This article reviews research on working memory (WM) and its use in second language (L2) acquisition research. Recent developments in the model and issues surrounding the operationalization of the construct itself are presented, followed by a discussion of various methods of measuring WM. These methods include word and digit span tasks, reading,…

Responds to Ellis (2002), which suggests the statistical structure of the linguistic environment is a crucial and relatively neglected variable in language learning. This approach makes three assumptions about cognition and language learning that are not universally shared. Describes a distributed, instance-based approach that retains key features…

Responds to VanPatten's update of the findings for processing instruction. Questions the explanatory adequacy of the model of input processing that VanPatten proposed and that underpins his pedagogic proposals. Questions the validity of the limited-capacity, single-resource model of attention proposed for second language learning. (Author/VWL)

Acquisition by Processing Theory (APT) is a unified account of language processing and learning that encompasses both L1 and L2 acquisition. Bold in aim and broad in scope, the proposal offers parsimony and comprehensiveness, both highly desirable in a theory of language acquisition. However, the sweep of the proposal is accompanied by an economy…

A distinction is drawn between representational and processing models of second-language acquisition. The first approach is derived primarily from linguistics, the second from psychology. Both fields, it is argued, need to collaborate more fully, overcoming disciplinary narrowness in order to achieve more fruitful research. (GLR)

Twenty-five advanced Chinese learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) provided grammaticality judents in full-sentence and word-by-word conditions. The results indicated that parsing, and not grammatical competence, is the source of difficulty on performance with subject extraction sentences. Contains 58 references. (MDM)