ERIC Number: EJ1469837
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Feb
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1362-1688
EISSN: EISSN-1477-0954
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Investigating the Contribution of L1 Fluency, L2 Initial Fluency, Working Memory and Phonological Memory to L2 Fluency Development
Nancy Gagné1; Leif M. French2; Kirsten M. Hummel3
Language Teaching Research, v29 n2 p633-656 2025
Within the same learning context, learners' outcomes in terms of oral fluency vary greatly. This study tracked the relative contributions that first language (L1) and initial second language (L2) fluency skill and working memory (WM) made to L2 fluency development. We assessed the performance of French-speaking Grade 6 learners' (n = 47, mean age: 11) in a 10-month intensive English program in Quebec, Canada using a picture-cue monologic task based on The Suitcase Story and a semi-structured interview based on the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). Working memory was assessed using a backward digit span task and phonological memory (PM) via non-word repetition and serial non-word recognition tasks. Overall, results suggest that L1 fluency, WM and PM played only a minor role in learners' L2 fluency outcomes, whereas learners' pre-program levels of L2 fluency constituted an important predictor of L2 fluency development regardless of the speech task used to index fluency.
Descriptors: Language Fluency, Short Term Memory, Native Language, Second Language Learning, Oral Language, Outcomes of Education, Second Language Instruction, French, Grade 6, Intensive Language Courses, Pictorial Stimuli, Cues, Task Analysis, Language Proficiency, Cognitive Tests, Foreign Countries, Phonology, Word Recognition, Predictor Variables, Learning Processes, Transfer of Training
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 6; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview; Digit Span Test
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Université TÉLUQ, Canada; 2Sam Houston State University, USA; 3Université Laval, Canada