In order to understand variability in second language (L2) acquisition, this study addressed how individual differences in cognitive abilities may contribute to development for learners in different contexts. Specifically, we report the results of two short-term longitudinal studies aimed at examining the role of cognitive abilities in accounting for changes in L2 behavioral performance and neurocognitive processing for learners in ‘at-home’ and ‘study-abroad’ settings. Learners completed cognitive assessments of declarative, procedural, and working memory abilities. Linguistic assessments aimed at determining behavioral sensitivity and online processing of L2 Spanish syntax were administered before and after a semester of study in either a traditional university classroom context (Experiment 1) or a study-abroad context (Experiment 2). At-home learners evidenced behavioral gains, with no detected predictive role for individual differences in cognitive abilities. Study-abroad learners evidenced behavioral gains and processing changes that were partially accounted for by procedural learning ability and working memory. Taken together, these results provide preliminary insight into how individual differences in cognitive abilities may contribute to behavioral and neural processing changes over time among learners in different natural contexts.
BondKGabrieleAFiorentinoRAlemán BañónJ (2011) Individual differences and the role of the L1 in L2 processing: An ERP investigation. In: HerschensohnJTannerD (eds) Proceedings of the 11th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, pp. 17–29.
2.
BowdenHWSteinhauerKSanzCUllmanMT (2013) Native-like brain processing of syntax can be attained by university foreign language learners. Neuropsychologia51: 2492–2511.
3.
Brill-SchuetzKAMorgan-ShortK (2014) The role of procedural memory in adult second language acquisition. In: BelloPGuariniMMcShaneMScassellatiB (eds) Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Cognitive Science Society: Quebec City, pp. 260–265.
4.
CarpenterHS (2008) A behavioral and electrophysiological investigation of different aptitudes for L2 grammar in learners equated for proficiency level. Unpublished PhD thesis, Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
5.
CarpenterHSMorgan-ShortKUllmanMT (2009) Predicting L2 using declarative and procedural memory assessments: A behavioral and ERP investigation. In: Georgetown University Round Table, Washington, DC.
6.
CarpenterHSMorgan-ShortKUllmanMT (2009) Predicting L2 using declarative and procedural memory assessments: A behavioral and ERP investigation. In: Georgetown University Round Table: Implicit and Explicit Conditions, Processes, and Knowledge in SLA and Bilingualism, Washington, DC, 13–15March2009.
7.
CarrollJBSaponSM (1959) Modern language aptitude test. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
8.
CollentineJ (2004) The effects of learning contexts on morphosyntactic and lexical development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition26: 227–48.
9.
CollentineJFreedBF (2004) Learning context and its effects of second language acquisition: Introduction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition26: 153–71.
10.
DeKeyserRM (1991) Foreign language development during a semester abroad. In: FreedBF (ed.) Foreign language acquisition and the classroom. Lexington, MA: DC Health, pp. 104–18.
11.
DeKeyserRM (2015) Skill acquisition theory. In: VanPattenBWilliamsJ (eds) Theories of second language acquisition: An introduction. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 94–112.
12.
FoerdeKKnowltonBJPoldrackRA (2006) Modulation of competing memory systems by distraction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America103: 11778–83.
13.
GreySCoxJGSerafiniEJSanzC (2015) The role of individual differences in the study abroad context: Cognitive capacity and language development during short-term intensive language exposure. The Modern Language Journal99: 137–57.
14.
HahneAFriedericiAD (2001) Processing a second language: Late learners’ comprehension mechanisms as revealed by event-related brain potentials. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition4: 123–41.
15.
HamrickP (2015) Declarative and procedural memory abilities as individual differences in incidental language learning. Learning and Individual Differences44: 9–15.
16.
HowardJHHowardDV (1997) Age differences in implicit learning of higher order dependencies in serial patterns. Psychology and Aging12: 634–36.
17.
HowardM (2001) The effects of study abroad on the L2 learner’s structural skills: Evidence from advanced learners of French. EUROSLA Yearbook1: 123–41.
18.
IsabelliCA (2004) The acquisition of the null subject parameter properties in SLA: Some effects of positive evidence in a naturalistic learning context. Hispania87: 150–62.
19.
IsabelliCANishidaC (2005) Development of the Spanish subjunctive in a nine-month study-abroad setting. In: EddingtonD (ed.) Selected proceedings of the 6th Conference on the Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as First and Second Languages. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, pp. 78–91.
20.
Isabelli-GarciaC (2010) Acquisition of Spanish gender agreement in two learning contexts: Study abroad and at home. Foreign Language Annals43: 289–303.
21.
KaanE (2007) Event-related potentials and language processing: A brief overview. Language and Linguistics Compass1: 571–91.
22.
KaanEHarrisAGibsonEHolcombP (2000) The P600 as an index of syntactic integration difficulty. Language and Cognitive Processes15: 159–201.
23.
KaufmanASKaufmanNL (2004) Kaufman assessment battery for children. 2nd edition.Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
24.
KnowltonBJMoodyTD (2008) Procedural learning in humans. In: ByrnesJ (ed.) Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference, Vol. 3: Memory Systems. Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 321–40.
25.
KuperbergGR (2007) Neural mechanisms of language comprehension: Challenges to syntax. Brain Research1146: 23–49.
26.
KutasMFedermeierKD (2011) Thirty years and counting: Finding meaning in the N400 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP). Annual Review of Psychology62: 621–47.
LaBrozziRM (2012) The role of study abroad and inhibitory control on processing redundant cues. In: GeeslinKDíaz-CamposM (eds) Selected Proceedings of the 14th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, pp. 228–41.
29.
LaffordBA (2006) The effects of study abroad vs. classroom contexts on Spanish SLA: Old assumptions, new insights and future research directions. In: KleeCAFaceTL (eds) Selected proceedings of the 7th conference on the acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as first and second languages. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, pp. 1–25.
30.
LinckJAWeissDJ (2015) Can working memory and inhibitory control predict second language learning in the classroom?SAGE Open5: 1–11.
31.
LinckJAOsthusPKoethJTBuntingMF (2014) The relationship between working memory and second language comprehension and production: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review21: 861–83.
32.
LuckSJ (2012) Event-related potentials. In: CooperHCamicPMLongDLPanterATRindskopfDSherKJ (eds) APA handbook of research methods in psychology; Volume 1: Foundations, planning, measures, and psychometrics. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 523–46.
33.
McDonaldJL (2006) Beyond the critical period: Processing-based explanations for poor grammaticality judgment performance by late second language learners. Journal of Memory and Language55: 381–401.
34.
McLaughlinJTannerDPitkänenIet al. (2010) Brain potentials reveal discrete stages of L2 grammatical learning. Language Learning60: 123–50.
35.
Morgan-ShortK (2014) Electrophysiological approaches to understanding second language acquisition: A field reaching its potential. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics34: 15–36.
36.
Morgan-ShortKTannerD (2014) Event-related potentials (ERPs). In: JegerskiJVanPattenB (eds) Research methods in second language psycholinguistics. New York: Routledge, pp. 127–52.
37.
Morgan-ShortKSanzCSteinhauerKUllmanMT (2010) Second language acquisition of gender agreement in explicit and implicit training conditions: An event-related potential study. Language Learning60: 154–93.
38.
Morgan-ShortKSteinhauerKSanzCUllmanMT (2012) Explicit and implicit second language training differentially affect the achievement of native-like brain activation patterns. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience24: 933–47.
39.
Morgan-ShortKFaretta-StutenbergMBrill-SchuetzKCarpenterHWongPCM (2014) Declarative and procedural memory as individual differences in second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition17: 56–72.
40.
Morgan-ShortKDengZBrill-SchuetzKAet al. (2015a) A view of the neural representation of second language syntax through artificial language learning under implicit contexts of exposure. Studies in Second Language Acquisition27: 383–419.
41.
Morgan-ShortKFaretta-StutenbergMBartlett-HsuL (2015b). Contributions of event-related potential research to issues in explicit and implicit second language acquisition. In: RebuschatP. (ed.) Implicit and explicit learning of languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 349–84.
42.
MuellerJLObereckerRFriedericiAD (2009) Syntactic learning by mere exposure: An ERP study in adult learners. BMC Neuroscience10: 89–97.
43.
OldfieldRC (1971) The assessment and analysis of handedness: The Edinburgh inventory. Neuropsychologia9: 97–113.
44.
OrtegaLIwashitaNRabieSNorrisJM (1999) A multilanguage comparison of measures of syntactic complexity [Funded Project]. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai’i, National Foreign Language Resource Center.
45.
OsterhoutLHolcombPJ (1992) Event-related brain potentials elicited by syntactic anomaly. Journal of Memory and Language31: 785–806.
46.
OsterhoutLMcLaughlinJPitkänenIFrenck-MestreCMolinaroN (2006) Novice learners, longitudinal designs, and event-related potentials: A means for exploring the neurocognition of second language processing. Language Learning56(S1): 199–230.
47.
OsterhoutLKimAKuperbergGR (2012) The neurobiology of sentence comprehension. In: SpiveyMJoannisseMMcCraeK (eds) The Cambridge handbook of psycholinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 365–89.
48.
ParadisM (2009) Declarative and procedural determinants of second languages. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
49.
PlonskyLDerrickDJ (2016) A Meta-analysis of reliability coefficients in second language research. Modern Language Journal, 100: 538–53.
50.
RedickTSBroadwayJMMeierMEet al. (2012) Measuring working memory capacity with automated complex span tasks. European Journal of Psychological Assessment28: 164–71.
51.
RobinsonP (2001) Individual Differences, Cognitive Abilities, Aptitude Complexes and Learning Conditions in Second Language Acquisition. Second Language Research17: 368–92.
52.
RossiSGuglerMFFriedericiADHahneA (2006) The impact of proficiency on syntactic second-language processing of German and Italian: Evidence from event-related potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience18: 2030–48.
53.
SagarraN (2008) Working memory and L2 processing of redundant grammatical forms. In: HanZ (ed.) Understanding second language process. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 133–47.
54.
SagarraNHerschensohnJ (2010) The role of proficiency and working memory in gender and number agreement processing in L1 and L2 Spanish. Lingua120: 2022–39.
55.
SanzC (2005) Mind and context in adult second language acquisition. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
56.
SanzC (2014) Contributions of study abroad research to our understanding of SLA processes and outcomes: The SALA project, An appraisal. In: Pérez-VidalC (ed.) Language acquisition in study abroad and formal instruction contexts. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 1–13.
57.
SegalowitzNFreedBF (2004) Context, contact, and cognition in oral fluency acquisition: Learning Spanish in at home and study abroad contexts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition26: 173–99.
58.
SegalowitzNFreedBFCollentineJet al. (2004) A comparison of Spanish second language acquisition in two different learning contexts: study abroad and the domestic classroom. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad10: 1–18.
59.
StanislawHTodorovN (1999) Calculation of signal detection theory measures. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers31: 137–149
60.
SteinhauerKConnollyJF (2008) Event-related potentials in the study of language. In: StemmerBWhitakerH (eds) Handbook of the cognitive neuroscience of language. New York: Elsevier, pp. 91–104.
61.
SteinhauerKDruryJE (2012) On the early left-anterior negativity (ELAN) in syntax studies. Brain and Language120: 135–62.
62.
SteinhauerKWhiteEJDruryJE (2009) Temporal dynamics of late second language acquisition: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Second Language Research25: 13–41.
63.
SundermanGKrollJF (2009) When study-abroad experience fails to deliver: The internal resources threshold effect. Applied Psycholinguistics30, 79–99.
64.
SwaabTYLedouxKCamblinCCBoudewynMA (2012) Language related ERP components. In: LuckSJKappenmanES (eds) Oxford handbook of event-related potential components. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 397–440.
65.
TabachnickBGFidellLS (2001) Using multivariate statistics. 4th edition.Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
66.
TagarelliKMBorges MotaMRebuschatP (2015) Working memory, learning conditions and the acquisition of L2 syntax. In: WenZMotaMMcNeillA (eds) Working memory in second language acquisition and processing: Theory, research and commentary. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 224–47.
TannerDMcLaughlinJHerschensohnJOsterhoutL (2013) Individual differences reveal stages of L2 grammatical acquisition: ERP evidence. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition16: 367–82.
69.
TannerDInoueKOsterhoutL (2014) Brain-based individual differences in online L2 grammatical comprehension. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition17: 277–93.
70.
TokowiczNMichaelEBKrollJ F (2004) The roles of study-abroad experience and working-memory capacity in the types of errors made during translation. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition7, 255–.
TulvingE (1993) What is episodic memory?Current Directions in Psychological Science2: 67–70.
73.
UllmanMT (2015) The Declarative/Procedural Model: A neurobiologically-motivated theory of first and second language. In: VanPattenBWilliamsJ (eds) Theories of second language acquisition: An introduction. Mahwah: NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 135–58.
74.
UnsworthNHeitzRPSchrockJCEngleRW (2005) An automated version of the operation span task. Behavior Research Methods37, 498–505.
75.
WhiteEJGeneseeFSteinhauerK (2012) Brain responses before and after intensive second language learning: Proficiency based changes and first language background effects in adult learners. PLoS One7(12): e52318.
76.
WilliamsJN (2012) Working memory and SLA. In: GassSMackeyA (eds) Handbook of second language acquisition. London: Routledge, pp. 427–47.
77.
van HellJGTokowiczN (2010) Event-related brain potentials and second language learning: Syntactic processing in late L2 learners at different L2 proficiency levels. Second Language Research26: 43–74.
