Blackwell Reference Online

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Attention to and subsequent memory for attended language input are both essential for SLA, and are intricately related. Attention is the process that encodes language input, keeps it active in working and short-term memory, and retrieves it from long-term memory. Attention and memory structures can be viewed hierarchically. The focus of attention is a subset of short-term memory, and short-term memory is that part of long-term memory in a currently heightened state of activation. Long-term memory is where instances of encoded input are stored and assume (or confirm, in some innatist theories of SLA) the representational shape that recognition processes match to new instances of input in working memory during parsing and comprehension. These representations also form the basis of speech production “plans,” which guide retrieval processes during grammatical and phonological encoding, and articulation of a message. Attention, then, can be viewed as a process for which memory provides structure and constraint.Research into attention and memory during SLA has begun to accumulate in the last decade or so, addressing such issues as the following: what levels of attention and awareness are necessary for encoding L2 input in short-term working memory? What is the nature of the encoding, rehearsal, and retrieval processes that operate on attended input? How do L2 task demands affect the allocation ... log in or subscribe to read full text