The comprehension of signed language requires linguistic and visual-spatial processing, such as perspective-taking for correctly interpreting the layout of a spatial scene. However, little is known about how adult second-language (L2) learners process visual-spatial constructions in a signed language that they are studying, including which angles…

Working Memory (WM) is an essential concept of cognitive science since many aspects of human learning depend on it. Primarily proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) and developed by Baddeley (1986), the concept of WM comprises the number of subsystems involved during the process and the considerable emphasis on its key role in cognitive tasks such…

A good deal of research purports that bilingualism has a positive effect on some aspects of cognitive functioning. However, this effect is not consistent, and little research examines trajectories of cognitive skill development in bilingual children. Moreover, it remains unclear whether different types of bilingualism impact how cognitive…

Experience with a visual-spatial language may influence certain cognitive processes (Keehner and Gathercole 2007). Spatial ability is an important cognitive skill (Linn and Petersen 1985). Some research has found that deaf signers outperform hearing nonsigners on certain spatial tasks (e.g., Emmorey, Kosslyn, and Bellugi 1993) and that hearing…

In this qualitative case study, we investigated the role of an advanced math curriculum with language scaffolding on the development of geometric and visual-spatial reasoning skills in young mathematically promising English learners (MPELs). Specifically, we examined the effects of providing MPELs with challenging and supportive math curriculum to…

This paper examines second-language vocabulary memorization. The use of augmented reality (AR) under visuospatial bootstrapping (VSB), a novel approach developed from work on the cognitive psychology of working memory, was contrasted with an established application, Quizlet that has been extensively used in foreign-language teaching. The AR-VSB…

As a basic indicator of verbal ability, verbal fluency refers to the degree of fluency in the use of language to convey information. The different components of working memory play an important role in verbal fluency. The inhibiting control mechanism takes place during L2 production processing in bilinguals, which may affect their verbal fluency…

This study investigated the relationship between balanced multilingualism and working memory. Specifically, it reports on the relationship between balanced proficiency in speaking, reading and comprehension (across three languages), and verbal and visuospatial working memory in young South African adults. Information about participants' language…

The concept of modularity is used to contrast the approach to working memory proposed by Truscott with the Baddeley and Hitch multicomponent model. This proposes four sub components comprising the "central executive," an executive control system of limited attentional capacity that utilises storage based on separate but interlinked…

I will propose a tentative framework of how words in two languages could be organized in the cerebral cortex based on neural assembly theory, according to which neurons that fire synchronously are bound into large-scale distributed functional units (assemblies), which represent a mental event as a whole ("gestalt"). For language this…

Working memory (WM) is a recognised component of executive function and has undergone scrutiny in terms of bilingual and monolingual performance comparisons. Research to date, however, has not consistently replicated the presence of bilingual advantage. The present study examined short-term (STM) and WM in immersion-educated children and a matched…

This study, first, examined whether there was any relationship between Iranian L2 learners' vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs), on the one hand, and their multiple intelligences (MI) types, on the other hand. In so doing, it explored the extent to which MI would predict L2 learners' VLSs. To these ends, 40 L2 learners from Isfahan University of…

"Literacy Strategies: Variations on a Theme" presents pedagogical variations on Robert Marzano's Six Steps to Better Vocabulary Instruction to enhance the acquisition of TOEFL [Test of English as a Foreign Language] vocabulary words by international student instrumentalists. Strategies to integrate proprioceptive [spatial body awareness]…

This study investigated the prevalence and stability of latent classes at risk for reading disabilities (RD) in elementary-aged children whose first language is Spanish. To this end, children (N = 489) in Grades 1, 2, and 3 at Wave 1 were administered a battery of reading, vocabulary, and cognitive measures (short-term memory [STM], working memory…

Increasing attention paid to learner-centered pedagogy in recent years has highlighted the examination of intelligence and language learning strategies (LLSs) among others. This study explores EFL learners' perceived use of language learning strategies across various intelligence types as reflected in Gardner's 1983 Multiple Intelligences Theory.…