Applied Linguistics, Bilingualism & Working Memory

Posted on Feb 8, 2025 in Foreign Languages

I. What is Applied Linguistics?

Applied Linguistics is an interdisciplinary field that identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to real-life, language-related problems.

II. Four Disciplines of Applied Linguistics

  1. Psycholinguistics: The study of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use, comprehend, and produce language.
  2. Forensic Linguistics: The application of linguistic knowledge and methods to the forensic context of law and crime investigation.
  3. Contrastive Linguistics: The comparative analysis of the phonological, semantic, and grammatical features of a native language and a target language.
  4. Lexicography: The process of writing, editing, and/or compiling a dictionary.

III. Examples of Language-Based Decisions

Three concrete examples in which decisions about language must be taken:

  1. Teaching a second language in the classroom.
  2. Learning a language for travel.
  3. Raising a bilingual child.

IV. Defining Working Memory

Working Memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity, responsible for the temporary holding, processing, and manipulation of information. It’s the ability to hold information in mind and mentally manipulate it over short periods. Working memory allows for the management, manipulation, and transformation of information.

V. Classroom Activities and Working Memory

Activities that impose heavy demands on working memory often require a child to hold information in mind while performing a mentally challenging task, such as reading, mathematics, or science.

VI. Characteristics of Low Working Memory

Individuals with low working memory may exhibit the following characteristics:

  • Difficulty remembering facts and procedures (e.g., new vocabulary, verb conjugations, mathematical procedures).
  • Slow retrieval of information.
  • Failure to follow instructions, even when repeated.
  • Poor attention to detail.
  • Difficulty starting work.
  • Difficulty staying on task.

VII. Strategies for Supporting Students with Low Working Memory

Teachers can help students with low working memory by:

  1. Recognizing working memory failures.
  2. Monitoring the student.
  3. Evaluating the working memory demands of learning activities.
  4. Reducing working memory loads.
  5. Frequently repeating important information.
  6. Encouraging the use of memory aids.

VIII. Steps in Teaching a Strategy

To teach a strategy to a student with low working memory:

  1. Teach one strategy at a time in brief, focused sessions.
  2. Teach students when, where, why, and how to use the strategy.
  3. Be overt and explicit.
  4. Model and think aloud.
  5. Evaluate and recognize effort and success.
  6. Encourage self-monitoring.
  7. Promote transfer to other situations, times, activities, and groups.

IX. True or False Statements

  1. True. Bilingual children tend to have a smaller vocabulary in each language than monolingual children in their language.
  2. True. Bilingual children between four and eight years old demonstrate a large advantage over comparable monolinguals in solving problems.
  3. False. Being bilingual has more advantages than disadvantages.
  4. False. The majority of children with poor working memory are slow to learn mostly in reading, mathematics, and science.
  5. False. Bilingualism and second-language acquisition have no negative effect on children’s development; early beliefs that it caused confusion were incorrect.
  6. False. Working memory problems are relatively common during primary and secondary school years.

X. Cognitive Outcomes for Bilingual Children

Based on the reading “Second-Language Acquisition and Bilingualism at an Early Age and the Impact on Early Cognitive Development,” three important issues concerning cognitive and educational outcomes for bilingual children are:

  1. Bilingual children have a smaller vocabulary in each language than monolingual children, but their metalinguistic awareness is better.
  2. Literacy acquisition in bilingual children depends on the relationship between the two languages and proficiency in the second language. Children learning to read in two languages with similar writing systems (e.g., English and French) show accelerated progress. Children with languages using different systems (e.g., English and Chinese) show no special advantage or deficit.
  3. Bilingual children (ages 4-8) demonstrate a significant advantage over monolinguals in solving problems requiring controlled attention and inhibiting misleading information.

XI. Types of Bilinguals

  1. Compound Bilinguals: Individuals who learn both languages in the same environment.
  2. Coordinate Bilinguals: Individuals who learn both languages in different environments.
  3. Subordinate Bilinguals: Individuals who learn a second language and cannot understand it without the help of their first language.

XII. Short-Term vs. Working Memory

Working memory is a short-term memory buffer that allows for the manipulation of stored information, while short-term memory is only involved in the short-term storage of information and does not entail manipulation or organization.

XIII. Strengths of Bilingual Children

Bilingual children are good at:

  1. Understanding linguistic structure (metalinguistic awareness).
  2. Solving problems that require controlling attention to specific aspects of a display.