CADERNO DE RESUMOS II Congresso Internacional da ... - Unesp

II Congresso Internacional da ABRAPUIarea, such as the need to reassess the validity and reliabilityof the L2 Speaking Span Test and its relationship with measuresof L2 speech performance, and the need to further investigatethe relationship between L1 and L2 working memory capacity.Componentes da sessãoPause distribution and working memory capacityin L2 speech productionDonesca Cristina Puntel Xhafaj (UFSC)Being part of the session “Individual differences in the learningof English as a foreign language: working memory and speechproduction”, I will be reporting on a study which aimed atdisentangling the relationship between working memory capacity(WMC) and second language (L2) fluency. Data was gathered atthe Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, from 12 Brazilians(L2 speakers of English) and 9 Americans who carried out, orally,picture description and narrative tasks in their first languages(L1s). The Brazilian participants also performed these oral tasksin their L2 and a WMC test – the L2 Speaking Span Test (L2SST). Participants’ fluency was assessed through frequency ofpauses at and within clause boundaries and mean length of run(MLR). The statistical analyses employed indicated that whilethe two languages under scrutiny (American English and BrazilianPortuguese) did not differ regarding pause distribution or MLR,the L2 speech of the Brazilians presented more pauses (especiallywithin boundaries) and shorter MLRs than both their own L1speech and the L1 speech of the Americans. These results supportthe role MLR has in defining fluency and demonstrate the importanceof frequency of pauses within rather than at boundaries indistinguishing less and more fluent speakers. Moreover, sincesignificant correlations were found between individuals’ L2 SSTscores and frequency of within boundary pauses and MLR in theL2, it seems that, due to being more controlled than the L1, L2oral speech is at least in part constrained by individuals’ limitedattentional resources.81