The Importance of Working Memory Skills in Academic Achievement

Abstract

Despite the late focus put on improving the four language skills; listening, reading, speaking and writing in second and foreign-language learning. A little attention is given to the system that drives the students’ comprehension, attention and concentration. Working memory plays a critical role in promoting the language learning. If the information is hold and rehearsed repeatedly, it will be fossilized in the students’ long-term memory. First year English language students at the University of Abdelhamid Ibn Badis possess good working memory. However they cannot give their feed-back perfectly on the auditory aids. Their working memory performs better when they collaborate together in reading span tests. These students are better individual achievers in following the instructions and listening spans. Results of the present study are obtained from the collected data where students of the University of Abdelhamid Ibn Badis in Mostaganem are taken as samples for this investigation about the importance of working memory skills in academic achievement. Twenty students from first year English language are tested thrice each session via three different span tests (Reading Span Test, Listening Span Test and Following the Instructions Span Test) in a total number of three sessions. The training contains important experiments conducted by a number of educators and psychologists to measure working memory’s capacity. In addition, a questionnaire is distributed among these students at the last training session, inside their class. The questionnaire was designed by an Israeli psychologist to detect students with working memory deficit. The questions are easy to understand and fit the students’ level of English.