ABSTRACT
Various second language (L2) instructional interventions have been designed on the premise that attention to form and meaning promote learning. The present study investigated how attention to form and meaning was related to (WM) capacity during L2 practice with one particular intervention, structured input (SI) practice. Beginning learners of Spanish (N = 20) were exposed to Spanish direct object pronouns—through picture-sentence interpretation practice (a type of SI practice) with the form. Eye movements (e.g., gaze duration, second-pass reading time, and fixation count) were recorded as learners read each sentence. Results revealed significant gains in interpretation of the Spanish direct object pronoun. Additionally, correlation analyses revealed a significant negative relationship between WM and attention as measured by total time (ρ = -.45, p = .04) and second-pass time (ρ = -.46, p = .05). These results also indicate qualitatively different relationships between WM and attention for higher and lower WM learners during SI practice.
