Influence of Phonological Memory on ESL Learners

Migration has been a constant factor in England, especially since the late 20th Century, there are about 13.5% of primary school populations distinguished as learners of English as an additional language (National Statistics, 2007). Many researchers have studied the association between working memory capacity and reading, on English as a Second Language (ESL) learners through the measures designed by Daneman and Carpenter (1980, Cited in Alptekin and Ercetin, 2009). Lesaux and Siegel (2003) stated that there is an ongoing developmental processing with reading skills, especially in English, which is heavily relied upon phonological processing as it is assumed that this cognitive process play a significant role on a child’s reading skills.

Holmes and Gethercole (2013) found that children’s performance was impacted by a poor working memory. On the other hand, Haughey (2002) discovered that those with high levels of phonological working memory had more vocabulary knowledge when compared to those with low levels of phonological working memory. This suggests that a constant repetition may help children to grasp on the English language faster and also that with the two slave systems in working memory, it is the phonological loop which is responsible for holding verbal information (Baddeley, 2002).

This is supported by Gathercole, Willis, Emslie and Baddeley (1992) who stated that the phonological component, in the working memory, is engaged with the development of vocabulary acquisition. Gathercole et al stated that the phonological loop is accountable for manipulation of speech-based information. In addition, phonological working memory plays a major role towards vocabulary learning on young children (Haughey, 2002). This has drastical...

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