Book contents
- Memory, Language, and Bilingualism
- Memory, Language, and Bilingualism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Bilingual memory:
- 2 Lexical competition in localist and distributed connectionist models of L2 acquisition
- 3 Working memory and (second) language processing
- 4 Working memory in simultaneous interpreters
- 5 Using electrophysiological measures to track the mapping of words to concepts in the bilingual brain:
- 6 Age effects in L2 learning:
- 7 Bilingualism, language, and aging
- 8 Crossovers and codeswitching in the investigation of immigrant autobiographical memory
- 9 Linguistic relativity and bilingualism
- 10 Testing effects for novel word learning in Chinese–English bilinguals
- 11 The lexicon in second language attrition:
- 12 Memory and first language forgetting
- 13 Future research directions:
- Index
6 - Age effects in L2 learning:
Comparing child and adult learners’ performance on tests of implicit and explicit memory
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2012
- Memory, Language, and Bilingualism
- Memory, Language, and Bilingualism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Bilingual memory:
- 2 Lexical competition in localist and distributed connectionist models of L2 acquisition
- 3 Working memory and (second) language processing
- 4 Working memory in simultaneous interpreters
- 5 Using electrophysiological measures to track the mapping of words to concepts in the bilingual brain:
- 6 Age effects in L2 learning:
- 7 Bilingualism, language, and aging
- 8 Crossovers and codeswitching in the investigation of immigrant autobiographical memory
- 9 Linguistic relativity and bilingualism
- 10 Testing effects for novel word learning in Chinese–English bilinguals
- 11 The lexicon in second language attrition:
- 12 Memory and first language forgetting
- 13 Future research directions:
- Index
Summary
In this chapter, we first review several cognitive explanations for age effects in second (L2) language learning, particularly those that relate to different aspects of human memory. We then report the results of a study that compares the performance of age-matched groups of children and adults (native speakers and L2 learners) on explicit and implicit tests of memory of English words read under two conditions (story vs. list). Overall, the obtained findings showed no essential differences in memory performance between 11–13-year-old children and 17–26-year-old adults learning English as their L2. More strikingly, the L2 learners’ performance on tests of explicit and implicit memory was very similar to the performance of age-matched native English-speaking children and adults. We discuss contributions of explicit and implicit memory to child–adult differences in L2 learning.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Memory, Language, and BilingualismTheoretical and Applied Approaches, pp. 161 - 187Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012
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