"Accounting for individual differences in second language acquisition: The role of long-term memory." Foreign Language Learning Colloquium Speaker Series Talk

Kara Morgan-Short

Professor, Hispanic Linguistics and Psychology

Interim Associate Director, School of Literature, Cultural Studies, and Linguistics

University of Illinois at Chicago

Accounting for individual differences in second language acquisition can contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms involved in language acquisition and can have implications for language learning endeavors. Here, I consider the role of two, long-term, cognitive memory systems as individual differences in the acquisition of second language grammar. In doing so, I first describe the declarative and procedural memory systems and consider theories that address a role for declarative and procedural memory in second language acquisition. Next, I discuss behavioral and electrophysiological evidence in regard to predictions made by the theories. I also consider how the contributions of these long-term memory systems may interact with each other and with different learning conditions. Finally, I conclude with discussion of important directions and questions for future research on the role of declarative and procedural memory as individual differences in second language.