The relationship between aptitude and working memory: an instructed SLA context

ABSTRACT

Working memory (WM) as a key component of language aptitude has become a topical issue, with some going so far as to argue that WM can replace language aptitude. Research that specifically investigates the relationship between WM and language aptitude is rather limited. This study explores the determinants of language aptitude, with a focus on WM capacity. A total of 72 Turkish university students with advanced English proficiency participated in the study. The instruments used to measure WM capacity included a reading span task in L1 (Turkish) and L2 (English) and an operation span task in L1. Language aptitude was measured with a computerised aptitude test: the LLAMA. A correlation analysis revealed that WM capacity correlated with the language aptitude total score rather than language aptitude subcomponents, with the exception of grammatical inferencing. A principal component analysis further showed WM and language aptitude as separate constructs. In addition, two distinct factors emerged under the aptitude construct, which can be attributed to the modality of the aptitude subtests. The results suggest that WM capacity still has a key role in the renewed aptitude construct, yet these two cognitive abilities are not interchangeable.

KEYWORDS:

• language aptitude
• language analytical ability
• working memory
• LLAMA aptitude test
• instructed language learning
• explicit language aptitude

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The PCA was run based on data from 65 cases whose data were complete across all the measures (see Appendix for the correlation matrix).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Boğaziçi University Research Fund [grant number 12D06P1].

Notes on contributors

Şebnem Yalçın

Şebnem Yalçın is a lecturer in the Department of Foreign Language Education at Boğaziçi University, Turkey. Her current research interests are instructed SLA, individual learner differences, and classroom-based research.

Sevdeğer Çeçen

Sevdeğer Çeçen is a lecturer in the Department of English Language Teacher Education at İstanbul Bilgi University, Turkey. Her main research interests are individual learner differences, explicit and implicit knowledge in second language learning, and language teacher education.

Gülcan Erçetin

Gülcan Erçetin is an associate professor in the Department of Foreign Language Education at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey. Her research interests include assessment of literacy skills in first and second language, cognitive processes in second language reading, and second language learning in multimedia/hypermedia environments. Her recent work focuses on the role of working memory in second language reading.