Individual differences in L2 acquisition of English phonology: The relation between cognitive abilities and phonological processing

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• Higher cognitive abilities relate to more native-like L2 phonological processing
• Higher cognitive performance enhances the quality of L2 input and promotes learning
• Large individual differences characterize processing of the L2 phonological system
• Length of residence does not correlate with phonological processing in L2
• Little intra-individual consistency across tasks suggests that phonological elements are not all acquired at the same rate

Research on individual differences has identified factors constraining second language (L2) acquisition in terms of a global performance; yet little progress has been made in identifying specific predictors of phonological acquisition. To explore potential predictors, we assessed cognitive abilities (working memory, attention control, processing speed) and lexical knowledge in L1 and/or L2. These measures were then correlated to overall individual L2-phonological acquisition scores, which were obtained by combining the scores from three phonological processing tasks, quantifying the acquisition of English phonological dimensions which are problematic for Korean L2 learners of English.Thirty Korean learners of English and fifteen English native speakers participated in the study. Individual L2-phonological scores were most strongly correlated with measures of working memory in L2. The observed relationships indicate that individuals with a higher working memory capacity, and to some extent higher processing speed, had developed a more native-like phonological processing in L2. None of the demographic background measures was correlated with phonological processing.