Explicit but Not Implicit Memory Predicts Ultimate Attainment in the Native Language

Abstract

The present paper examines the relationship between explicit and implicit memory and ultimate attainment in the native language. Two groups of native speakers of English with different levels of academic attainment (i.e., high vs. low) took part in three language tasks which assessed grammar, vocabulary and collocational knowledge, as well as phonological short-term memory (assessed using a forward digit-span task), explicit associative memory (assessed using a paired-associates task) and implicit memory (assessed using a deterministic serial reaction time task). Results revealed strong relationships between phonological short-term memory and explicit associative memory on the one hand and the three language tasks on the other hand, and no relation between linguistic performance and implicit memory. Taken together, these results cast doubts on the common assumption that L1 grammar learning depends almost entirely on implicit memory and align with the claims of usage-based models of language acquisition that grammatical and lexical knowledge depend on the same cognitive mechanisms.

Declarative Memory Predicts Phonological Processing Abilities in Adulthood

“…Further, it may be revealing to track changes over time to these relationships longitudinally. Interestingly, a similar pattern has been recently observed in the association between language skills and declarative, but not procedural, memory in adults (Llompart and Dabrowska, 2020). Thus, the current findings may point to a broader narrative concerning the robust relationship between language and declarative memory in adulthood.…”

Toward an Integrated Account of Working Memory and Language

“…Since the cognitive mechanisms contained in phonological working memory play important roles in the subsequent consolidation and chunking of phonological forms (Ellis, 1996;Huang & Awh, 2018), empirical studies have shown that phonological working memory is particularly related to the acquisition and development of lexical knowledge, grammatical knowledge, and collocational knowledge of the native language (see Llompart & Dabrowska, 2020 for a recent review), and at early developmental stages of L2 oral skills (e.g., O'Brien et al, 2007;Granena & Yilmaz, 2019), L2 vocabulary knowledge (Service & Simard, this volume), and L2 grammar development (French, 2006;Leseman & Verhagen, this volume;McCormick & Sanz, this volume). In view of its instrumental role in acquiring the novel phonological forms among monolingual and bilingual children and adults, phonological working memory, as characterized in this manner, is best positioned to be conceptualized as a "language learning device" (Baddeley et al, 1998;Papagno, this volume).…”

Collocational knowledge in children: a comparison of English-speaking monolingual children, and children acquiring English as an Additional Language

“…Other associations were weak to moderate according to Cohen's criteria. Dąbrowska (2020) the Serial Reaction Time task, often used to assess this construct was not closely association with collocational knowledge. While correlations were strong and significant across the board in the L1 group, they were weaker in the EAL group with only the correlation between the BPVS and TROG attaining significance.…”

“…Collocations were either Verb + Noun (as above) or Adjective + Noun (e.g., urgent matters, small details) The authors found that collocational knowledge was significantly associated with both receptive lexical and grammatical measures (Dąbrowska, 2014(Dąbrowska, , 2019Llompart & Dąbrowska, 2020). In the most recent study, which investigated 60 English-speaking adults, these associations were strong: 0.80 for the association with grammar, and 0.82 for the association with vocabulary (Llompart & Dąbrowska, 2020). These relationships were even stronger than the relationship between grammar and vocabulary (0.70).…”

“…While there have been a number of studies assessing children's ability to interpret and explain idioms (e.g., Cain, Towse & Knight, 2009;Nippold & Martin, 1989), few studies have assessed individual differences in collocational knowledge. To our knowledge, there are three studies by Dąbrowska and colleagues (Dąbrowska, 2014(Dąbrowska, , 2019Llompart & Dąbrowska, 2020) which have investigated this construct in adults, and only one, by Smith and Murphy (2015), which studied children of primary-school age.…”