Learners’ processes during pre-task planning and working memory capacity

Abstract

he present study is part of a larger scale research (Guará-Tavares, 2011, 2013) that investigates the relationship among working memory capacity, pre-task planning, and L2 speech performance. he aim of the study was to analyze 1) what processes learners engage during pre-task planning, and 2) whether higher and lower working memory spans engage in diferent processes during pre-task planning. Learners’ processes were accessed by means of think aloud protocols and a retrospective interview. Working memory capacity was measured by the Speaking Span Test. Results show that learners engage mainly in organization of ideas, rehearsal, lexical searches, and monitoring. Moreover, higher spans employ signiicantly more metacognitive strategies during planning when compared to lower spans.