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The Role of Memory in Language Learning New

The document discusses the role of memory in language learning. It describes the different types of memory, including sensorial memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Sensorial memory only lasts milliseconds, short-term memory can hold 6-8 items of information, and long-term memory is divided into explicit and implicit memory. It also lists factors that can affect memory like alcohol, lack of sleep, and aging. Finally, it suggests ways for teachers to help students store and retrieve information by using varied inputs, relating new information to old, and teaching memory strategies.

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Majo Flores
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205 views

The Role of Memory in Language Learning New

The document discusses the role of memory in language learning. It describes the different types of memory, including sensorial memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Sensorial memory only lasts milliseconds, short-term memory can hold 6-8 items of information, and long-term memory is divided into explicit and implicit memory. It also lists factors that can affect memory like alcohol, lack of sleep, and aging. Finally, it suggests ways for teachers to help students store and retrieve information by using varied inputs, relating new information to old, and teaching memory strategies.

Uploaded by

Majo Flores
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ISFD 30 – Fundamentos de la Enseñanza y el Aprendizaje I Lic. Prof. Adriana M.

Fernández

The Role of Memory in Language Learning.

(Compiled from the Internet for academic purposes only)

Memory is the ability to store information and retrieve it in a future moment.


With 100,000 million interconnected neurons, the human mind can remember lots of
situations. However, it does not even take others into account. How come this may
happen?
The latest advances in the field of memory were made in the 80’s when a group
of neuroscientists came to the conclusion that memory does not exist in itself but that it
is formed by a system of interrelated mechanisms which are separate and, at the same
time, separable. That is why it is not the same to remember what you ate yesterday night
as the name of the classmate that sat next to you in your primary school.
We tend to store information in networks by similarity, but retrieve it back into
working memory by difference. But, why and how do we remember 80% of what we
see, 50% of what we read and 30% of what we listen? Because there are different types
of memory:
Sensorial memory: Our senses are activated and stimulated by physical stimuli
(a sound, an image) and they, in turn, transform the stimulus into information, into a
perceptive representation. These representations last very short spans, milliseconds.
During these fractions of seconds the mental mechanisms can act and form a first
impression. From then on, part of the information goes to the short term memory,
whereas the other part can go to the long term memory or is lost, forgotten.
Short term memory: This is the working memory, what we have present or
available and accessible for the task we are doing at a certain moment (watching tv,
talking to somebody, reading this information, etc). It has limited capacity, i.e., it can
only hold and handle a limited amount of information in the same way as a ram memory
in a computer. It can only store between 6 and 8 bytes of information. The new
information gets into contact with our old structures and knowledge of the world.
Depending on how it is decoded, it can be stored and retrieved explicitly in a more or
less specific way. What we intake, elaborate and relate to previous knowledge, is stored
and recalled much better and more clearly than what is superficially processed or stored
in isolation. That is why it is recommended, for example, to study understanding what
you read and not repeating like parrots.

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ISFD 30 – Fundamentos de la Enseñanza y el Aprendizaje I Lic. Prof. Adriana M. Fernández

Long term memory: this is the basis of the knowledge of the world we have. It
includes social relations, what we know about ourselves, habits, physical abilities and
emotional learning, among others. It seems to be of unlimited duration and capacity, and
it is divided into two systems: explicit or declarative memory, and implicit memory.
Explicit memory is what we can retrieve in verbal, declarative, intentional
form. It is what we all understand by memory - stored knowledge and habits that
identify each person. Explicit memory implies awareness: we know we remember when
we remember something.
Implicit memory, on the other hand, lacks awareness. We remember something
but are not aware of remembering. In this type of memory the influence of a past
experience is present and affects your behaviour. It, therefore, involves skills, things we
find we can do even if we are not aware of how.
The existence of so many different types of memory shows once more that
nature is wise. Each memory has its own way of functioning – what is good for one
kind may not be so for another. They evolve at a different pace and rhythm. They’ve got
a different neurological basis and, therefore, harm done to one of the two hemispheres
may leave the types of memory in other areas of the brain intact.
Memory starts to decline when we are around 35, although this decline can only
be noticed at the age of 60 or 70, when it begins to affect daily activities. However, we
should take into account that the worst enemies are:
Alcohol: it mainly affects short term memory and the capacity to store information.
Coffee: coffee and tea are good to keep attention and to keep you alert, but the
excitement they produce can interfere with memory.
Drugs and Medicine: certain drugs such as tranquilizers, sleeping pills and drugs
against anxiety and pressure may affect memory.
Lack of hydration: the balance that water helps keep between ions in mineral salt is
good to keep the ideal functioning of the nervous system.
Lack of sleep: while we sleep, our brain “disconnects” our senses and revises and stores
the new information. Lack of sleep will produce tiredness, lack of capacity to
concentrate and therefore, lack of capacity to store information.
Malnutrition: lack of vitamins will bring about problems. (see chap 1)
Tobacco: it has been proved that those who smoke one or more packets a day have
more difficulty in identifying names or faces.

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ISFD 30 – Fundamentos de la Enseñanza y el Aprendizaje I Lic. Prof. Adriana M. Fernández

Lastly, the passing of time will affect declarative memory (where did I last go on
holiday?) and the working memory (what’s his telephone number?). The process of
encoding and retrieving may get slower and inefficient. On the other hand it does not
affect, or at least, not in the same way, the processes of implicit memory (knowing how
to drive, brush your teeth, etc.). Aging does not have the same relationship with the
different types of memory. Some seniors maintain performance level of some kind of
memory activities all their lives.
Finally, how can we as teachers, make the most of what we know about memory
in our language classes? To begin with, present your students with as much variety of
sensorial input as possible. Secondly, help them use varied and different techniques to
store the new information and relate it to old information they already have. Thirdly, do
your best to help them retrieve the information stored in their memory allowing them
for some time to look for the information they need in the part of their memory they
think best, helping them to make the necessary connections. Teach them the necessary
strategies or techniques (like reading aloud, writing down notes, organizing routines,
etc) that might guide them when deciding how to store the information or in the
retrieval process.

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