The Effect of Working Memory on Bilingual Learning Ability

Abstract

There is a growing concern about bilingualism, as acquiring two languages has gained popularity and is essential for communication living around the globe. Research suggests that higher working memory capacity could help store vocabulary and other linguistic information, thus enhancing one’s ability for second language acquisition. However, some research proposes that there is a second language interference for bilinguals, and they have poorer performance than their counterparts in working memory and lexical tasks. It is because bilinguals’ working memory capacity is impeded by the dominant language due to the simultaneous activation of both languages in their brain. Therefore, this literature review attempts to investigate the effect of working memory on bilingual learning ability by providing empirical studies to expound on the working memory capacity difference between monolinguals and bilinguals. The testing of working memory capacity is mainly conducted by lexical decision task and digit span task. The results found a bilingual advantage in working memory capacity, as they have been trained for better executive control.