Factors Contributing to Second Language Speaking Development: Cognitive Aspects and Theoretical Models

This paper presents an overview of some of the cognitive and neurolinguistic factors influencing second language (L2) speech development, focusing on factors like the role of different types of memory, psychological aspects, and theoretical models of second language (L2) acquisition. It sheds light on aspects like central executive, phonological loop, and visuospatial sketchpad which are the three components of working memory contributing to the processing of linguistic input and output. It also covers factors that contribute to L2 speaking development such as attention mechanisms with respect to selective and flexible attention which both allow efficient use of language comprehension and production. On the other hand, this review reviews factors related to psycholinguistics such as lexical access, grammatical encoding, and phonological processing which are responsible for contributing to fluent L2 speech production. Input Processing Model and Speech Production Model are models that contribute towards understanding of the interaction between L2 learning and speech production. Furthermore, factors like affective conditions, such as motivation and anxiety, are discussed as well. Overall, the present paper provides an overview of these psychological and cognitive factors that remarkably influence effective L2 speaking and development.