Resumen de An autobiographical longitudinal study of event memory and affect during second‐language acquisition
Combining the methodology of natural memory research and the problem of bilingual information processing, the author (a native English speaker) performed a longitudinal study on himself to observe the process of becoming bilingual. during a semester of living and teaching in Brazil. Over a four‐month period, three events were recorded each day, one occurring in English, one in Portuguese, and one language‐neutral. These events were rated on scales of importance, affect, self‐esteem and language anxiety, as well as the modality (written or oral) and whether production or comprehension or both were involved. Memory for the date of the event was tested 2, 4, and 6 months after the start of the experiment. Results showed that modality and production vs. comprehension were important variables, with oral events and conversations being remembered better and rated more important and higher in affect and anxiety than written and comprehension events. The differences of Portuguese vs. English events showed up primarily in interactions with other factors rather than as main effects. Conclusions suggest the need for further study of affective factors, modality and cognitive‐style variables in bilingual information processing.
