THE CAPACITY OF WORKING MEMORY AND LEARNING SECOND LANGUAGE STRUCTURES IN AN IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT ENVIRONMENT

This study aims to determine the relationship between working memory capacity and learning second language structures in an implicit and explicit learning environment and the role of complex or straightforward language structure in this relationship. Hence, two English language structures with different degrees of complexity were selected. Fifty-nine English-speaking Persian learners were selected through a test and randomly assigned to one of two explicit or implicit groups and received the necessary training. Their level of knowledge of these two language features was assessed once before the training and twice after the training, with the test of "timed grammatical judgment" and "summoned oral imitation". A composite memory capacity test was used to measure working memory capacity. The results showed that the effect of training on learning the desired structures was significant in both groups. Correlation results showed no meaningful relationship between working memory capacity and learning in an implicit environment.