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Muhammadpour M, Hassanzadeh-Taleshi M, Salehi-Amiri F. The effects of different task repetition schedules on oral narratives of L2 learners with high and low working memory capacity. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2023; 236:103933. [PMID: 37159975 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.103933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 05/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The present study investigated the effects of different task repetition (TR) schedules on oral complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) of L2 learners with high and low working memory capacity (WMC). To this end, 36 intermediate Iranian learners were assigned to two groups by means of a speaking span task: task repetition of high WMC learners (TRHWM) and task repetition of low WMC leaners (TRLWM). The learners in both groups were required to watch a silent animation, retell the story, and then repeat it immediately. They were also asked to repeat the same task after three days and a week without having a chance to watch the animation. The learners' oral task performances were recorded, coded, and analyzed in terms of the CAF measures. Results revealed that different TR schedules assisted low-WMC L2 learners with improving their complexity measure in terms of lexical diversity such that there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups from the first to the last oral performance. In addition, the findings bear pedagogical significance in that they add support to the positive effect of using different task repetition schedules on the oral performances of both high- and low-WMC L2 learners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meysam Muhammadpour
- Department of English Language and Literature, University of Guilan, 5th Kilometer of Persian Gulf Highway, Rasht, Guilan Province, Iran.
| | - Mobin Hassanzadeh-Taleshi
- Department of English Language and Literature, University of Mazandaran, Shahid Babaie Street, Babolsar, Mazandaran, Iran.
| | - Fateme Salehi-Amiri
- Department of English Language and Literature, University of Mazandaran, Ebne-Sina Street, Amir kola, Babolsar, Mazandaran, Iran.
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Chen Y, Li L, Wang M, Wang R. Which Cognitive Factors Predict L2 Grammar Learning: Cognitive Control, Statistical Learning, Working Memory, or Attention? Front Psychol 2022; 13:943988. [PMID: 35910975 PMCID: PMC9333089 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.943988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Individual variability of cognitive factors in second language (L2) grammar learning has long been the focus in the field of L2 acquisition. Most explored the issue by focusing on one factor like cognitive control, working memory, statistical learning (SL), or attention. Few investigated the topic by taking all these factors into consideration. However, different factors might interact and collaboratively contribute to the learning process. Examining the issue by considering all the factors might yield different results and facilitate our understanding of the mechanism subserving L2 grammar learning. Therefore, this study explored whether and how these factors predicted L2 grammar learning. A total of 34 college students completed a set of cognitive measurements on these cognitive factors, after which they were trained with artificial grammar over 5 consecutive days. Using multiple regression analysis and machine learning algorithms, we found that in the initial phase, SL was the more significant predictor, whereas in the intermediate and the last phases, cognitive control served as the more significant predictor. In other words, in the initial phase of L2 grammar learning, SL might play an important role, whereas in the intermediate and proficient phase, the updating component of cognitive control might play a more significant role. The findings provided empirical evidence to the neurocognitive account of grammar learning, shedding light on the mechanism of L2 grammar learning.
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Yin CH, Yang FPG. The Effects of Working Memory Capacity in Metaphor and Metonymy Comprehension in Mandarin-English Bilinguals’ Minds: An fMRI Study. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12050633. [PMID: 35625020 PMCID: PMC9139067 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12050633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Revised: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
This study investigated the role of working memory capacity (WMC) in metaphoric and metonymic processing in Mandarin–English bilinguals’ minds. It also explored the neural correlations between metaphor and metonymy computations. We adopted an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) design, which consisted of 21 English dialogic sets of stimuli and 5 conditions: systematic literal, circumstantial literal, metaphor, systematic metonymy, and circumstantial metonymy, all contextualized in daily conversations. Similar fronto-temporal networks were found for the figurative language processing patterns: the superior temporal gyrus (STG) for metaphorical comprehension, and the inferior parietal junction (IPJ) for metonymic processing. Consistent brain regions have been identified in previous studies in the homologue right hemisphere of better WMC bilinguals. The degree to which bilateral strategies that bilinguals with better WMC or larger vocabulary size resort to is differently modulated by subtypes of metonymies. In particular, when processing circumstantial metonymy, the cuneus (where putamen is contained) is activated as higher-span bilinguals filter out irrelevant information, resorting to inhibitory control use. Cingulate gyrus activation has also been revealed in better WMC bilinguals, reflecting their mental flexibility to adopt the subjective perspective of critical figurative items with self-control. It is hoped that this research provides a better understanding of Mandarin–English bilinguals’ English metaphoric and metonymic processing in Taiwan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chia-Hsin Yin
- Department of Teaching and Learning, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA;
| | - Fan-Pei Gloria Yang
- Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300044, Taiwan
- Center for Cognition and Mind Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300044, Taiwan
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Dentistry, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
- Correspondence:
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Ruiz S, Chen X, Rebuschat P, Meurers D. Measuring individual differences in cognitive abilities in the lab and on the web. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0226217. [PMID: 31825980 PMCID: PMC6905613 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2019] [Accepted: 11/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study compared lab-based and web-based versions of cognitive individual difference measures widely used in second language research (working memory and declarative memory). Our objective was to validate web-based versions of these tests for future research and to make these measures available for the wider second language research community, thus contributing to the study of individual differences in language learning. The establishment of measurement equivalence of the two administration modes is important because web-based testing allows researchers to address methodological challenges such as restricted population sampling, low statistical power, and small sample sizes. Our results indicate that the lab-based and web-based versions of the tests were equivalent, i.e., scores of the two test modes correlated. The strength of the relationships, however, varied as a function of the kind of measure, with equivalence appearing to be stronger in both the working memory and the verbal declarative memory tests, and less so in the nonverbal declarative memory test. Overall, the study provides evidence that web-based testing of cognitive abilities can produce similar performance scores as in the lab.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simón Ruiz
- LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Xiaobin Chen
- LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Patrick Rebuschat
- LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
| | - Detmar Meurers
- LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Linguistics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Abrahams L, Hartsuiker RJ, De Fruyt F, Bajo MT. Structural alignment and its prosocial effects in first and second languages. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2019; 199:102906. [PMID: 31404743 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.102906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2019] [Revised: 07/19/2019] [Accepted: 08/04/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study examined structural alignment (prepositional object dative and double object dative) and its prosocial effects in Spanish-English bilinguals (English L2) and native English speakers (English L1). A scripted picture description paradigm in which a confederate and participant alternately described pictures was used. L1 and L2 speakers of English displayed comparable levels of structural alignment. In a second phase of the experiment we show that after being exposed to structural alignment by the confederate, L1 but not L2 participants displayed an increase in prosocial behavior as reflected by the time they were willing to help with an extra task. Possible explanations and implications are then discussed.
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Ma X, Ding N, Tao Y, Yang YF. Syntactic complexity and musical proficiency modulate neural processing of non-native music. Neuropsychologia 2018; 121:164-174. [PMID: 30359654 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2018] [Revised: 09/21/2018] [Accepted: 10/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
In music, chords are organized into hierarchical structures on the basis of musical syntax and the syntax of Western music can be implicitly acquired by listeners growing up in a Western musical culture. Here, we investigated whether Western musical syntax of different complexities can be implicitly acquired by non-native listeners growing up in China. This study used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure how the neural responses to musical sequences that either follow a simple rule, i.e., finite state grammar (FSG), or a complex rule, i.e., phrase structure grammar (PSG), are affected. We tested three groups of Chinese listeners who varied in their proficiency and experience in Western music. Only the high-proficiency group had received formal Western musical training, whereas the low- and moderate-proficiency groups varied in their degree of exposure to Western music. The results showed that in the FSG condition, the event-related potentials (ERPs) evoked by regular and irregular final chords were not significantly different in the low-proficiency group. In contrast, in the moderate- and high-proficiency groups, the irregular final chords evoked an ERAN-N5 biphasic response. In the PSG condition, however, only the high-proficiency group showed an ERAN-N5 biphasic response evoked by irregular final chords. This study provides evidence that although simple structures of Western music, such as FSG, can be acquired by long-term implicit learning, the acquisition of more complex structures, such as PSG, merely from exposure to western music may not be as easy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xie Ma
- Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; College of Educational Science and Management, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China; Key Laboratory of Educational Informatization for Nationalities, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
| | - Nai Ding
- College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; State Key Laboratory of Industrial Control Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yun Tao
- College of Educational Science and Management, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China; Key Laboratory of Educational Informatization for Nationalities, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, China
| | - Yu Fang Yang
- Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
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