ABSTRACT

This study examines the association between verbal working memory (WM) and L2 grammar learning. A pool of 330 beginning English learners of Spanish completed Waters and Caplan’s (1996) WM test, and a grammar pretest and posttest one semester apart. The results show that WM’s shorter response times (RTs) (processing) and higher recall span (storage) significantly predicted higher L2 grammar development, and that the two combined explained 12% of the variance. The data also indicate that RTs (processing) negatively and significantly correlated with recall span (storage), but the correlation was weak. We urge researchers to control for WM in instructed SLA studies and to analyze WM’s processing component, and we recommend that teachers use activities adaptable to the individual WM needs of their L2 learners.