Working memory and proficiency:

Abstract

This study aimed to delve into the role of working memory and proficiency concerning functional morphology in second language processing. We performed two tasks, an acceptability judgment with memory load and a 2-back, with higher and lower proficiency Brazilian Portuguese-English learners. We measured their proficiency level and investigated their performance in working memory capacity and inflectional morphology processing. The morphemes under investigation were the third-person singular (-s) and the regular past tense (-ed) in grammatical and ungrammatical sentences. Our results indicate that neither working memory nor proficiency influenced their performance. These findings seem related to the allocation of attentional resources since they could not focus on the missing morphemes in the acceptability judgment task.