Phonological Memory, Phonological Awareness, and Foreign Language Word Learning

The role of phonological memory and phonological awareness in foreign language (FL) word learning was examined. Measures of phonological memory and phonological awareness were administered to 58 Chinese‐speaking 4‐year‐olds 4 times (T1 to T4) across 2 years. FL (English) word learning was assessed at T3, and children's ability to relearn the words was assessed at T4. Phonological memory was related to FL word learning at T3, whereas phonological awareness was not. However, phonological awareness emerged as a significant predictor at T4, even after allowing for FL word learning at T3 and phonological memory. The results suggest that phonological memory and phonological awareness may support FL word learning, but phonological awareness may play a specific role when the words are relearned.