Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language
- Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- About the Editors
- About the Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Overview of the Handbook
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Models and Measures
- 3 The Evolution of Working Memory and Language
- 4 The Phonological Loop as a “Language Learning Device”
- 5 The Embedded-Processes Model and Language Use
- 6 Long-Term Working Memory and Language Comprehension
- 7 The Cognitive Neuroscience of Working Memory and Language
- 8 Computational Models of Working Memory for Language
- 9 The Time-Based Resource Sharing Model of Working Memory for Language
- 10 The Ease of Language Understanding Model
- 11 Assessing Children’s Working Memory
- 12 Measuring Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity and Attention Control and Their Contribution to Language Comprehension
- Part III Linguistic Theories and Frameworks
- Part IV First Language Processing
- Part V Bilingual Acquisition and Processing
- Part VI Language Disorders, Interventions, and Instruction
- Part VII Conclusion
- Index
- References
4 - The Phonological Loop as a “Language Learning Device”
An Update
from Part II - Models and Measures
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 July 2022
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language
- Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- About the Editors
- About the Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Overview of the Handbook
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Models and Measures
- 3 The Evolution of Working Memory and Language
- 4 The Phonological Loop as a “Language Learning Device”
- 5 The Embedded-Processes Model and Language Use
- 6 Long-Term Working Memory and Language Comprehension
- 7 The Cognitive Neuroscience of Working Memory and Language
- 8 Computational Models of Working Memory for Language
- 9 The Time-Based Resource Sharing Model of Working Memory for Language
- 10 The Ease of Language Understanding Model
- 11 Assessing Children’s Working Memory
- 12 Measuring Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity and Attention Control and Their Contribution to Language Comprehension
- Part III Linguistic Theories and Frameworks
- Part IV First Language Processing
- Part V Bilingual Acquisition and Processing
- Part VI Language Disorders, Interventions, and Instruction
- Part VII Conclusion
- Index
- References
Summary
The phonological component of the working memory system is specialized in maintaining a sequence of verbal items (digits, letters, words, pseudowords) over a very short period of time. Therefore, a central issue has been why we are provided with such ability, and what is its functional role. A series of studies on healthy people, on children learning their mother tongue, on children and young adults learning a second language and, crucially, on neuropsychological patients with a selective deficit of auditory-verbal short-term memory has clearly shown that a fundamental function is to maintain a new phonological representation for a period of time long enough to build permanent phonological representations. This is exactly what happens when we learn a new language. In this chapter I will report converging evidence involving different languages showing how this important result has been obtained.
Keywords
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language , pp. 51 - 72Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022
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