Abstract This study examined whether the contribution of memory systems that play a role in second/additional language (L2/A) learning in adults with neurotypical cognition differs in L2/A learning in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants ( N = 154) learned an artificial L2/A with morphophonological rules and completed assessments of working, declarative, and procedural memory, as well as an ADHD questionnaire. Our results did not find evidence for differences in L2/A learning between participants diagnosed with ADHD and neurotypical controls. We also did not find that the role of memory differed among learners based on ADHD symptomatology, although we tentatively interpreted an interaction between declarative memory and ADHD symptomatology. We did find evidence for a general role of working memory on learning for one type of morphophonological rule. Overall, the results contribute to a broader understanding of the role of memory systems in L2/A for both neurodivergent and neurotypical language learners.
Ridchenko et al. (Sun,) studied this question.