Working memory capacity and fluency, accuracy, complexity, and lexical density in L2 speech production

Abstract

This study investigated whether there was a relationship between working memory capacity and L2 speech production. The participants were 13 ad-vanced learners of English as a second language at the University of Minne-sota. Participants ’ working memory capacity was assessed by means of the speaking span test (Daneman, 1991) in the L2. L2 speech production was elicited by means of a picture description task and a narrative task. Four aspects of speech production were assessed: fluency, accuracy, complexity, and weighted lexical density. Statistical analyses revealed that, in both tasks, working memory capacity, as measured by the speaking span test, correlates positively with fluency, accuracy, and complexity, as predicted, and nega-tively with weighted lexical density, contrary to predictions. The analyses 70 Mailce Borges Mota, Working memory capacity and fluency... also revealed that the speaking span test is a significant predictor of fluency, accuracy, and complexity in L2 speech and that it partially accounts for variation in L2 oral performance. The analyses further indicate a tendency for an interaction between fluency, accuracy, complexity, and weighted lexi-cal density. To explain the relationship between working memory capacity and the measures of L2 speech production, it is proposed that L2 grammati-cal encoding is a complex subtask of L2 speech production that requires the control and regulation of attention.