Judgments of learning in bilinguals: Does studying in a L2 hinder learning monitoring?

Nowadays, use of a second language (L2) has taken a central role in daily activities. There are numerous contexts in which people have to process information, acquire new knowledge, or make decisions via a second language. For example, in academia and higher education, English is commonly used as th...

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Main Authors: Marta Reyes, Mª Julia Morales, Mª Teresa Bajo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0286516&type=printable
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author Marta Reyes
Mª Julia Morales
Mª Teresa Bajo
author_facet Marta Reyes
Mª Julia Morales
Mª Teresa Bajo
author_sort Marta Reyes
collection DOAJ
description Nowadays, use of a second language (L2) has taken a central role in daily activities. There are numerous contexts in which people have to process information, acquire new knowledge, or make decisions via a second language. For example, in academia and higher education, English is commonly used as the language of instruction and communication even though English might not be students' native or first language (L1) and they might not be proficient in it. Such students may face different challenges when studying and learning in L2 relative to contexts in which they study and learn in their L1, and this may affect their metamemory strategies. However, little is yet known about whether metamemory processes undergo significant changes when learning is carried out in L2. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible consequences on learning derived from studying materials in L2 and, more specifically, to explore whether the interplay between monitoring and control (metamemory processes) changes as a function of the language involved. In three experiments, we explored whether font type (Experiment 1), concreteness (Experiment 2), and relatedness (Experiment 3) affected judgments of learning (JOLs) and memory performance in both L1 and L2. JOLs are considered the result of metacognitive strategies involved in the monitoring of learning and have been reported to vary with the difficulty of the material. The results of this study showed that people were able to monitor their learning in both L1 and L2, even though they judged L2 learning as more difficult than L1. Interestingly, self-perceived difficulty did not hinder learning, and people recognized L2 materials as well or better than L1 materials. We suggest that this might be an example of a desirable difficulty for memory.
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spelling doaj.art-e771597da4f34ef2900bfb3d1595d5272023-12-13T05:32:11ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-011812e028651610.1371/journal.pone.0286516Judgments of learning in bilinguals: Does studying in a L2 hinder learning monitoring?Marta ReyesMª Julia MoralesMª Teresa BajoNowadays, use of a second language (L2) has taken a central role in daily activities. There are numerous contexts in which people have to process information, acquire new knowledge, or make decisions via a second language. For example, in academia and higher education, English is commonly used as the language of instruction and communication even though English might not be students' native or first language (L1) and they might not be proficient in it. Such students may face different challenges when studying and learning in L2 relative to contexts in which they study and learn in their L1, and this may affect their metamemory strategies. However, little is yet known about whether metamemory processes undergo significant changes when learning is carried out in L2. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible consequences on learning derived from studying materials in L2 and, more specifically, to explore whether the interplay between monitoring and control (metamemory processes) changes as a function of the language involved. In three experiments, we explored whether font type (Experiment 1), concreteness (Experiment 2), and relatedness (Experiment 3) affected judgments of learning (JOLs) and memory performance in both L1 and L2. JOLs are considered the result of metacognitive strategies involved in the monitoring of learning and have been reported to vary with the difficulty of the material. The results of this study showed that people were able to monitor their learning in both L1 and L2, even though they judged L2 learning as more difficult than L1. Interestingly, self-perceived difficulty did not hinder learning, and people recognized L2 materials as well or better than L1 materials. We suggest that this might be an example of a desirable difficulty for memory.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0286516&type=printable
spellingShingle Marta Reyes
Mª Julia Morales
Mª Teresa Bajo
Judgments of learning in bilinguals: Does studying in a L2 hinder learning monitoring?
PLoS ONE
title Judgments of learning in bilinguals: Does studying in a L2 hinder learning monitoring?
title_full Judgments of learning in bilinguals: Does studying in a L2 hinder learning monitoring?
title_fullStr Judgments of learning in bilinguals: Does studying in a L2 hinder learning monitoring?
title_full_unstemmed Judgments of learning in bilinguals: Does studying in a L2 hinder learning monitoring?
title_short Judgments of learning in bilinguals: Does studying in a L2 hinder learning monitoring?
title_sort judgments of learning in bilinguals does studying in a l2 hinder learning monitoring
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0286516&type=printable
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