Memory, Perception, and Second Language Learning

This paper is an attempt to bring together information from several areas, linguistics, cognitive psychology, and education, in order to show more clearly the place of memory within the process of second language learning. The underlying assumption herein is that memory, like other cognitive processes involving language and thought, is a constructive process in which the learner makes a whole of what he or she "remembers." It is urged that memory be viewed as an intangible system of organizing or structuring events as they are perceived, depending on the experience of the individual.