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the relationship between working memory capacity and vocabulary learning
Journal of Science and today 's world

2013, volume 2, issue 5, pages: 580-591

Scholar Journal
Available online: www.journalsci.com Journal of Science and today 's world
ISSN 2322-326X

Research Article
The relationship of working memory capacity and gender to vocabulary learning

Hossein Aghaalikhani1, Ebrahim Ahmadi2
1

Department of English Language, Buinzahra Branch, Islamic Azad University, Buinzahra, Iran
2
Department of Psychology, Buinzahra Branch, Islamic Azad University, Buinzahra, Iran
Received: 29 February 2013 / Accepted: 18 May 2013 / Published: 30 May 2013

Copyright © 2013 Hossein Aghaalikhani et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract
This study investigated the relationship of working memory capacity and gender to vocabulary learning .The study was conducted with 92 male and female first –year university students at
Buin Zahra Islamic Azad University. The participants passed a five-week reading and vocabulary course. They received two kinds of tests, a vocabulary and a WMC. To answer the questions of the present study certain statistical technique was administered. To determine the degree of relationship, data was gathered for every single subject. A working memory test was given to the subjects to determine their working memory capacity. A vocabulary test was given to the subjects to measure their vocabulary knowledge. The findings of the present research made clear that, there is no meaningful relationship between WMC‟s of male and female students to vocabulary learning. Although the greatest relationship was between vocabulary


Correspondence should be addressed to Hossein Aghaalikhani, Department of English Language, Buinzahra
Branch, Islamic Azad University, Buinzahra, Iran; Email: Alikhani764@yahoo.com.

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References: [1] Andersson, U. (2010). The Contribution of Working Memory Capacity to Foreign Language Comprehension in Children [2] Ashman, F. & Conway , R. (1997). An Introduction to Cognitive Education : Theory and Application [3] Baddeley, A. D. (2000). The episodic buffer: A new component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 4, 417–423. [4] Baddeley, A. D., Della Sala, S., Papagno, C., & Spinnler, H. (1997). Dual task performance in dysexecutive and non- dysexecutive patients with a frontal lobe lesion (2005). Working Memory Span Tasks: A Methodological Review and User‟s Guide. [7] Gu, Y. & Johnson, R. K. (1996). Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Language Learning Outcomes [9] Higbee, K. L. (2001). Your Memory : How it works & How to Improve It.2nd Ed. New York : Marlowe & Company. [14] Kaushanskaya, M. (2007). Linguistic and Cognitive Mechanisms in Foreign Vocabulary Acquisition [15] Marefat, H. & Shirazi, M. A. (2003). The Impact of Teaching Direct Learning Strategies on the Retention of Vocabulary by EFL Learners [16] Mendonça, D.M.( 2003). Working Memory Capacity and the Retention of L2 Vocabulary. [17] Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.(2010).Vocabulary. Retrieved on July 9, 2010. [18] Min, H.-T. (2008). EFL Vocabulary Acquisition and Retention: Reading Plus Vocabulary Enhancement Activities and Narrow Reading [19] Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [20] Numminen, H. (2002). Working Memory in Adults with Intellectual Disability. Famr, Research Publications [21] Saputra , G.D. (2007). The Influence of Contextual Teaching Learning to the Students Vocabulary Achievement [22] Sternberg, R. J. (2008). Cognitive psychology. Belmont: Thomas Wadsworth.

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