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4 - The Phonological Loop as a “Language Learning Device”

An Update

from Part II - Models and Measures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2022

By
Costanza Papagno
Edited by
John W. Schwieter  and
Zhisheng (Edward) Wen
John W. Schwieter
Affiliation:
Wilfrid Laurier University
Zhisheng (Edward) Wen
Affiliation:
Hong Kong Shue Yan University
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Summary

The phonological component of the working memory system is specialized in maintaining a sequence of verbal items (digits, letters, words, pseudowords) over a very short period of time. Therefore, a central issue has been why we are provided with such ability, and what is its functional role. A series of studies on healthy people, on children learning their mother tongue, on children and young adults learning a second language and, crucially, on neuropsychological patients with a selective deficit of auditory-verbal short-term memory has clearly shown that a fundamental function is to maintain a new phonological representation for a period of time long enough to build permanent phonological representations. This is exactly what happens when we learn a new language. In this chapter I will report converging evidence involving different languages showing how this important result has been obtained.

Keywords

phonological short-term memoryphonological loopauditory-verbal short-term memoryvocabulary acquisitionsecond language
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language , pp. 51 - 72
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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