ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the proposal of “working memory (WM) as language aptitude”. Specifically, it summarizes how the multiple components and functions of WM contribute to essential aspects of second language (L2) acquisition, processing, and development in two distinct albeit closely related ways. First, the sound-based phonological WM (PWM) underlies the chunking process of novel sounds and linguistic sequences, thus subserving the acquisitional and long-term developmental aspects of L2 knowledge of lexical items, multiword units, and morphosyntactic constructions. Second, the domain-general executive WM component (EWM) and its associative functions serve to coordinate the attentional resources implicated in selective online and offline language processing activities during L2 comprehension and production. Overall, it is argued that the phonological/executive WM perspective on language aptitude affords new possibilities for advancing theory construction and assessment procedures.
