not engaged where learning was facilitated by frequency.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/66673
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Language and Cognition Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Clinical Language Sciences Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM)
Uncontrolled Keywords	implicit learning; frequency; working memory; second language; grammar; morphology
Publisher	Wiley
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