Working memory, which accounts for the ability to process information in the face of interference, is critical to
second language acquisition (SLA) and use. The interaction of working memory capacity (WMC) with specific pedagogical
interventions is a logical place for empirical SLA research, both to examine the cognitive processes underpinning second language
performance and to identify instructional treatments that may serve learners differently based on their WMC. This study considers
WMC along with two different types of pre-task planning time (guided and unguided) as predictors of the attempted accuracy and
fluency of learners’ discourse. Seventy-two intermediate ESL students from seven classes at a community college participated by
completing two different working memory span tasks, as well as two different “There-and-Then” oral story-telling tasks. The
treatment condition of the story-telling tasks was manipulated so that learners’ performance could be considered in terms of
provision of pre-task planning (+/− planning), type of planning (guided vs. unguided), and order of planning (planning first or
planning second). Task order had a clear effect on learners’ production, regardless of the provision of planning time. Guided
planning time promoted a focus on attempted accuracy and unguided planning time fostered fluency. Finally, this study indicates
that task conditions can affect high- and low-WMC learners in different ways: the former are more likely to comply with complex
story-telling instructions, requiring them to focus on grammatical form at the expense of fluency, whereas the latter are less
likely to comply with the same instructions.
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