EFL SPEAKING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY: GRAMMATICAL COMPLEXITY AND WEIGHTED LEXICAL DENSITY IN THE ORAL PRODUCTION OF BEGINNERS

GICELE VERGINE e RAQUEL D’ELY · 2008 · DOAJ

DOI: 10.5216/sig.v20i2.6084

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Summary

This study investigates the relationship between individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) and the grammatical complexity and weighted lexical density of oral production among beginner English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Motivated by inconsistent findings in prior research regarding how WMC influences specific dimensions of L2 speech, the authors aimed to expand on Fontanini et al. (2005) by focusing specifically on complexity and lexical density. The research was grounded in the Controlled-Attention View of working memory, which posits that WMC reflects the ability to sustain attention amidst interference, thereby impacting complex cognitive tasks like speech production. The study utilized a subset of data from twelve beginner undergraduate students. WMC was measured using two distinct tests: the Speaking Span Test (SST), which assesses language-specific memory, and the Operation Span Test (OSpan), which measures domain-free attentional control. Participants performed a picture description task, a "here-and-now" monologic exercise where they described a scene involving a family at breakfast. They were allowed ten minutes for strategic planning but could not use notes during the actual production. Speech samples were analyzed for grammatical complexity, operationalized as the number of subordinate clauses per hundred words, and weighted lexical density, calculated based on the proportion of frequent versus infrequent lexical and grammatical items. The results revealed no statistically significant correlations between WMC scores (from either the SST or OSpan) and the measures of grammatical complexity or weighted lexical density. While a weak positive correlation existed between SST scores and lexical density, it did not reach significance. Consequently, the study’s hypotheses predicting significant positive correlations were rejected. The authors note that while most participants produced speech with above-average lexical density, this trend was not linked to their working memory capacity. The findings support the existence of trade-off effects in L2 speech production. The authors conclude that learners likely directed their limited attentional resources toward accuracy to manage the cognitive demands of the task, thereby sacrificing complexity and lexical density. This aligns with the Controlled-Attention View, suggesting that under cognitive pressure, speakers prioritize certain performance goals over others. The lack of correlation may also be attributed to the high cognitive load of the task, the beginners' limited linguistic repertoire, and the mitigating effect of strategic planning, which may have leveled performance differences across varying WMC levels.

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• cognitive capacity variation