The role of modality and working memory capacity in L2 production

This study investigates whether linguistic outcomes of second language (L2) learners’ performance are consistent across oral and written modalities and, if so, whether the consistency remains across proficiency levels. The study also explores whether the linguistic outcomes of speaking, writing, or both are related to working memory capacity. Eighty-six L2 learners, from beginner to advanced, described a series of pictures within time constraints in speech and in writing, and completed two working memory tests. The study found greater syntactic complexity and lexical sophistication in the written than in the oral modality. However, the oral task elicited more lexical diversity, and the advanced learners produced more subordinate clauses in the oral task than in the written task. Learners with more working memory capacity produced marginally more complex structures in the oral task than learners with less working memory capacity. These findings have implications for the effective implementation of speaking and writing activities in L2 learning.