Exploring the Relationship Between Working Memory Capacity and L2 Oral Fluency

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and L2 oral fluency and explored the maintenance of newly presented information in L2 speaking production. When performing speech production tasks, knowledge from long-term memory is at frequent use and hence involves the operation of the episodic buffer, one component of the working memory system, where information is retrieved from long-term memory and stored in chunks as we speak in chunks. In this study, we measured WMC by assessing chunk capacity and chunk size held in and retrieved from the episodic buffer. Chunk capacity was measured by Pair-word Speaking Task; chunk size was measured by Procedure Description Task; and oral fluency was measured by speech rate and mean length of run using an IELTS speaking task. Twenty-nine English-major students participated in this study. The results showed a strong positive correlation between chunk capacity and the two measures of fluency while chunk size negatively correlated with fluency. Data from the recall interviews revealed that participants employed various strategies for the maintenance of the presented information which involved different types of information binding.