Abstract
The present paper examines the relationship between explicit and implicit memory and ultimate attainment in the native language. Two groups of native speakers of English with different levels of academic attainment (i.e., high vs. low) took part in three language tasks which assessed grammar, vocabulary and collocational knowledge, as well as phonological short-term memory (assessed using a forward digit-span task), explicit associative memory (assessed using a paired-associates task) and implicit memory (assessed using a deterministic serial reaction time task). Results revealed strong relationships between phonological short-term memory and explicit associative memory on the one hand and the three language tasks on the other hand, and no relation between linguistic performance and implicit memory. Taken together, these results cast doubts on the common assumption that L1 grammar learning depends almost entirely on implicit memory and align with the claims of usage-based models of language acquisition that grammatical and lexical knowledge depend on the same cognitive mechanisms.
Highlights
Learning a language involves storing vast amounts of information
Following from previous studies examining individual differences (e.g., Dabrowska, 2018, 2019; Dabrowska et al, under review), a second research question that we investigate is whether the strong relationship between lexical and grammatical knowledge which has been observed in numerous language acquisition studies survives into adulthood
Results for one Low Academic Attainment (LAA) participant in the Grammar task and another LAA participant in the Collocations task were excluded because their responses were abnormally quick
Summary
Learning a language involves storing vast amounts of information. The declarative/explicit memory system, involving the hippocampus and medial temporal lobe structures, is thought to be mainly in charge of the conscious learning, storage and recollection of factual information (Henke, 2010; Squire and Wixted, 2011; Ullman, 2016). Learning through this system is effortful and controlled but evidence of learning can be found relatively fast (e.g., Carey and Bartlett, 1978).
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